Cargo spacecraft "Dragon CRS-4"

Spacecraft nº:

SpaceX spacecraft nº: 5

Launch, orbit & landing data: Designation  40210 / 14056A Launch date - time  21 Sep 2014 - 05:52 UT Launch site  CC, SLC-40 Launch vehicle  Falcon-9 v1.1 Spacecraft  Cargo Dragon C106 Manufacturer  SpaceX Dimensions cabine  Height: 8.1m (27 ft) - Dia: 4m (13 ft) Launch mass   6000 kg Dry Mass (kg)  4200 kg Total cargo mass (kg)  2216 kg Earth orbit:    - Perigee / Apogee      - Eccentricity      - Inclination   °    - Period   min

Berthed date - time  23 Sep 2014 - 13:21 UT Target spacecraft/port  ISS/Harmony nadir port Docking orbit:    - Perigee / Apogee   km    - Inclination   °    - Period   min Unberthed date - time  25 Oct 2014 - 12:02 UT released by the SSRMS at 1357 UTC Berthed time  31d, 22h, 41min Deorbit burn date - time  25 Oct 2014 - 18:43 UT Recovery date - time  25 Oct 2014 - 19:38 UT Landing location  Baja California (near 34N 123.5W) Flight Duration (dd:hh:min)  34d, 13h, 46min Nbr orbits

Description:

• DRAGON CRS-4 is a cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station, contracted to NASA. It is the sixth flight for SpaceX's uncrewed Dragon cargo spacecraft, and the fourth SpaceX operational mission contracted to NASA under a Commercial Resupply Services contract. The mission brings equipment and supplies to the space station, including the first 3D printer to be tested in space, a device to measure wind speed on Earth, and small satellites to be launched from the station.
• 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:

• On Sep 21, 2014 SpaceX launched the sixth Dragon cargo ship on mission CRS-4 to the ISS. This was the 13th Falcon 9 launch and the 8th such launch within a 1 year period. The Dragon Trunk carries two packages, the ISS RapidScat radar scatterometer science instrument and the RapidScat Nadir Adapter, which will be installed on the SDX nadir attach point of the Columbus module's external payload facility. The Dragon cabin carries SpinSat, an 0.56m spherical NRL satellite to be deployed by the Kibo JEM-RMS, and the NASA-Ames Rodent Research 1 life sciences payload with 20 mice (mus musculus). Neither SpaceX nor NASA has revealed the mass of Dragon CRS-4 but it is probably in the 9500-10500 kg range.
• According to US tracking data, Dragon was inserted into a 203 x 358 km x 51.6 deg orbit; by 1400 UTC on Sep 22 it had decayed to 204 x 349 km due to atmospheric drag, but had not begun significant orbit raising burns to rendezvous with the ISS. However
• The Falcon 9 second stage was deorbited on the first Earth revolution and re-entered S of New Zealand at about 0655 UTC Sep 21.
  
  

  Dragon CRS-4 arrival at ISS

  Dragon CRS-4 docked to the ISS

  
  
• The Dragon CRS-4 commercial cargo craft has completed a two day trip to the International Space Station after launching on the company's Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 01:52 a.m. EDT September 21, 2014. Reid Wiseman and Alexander Gerst were at the controls of the robotics workstation in the Cupola when the Canadarm2 grappled Dragon at 06:52 a.m. EDT (10:52 UT) on September 23, 2014 and berthed to the Harmony node at 13:21 UTC.. Later, the crew successfully opened the Dragon hatch and ingressed the vehicle.
  About 5,000 pounds of NASA science investigations were aboard SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft. One of the new Earth science investigations heading to the orbital laboratory is the International Space Station-Rapid Scatterometer. ISS-RapidScat monitors ocean winds from the vantage point of the space station. This space-based scatterometer is a remote sensing instrument that uses radar pulses reflected from the ocean's surface from different angles to calculate surface wind speed and direction. This information will be useful for weather forecasting and hurricane monitoring.
  Dragon also will deliver the first-ever 3-D printer in space. The technology enables parts to be manufactured quickly and cheaply in space, instead of waiting for the next cargo resupply vehicle delivery.
  New biomedical hardware launched aboard the spacecraft will help facilitate prolonged biological studies in microgravity. The Rodent Research Hardware and Operations Validation (Rodent Research-1) investigation provides a platform for long-duration rodent experiments in space. These investigations examine how microgravity affects animals, providing information relevant to human spaceflight, discoveries in basic biology and knowledge that may have direct impact toward human health on Earth.
• The Dragon CRS-4 cargo ship was unberthed at about 1202 UTC Oct 25, 2014 and released by the SSRMS at 1357 UTC. It made its deorbit burn at 1843 UTC and splashed down in the Pacific at 1938 UTC off Baja California (near 34N 123.5W).
  
  

  Dragon descending under parachutes.

External links:

• SpaceX: CRS-4 Mission overview
  
• Wikipedia: Dragon CRS-4 mission.

Astrophilately covers:

Launch cancel KSC. Credit: #401

Launch cancel Hawthorne, SpaceX cover. Credit: #401

Docking cancel Houston. Credit: #401

Splasdown cancel Hawthorne. Credit: #401