920 Rescue Wing supports 3rd SpaceX Launch for ISS Resupply mission

  • Published
  • By 920th Rescue Wing Public Affairs
  • 920th Rescue Wing Public Affairs
PATRICK AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  Members of the 920th Rescue Wing provided range-clearance and safety support for the successful launch of a Space Exploration Technologies' (SpaceX) Falcon 9 Dragon spacecraft from Space Launch Complex 40 here at 3:25 p.m. EDT April 18. The mission, designated SpaceX-3, is the third of 12 SpaceX flights contracted by NASA to resupply the International Space Station. It will be the fourth trip by a Dragon capsule to the orbiting laboratory.

During the SpaceX-3 mission, the Dragon capsule will deliver about 5,000 pounds of cargo to the ISS and return about 3,600 pounds to Earth.

SpaceX's Dragon will stay attached to the station's Harmony module until mid-May when it will detach and splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja California, NASA officials said.

Hours before launch, two wing HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters took off from Patrick AFB to patrol the Eastern Range, the 70-mile long by 10-mile wide swath of ocean extending east from the Cape that must be cleared of all air & marine traffic prior to every launch to ensure boaters are a safe distance from potentially falling rocket debris.

The 920th RQW performs combat search and rescue as its primary mission, which includes rescuing downed pilots. Additionally the 920th RQW is responsible for civil search and rescue, humanitarian relief and support of rocket launches. To date, the unit has saved more than 3,000 lives, both in peacetime and combat.

To date Air Force rescue forces from around the globe have saved more than 12,200 U.S., allied and host nation forces in conflicts worldwide since Sept. 11, 2001, and have rescued more than 5,000 people during catastrophic natural disasters and other responses.

For more information on the 920th Rescue Wing, follow them on Facebook and Twitter. **Information from a 45th Space Wing news story was used in this release**