The USA is back in space
 

SpaceX will show NASA that they can do the job

William Graham - NASASPACEFLIGHT - May 22, 2012

Many in DC are against the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program --Ed.

SpaceX has launched their Falcon 9/Dragon duo – the latter of which is aiming to complete the spacecraft’s remaining COTS demonstration objectives, and culminate in a visit to the International Space Station. The launch suffered from no problems, lifting off from Cape Canaveral at 3:44am Eastern. The key milestone of solar array deployment was also successful.

The Dragon C2+ mission is a combination of the C2 and C3 missions which were originally planned to be conducted separately. The second flight of a Dragon spacecraft, it follows on from the successful Dragon C1 flight in December 2010.

C2+ will be the first flight of a complete Dragon, however; as C1 flew without the unpressurised “Trunk” section and solar arrays. Launched at 15:43 UTC on 8 December 2010, Dragon C1 made two orbits of the Earth before being deorbited.

Following reentry, splashdown occurred at 19:02 UTC, with the spacecraft being recovered successfully from the Pacific Ocean, having completed all of its planned mission objectives.

The C2+ mission is more demanding; SpaceX need to prove that the spacecraft can be used to deliver cargo to the International Space Station safely. As a result, the spacecraft needs to demonstrate its ability to remain in orbit for several weeks, test its manoeuvring and navigation systems, and perform a rendezvous with the space station.

If the initial rendezvous is successful and the spacecraft is operating well, SpaceX will then be cleared to perform the next stage of the demonstration, which will see the spacecraft approach to within ten metres of the ISS before being grappled by the station’s Canadarm2 remote manipulator system, and berthed at the nadir port of the station’s Harmony module.

In anticipation of being cleared to perform the berthing test, the Dragon spacecraft has been loaded with 520 kilograms (1,146 pounds) of cargo for delivery to the ISS.

Unlike the Progress, ATV and HTV spacecraft currently used to resupply the ISS, the Dragon’s capsule is designed to survive reentry and be recovered. With the Space Shuttle retired and Soyuz spacecraft not large enough to accommodate large amounts of cargo, this will provide the only means of returning equipment from the space station to Earth.

After its cargo has been unloaded, Dragon C2+ will be loaded with 143 kilograms (315 lb) of crew equipment, 93 kilograms (205 lb) of research equipment, 39 kilograms (86 pounds) of spacesuit equipment and gloves, and 345 kilograms (760 pounds) of station hardware.

The Dragon spacecraft consists of two sections; a pressurised cargo module, or capsule, which houses the supplies to be delivered to the station, and a “trunk” section which can house unpressurised cargo, or additional payloads such as microsatellites.

Including both the capsule and trunk sections, Dragon measures 5.9 metres (19.3 feet) in length, and 3.66 metres (12 feet) in diameter.

The pressurised module has a volume of ten cubic metres (353 cubic feet), of which 6.8 cubic metres (240 cubic feet) can be used to store cargo, whilst the trunk has a volume of 14 cubic metres (494 cubic feet). The trunk section also accommodates the two solar arrays which will provide power to the spacecraft.

The pressurised module is 2.9 metres (9.5 feet) long, and can carry up to 3,310 kilograms (7,296 lb) of cargo to the space station. It can also accommodate 2,500 kilograms (2,500 lb) for return to Earth. The trunk section can carry the same mass of cargo to the station; however it is not recovered, so it cannot be used to return cargo to Earth. Instead, it can hold 2,600 kilograms (5,732 lb) for disposal.... [Read More]

Re: The USA is back in space
 

A wee bit of Scotty's ashes were flung into orbit, if I got the story straight.

Harry

Re: The USA is back in space
 

^ correct, along with the ashes of Mercury astronaut Gordon Cooper and 316 others

Re: The USA is back in space
 

Only 500 have been in space.

With space tourism, thousands will go and push for venture capitalists to make reliable orbital vehicles over the next couple of decades.

Re: The USA is back in space
 

About time!
According to folks on another site-a rocket is being planned/built with Saturn 5 type lift capability.
Pretty sure they said the Saturn 5 could lift 119,000 kg (not sure where-how high-low orbit high orbit to moon??) 250,000 lb payload-did the Apollo "stuff" weigh that much??
This new one is supposed to lift 130,000 kg -Not sure if it will look like one of those Rooskie rockets-bunches of glued on rocket engines- or more like the Saturn 5 with several rockets nozzles directly under the rocket cylinder.

In any case-about time.
If we can waste $1 TRILLION in pointless destructive wars-why not explore the universe.
It is a much better "jobs" program! Much better "side benefits"-materials technology-higher education promoted.
Current military technology is mainly surveillance -accuracy-smaller weapons less collateral damage-this doesn't really translate to civilian markets(except war on drugs
another waste of resources -dead end)

Yeah about time!!

Re: The USA is back in space
 

+ 1,000,000.

Re: The USA is back in space
 

Yeah , but spending all that money out in space doesn't impress or intimidate your "enemies" in the Holy War. Which is more important ?

Re: The USA is back in space
 

Trent J. Perrotto
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-0321
trent.j.perrotto@nasa.gov

Josh Byerly
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
josh.byerly@nasa.gov

RELEASE: 12-179

SPACEX DRAGON CAPSULE RETURNS TO EARTH AFTER FIRST COMMERCIAL FLIGHT TO SPACE STATION

HOUSTON -- SpaceX's Dragon capsule splashed down in the Pacific Ocean
at 11:42 a.m. EDT a few hundred miles west of Baja California,
Mexico, marking a successful end to the first mission by a commercial
company to resupply the International Space Station.

"Congratulations to the teams at SpaceX and NASA who worked hard to
make this first commercial mission to the International Space Station
an overwhelming success," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said.
"This successful splashdown and the many other achievements of this
mission herald a new era in U.S. commercial spaceflight. American
innovation and inspiration have once again shown their great strength
in the design and operation of a new generation of vehicles to carry
cargo to our laboratory in space. Now more than ever we're counting
on the inventiveness of American companies and American workers to
make the International Space Station and other low Earth orbit
destinations accessible to any and all who have dreams of space
travel."

The Dragon capsule will be taken by boat to a port near Los Angeles,
where it will be prepared for a return journey to SpaceX's test
facility in McGregor, Texas, for processing. Some cargo will be
removed at the port in California and returned to NASA within 48
hours. The remainder will be returned to Texas with the capsule.

The capsule delivered to the station 1,014 pounds of supplies
including experiments, food, clothing and technology. On its return
trip to Earth, the capsule carried science experiments that will be
returned to researchers hoping to gain new insights provided by the
unique microgravity environment in the station's laboratories. In
addition to the experiments, Dragon returned a total of 1,367 pounds
of hardware and cargo no longer needed aboard the station.

Dragon's journey to the space station was SpaceX's second
demonstration mission under NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation
Services (COTS) Program, which provides investments to stimulate the
commercial space industry in America. The mission began May 22 as the
capsule launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida
aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Following a series of tests of its
maneuverability and abort systems, the capsule was grappled and
berthed to the space station by the crew members of Expedition 31
aboard the orbiting complex.

In the next several weeks, NASA will evaluate the Dragon capsule's
mission performance to close out remaining COTS milestones. Once that
work is completed NASA and SpaceX will set the target date for the
company's first full cargo mission.

In addition to fostering the development of new American cargo
vehicles, NASA also is helping spur innovation and development of new
spacecraft and launch vehicles from the commercial industry to
develop safe, reliable and cost-effective capabilities to transport
astronauts to low Earth orbit and the space station.

NASA also is developing the Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System
(SLS), a crew capsule and heavy-lift rocket that will provide an
entirely new capability for human exploration beyond low Earth orbit.
Designed to be flexible for launching spacecraft for crew and cargo
missions, SLS and Orion will expand human presence beyond low Earth
orbit and enable new missions of exploration across the solar system.

Re: The USA is back in space
 

May 22 was the best birthday I ever had, and no cake was involved!

Re: The USA is back in space
 

Congrats to SpaceX - that's quite an accomplishment.