A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is being fueled for a first-stage engine test-firing at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station today, and countdown clocks are ticking toward ignition around 9:30 a.m.Launch controllers reported that the loading of liquid oxygen into the rocket is almost complete. The 157-foot-tall Falcon 9 sports a first stage with nine Merlin 1C engines, which are powered by liquid oxygen and RP-1, a highly refined kerosene.
A 9:30 a.m. test-firing would come close to the beginning of a window of opportunity that opens at 9 a.m. and closes at 3 p.m.
An initial attempt was aborted 1.1 seconds into the firing when higher-than-allowable pressures were detected in the combustion chamber of one of the engines.
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