Cargo spacecraft "Dragon CRS-2"

Spacecraft nº:

SpaceX spacecraft nº: 3

Launch, orbit & landing data: Designation  39115 / 13010A Launch date - time  01 March 2013 - 15:10 UTC  (10:10 a.m. EST) Launch site  CC, SLC-40 Launch vehicle  Falcon-9 v1.0 Spacecraft  Cargo Dragon C104 Manufacturer  SpaceX Dimensions cabine  Height: 8.1m (27 ft) - Dia: 4m (13 ft) Launch mass   6000 kg Total cargo mass (kg)   Earth orbit:    - Perigee / Apogee      - Eccentricity      - Inclination   °    - Period   min

Berthed date - time  03 March 2013 - 13:56 UTC Target spacecraft/port  ISS/Harmony nadir port Docking orbit on Mar 3.43:    - Perigee / Apogee  402 x 417 km    - Inclination  51.65°    - Period  92.66 min Unberthed date - time  26 March 2013 - 08:10 UT Berthed time  22d, 18h, 14min Deorbit burn date - time  26 March 2013 - 15:42 UT Recovery date - time  26 March 2013 - 16:35 UT Landing location  Pacific Ocean, 30.52N 120.04W Flight Duration (dd:hh:min)  25d, 1h, 24min Nbr orbits

Photo of the Dragon spacecraft inside SpaceX's hangar at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

Dragon before rollout.

Dragon CRS-2 launch.

Description:

• DRAGON CRS-2 is the second of at least 12 missions to the International Space Station that SpaceX will fly for NASA under the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract. Dragon is filled with about 1,000 pounds of supplies, including critical materials to support the 166 investigations planned for the station’s Expedition 33 crew, of which 63 will be new. Dragon will return with about 734 pounds of scientific materials, including results from human research, biotechnology, materials and education experiments, as well as about 504 pounds of space station hardware.
• Payload: When launched the CRS-2 Dragon will be filled with about 1,493 lb (677 kg) of cargo, 1,268 lb (575 kg) without packaging. Included is 178 lb (81 kg) of crew supplies, 766 lb (347 kg) of scientific experiments and experiment hardware, 298 lb (135 kg) of hardware for the station and other miscellaneous items.
• The Dragon will return 3,020 lb (1,370 kg) of cargo, 2,668 lb (1,210 kg) without packaging. Included is 210 lb (95 kg) of crew supplies, 1,455 lb (660 kg) of scientific experiments and experiment hardware, 884 lb (401 kg) of space station hardware, 84 lb (38 kg) of spacesuit equipment and other miscellaneous items
• After the retirement of the space shuttle, the Dragon spacecraft is the only vehicle capable of returning large amounts of cargo from the space station to Earth. Russia's crewed Soyuz capsule can only accommodate limited cargo when landing with a three-person crew.

Mission details:

• SpaceX CRS-2, also known as SpX-2, is the fourth flight for SpaceX's uncrewed Dragon cargo spacecraft, the fifth and final flight for the company's two-stage Falcon 9 v1.0 launch vehicle, and the second SpaceX operational mission contracted to NASA under a Commercial Resupply Services contract.
• The gumdrop-shaped Dragon capsule, loaded with more than 2,300 pounds of research and repair gear, blasted off at 10:10 a.m. EST (1510 GMT) on March 1, 2013 atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.
  The 15-story rocket rose from the launch pad and pointed northeast from the Florida spaceport, dispatching a window-rattling thunder for miles around as it was swallowed in a thin cloud deck hanging overhead.
  Cameras mounted on the launcher showed it smoothly rocketing into the upper atmosphere before jettisoning its nine-engine first stage three minutes after liftoff.
  The Falcon 9's second stage fired its single Merlin engine for six minutes, racing northeast up the U.S. East Coast as the engine's niobium alloy nozzle glowed red hot.
  The rocket's flight computer commanded the second stage engine to turn off once it reached its target orbit, and the Falcon 9 released the Dragon spacecraft moments later. A camera on the Falcon 9 rocket showed live footage of the cargo craft drifting away.
• Dragon separated from the Falcon 9 second stage at 1519 UTC, but at 1522 UTC the solar panel covers were not seen to eject from the side of the Dragon trunk; this is needed to allow the solar arrays to deploy and deliver electrical power to the spacecraft (although there is also plenty of battery power).
• Controllers noticed a problem in the Dragon spacecraft's propulsion system moments after the capsule deployed from its Falcon 9 booster. Computers automatically put the capsule in a safe mode and stopped the craft from extending its power-generating solar arrays.
  The trouble sparked a scramble to respond, diagnose and recover from the setback, which threatened to end the mission the same day it began.
  Only a fraction of the spacecraft's thrusters were operational, keeping engineers from controlling the capsule's orientation or sending it toward the space station.
  The Dragon spacecraft has 18 Draco thrusters, tiny rocket engines designed to change the capsule's orbit and adjust its orientation. The Draco engines are divided into four pods, each with four or five thrusters.
• Controllers had trouble aligning Dragon's antenna with communications satellites, so SpaceX turned to an Air Force network of ground stations to contact the spacecraft.
  SpaceX extended the Dragon's solar panels shortly before 12 p.m. EST (1700 GMT) and brought the spacecraft's other thrusters back online through the next several hours, and at around 2210 UTC an orbit raising burn was carried out successfully to place Dragon in a 314 x 340 km x 51.7 deg orbit.
• Dragon made a further orbit change, possibly at around 0540 UTC, on Mar 2, moving from a 391 x 405 km orbit to a 332 x 507 km orbit, apogee now well above the ISS in its 401 x 417 km orbit. Another burn at circa 1100 UTC adjusted the orbit to 430 x 447 km and was followed by burns on Mar 3 to complete the rendezvous. Rendezvous with ISS has been delayed by one day to Mar 3.
• Dragon arrived 350m from the Station at 0840 UTC on Mar 3 and approached along the R-bar (ISS-Earth vector) to a distance of 10m.
• Dragon was grappled with Canadarm2 by NASA Expedition 34 Commander Kevin Ford and NASA Flight Engineer Tom Marshburn at 10:31 UTC (5:31 AM EST) on March 3, and was berthed to the nadir (Earth-facing) docking port of the Harmony module at 13:56 UTC (8:56 AM EST)
• Dragon is the only spacecraft in the world today capable of returning significant amounts of cargo to Earth. Dragon will stay on station for a three-week visit, during which astronauts will unload approximately 1,200 pounds of cargo and fill the capsule with return cargo, for return to Earth. Dragon is filled with supplies for the ISS, including critical materials to support science investigations.
  
  

  The Dragon spacecraft being berthed to Harmony on 3 March 2013.

  Diagram of the Dragon spacecraft. Credit: SpaceX/NASA

  
  Photos: Dragon grappled at space station
  
  
• On Mar 6 the station SSRMS arm unloaded the HRS Grapple Fixture package from the Dragon trunk and berthed it on the Mobile Base System. Meanwhile, the crew unloaded all the cargo in the pressurized section.
• The Dragon cargo ship began its return to Earth on Mar 26, 2013. At 0810 UTC Dragon was unberthed from the Harmony nadir CBM port using the SSRMS arm. The SSRMS released Dragon at 1056 UTC. At 1542 UTC the Dragon's Draco thrusters fired for 9min 59s to change velocity by an unknown amount (probably around 120-150 m/s) and lower perigee into the atmosphere. The Dragon trunk was jettisoned at 1555 UTC and the reentry vehicle passed through nominal atmosphere entry interface at 1614 UTC.
• Parachutes unfurled to stabilize the craft as the capsule plunged into the stratosphere, then three main chutes opened at an altitude of about 10,000 feet to slow the Dragon's descent to less than 15 mph.
  
  

  An astronaut on the International Space Station snapped this photo of the Dragon spacecraft preparing to leave the complex Tuesday. Credit: NASA

  The scene at the splashdown site, including a 100-foot boat named American Islander (upper left), the Dragon spacecraft (bottom center), one of the three main parachutes (upper right). Credit: SpaceX

  
  
• The Dragon spacecraft, blackened by the searing heat of atmospheric re-entry, splashed down in the Pacific Ocean under parachutes at 12:34 p.m. EDT (1634 GMT), hitting a bullseye aim point about 200 miles west of Baja California. Splashdown around 30.52N 120.04W - according to reported positions of the recovery vessel American Islander.
  
  

  A day after it returned to Earth from the ISS, SpaceX's Dragon cargo spacecraft arrived at the Port of Los Angeles aboard the American Islander. Photo credit: Gene Blevins/LA Daily News

  The Dragon spacecraft will be shipped to SpaceX's test facility in McGregor, Texas, for further safing and unloading of the rest of its nearly 2,700 pounds of cargo.

  
  

External links:

• Wikipedia: Dragon CRS-1 mission.

Astrophilately covers:

Launch cancel Cape Canaveral. Credit: #402

Launch cancel KSC. Credit: #402

Launch cancel Hawthorne. Credit: #402

Launch cancel Houston. Credit: #401

Docking cancel Houston. Credit: #411c

Dragon Release, cancel Hawthorne. Credit: #401

Dragon Splashdown, cancel Hawthorne. Credit: #401