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SpaceX is ready for another Dragon cargo flight to the International Space Station, where supplies, supplies and experiments are planned for shipments 59 and 60.
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Joe Latrell
April 29, 2019
An archive photo of the CRS-16 Dragon space probe, which was launched on the ISS in December 2018. The launch of CRS-17 is scheduled for May 2019. Photo credit: Michael Howard / SpaceFlight Insider
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida – SpaceX is gearing up for another Dragon cargo flight to the International Space Station, sending food, supplies and experiments for shipments 59 and 60.
CRS-17 is scheduled to launch at the top of Falcon 9 in Block 5, at 3:59 am EDT (7:59 GMT) on May 1, 2019, from Space Launch Complex 40 at the Air Force Base. Cape Canaveral. Originally, the Falcon 9 rocket and the Dragon spacecraft were preparing to fly on April 26, but the constraints of orbital mechanics made May 1 a better choice.
According to 45 Meteorological Squadron, on April 29th, launch forecasts are expected to have an 80% chance that take-off conditions will be acceptable, with the main concerns being cumulus clouds and precipitation leakage. If the mission were to be postponed for an additional 24 hours, the conditions should be less favorable with a 30% chance of breaking the weather rules.
Anne McClain and David Saint-Jacques, of NASA and the Canadian Space Agency, of Expedition 59 astronauts, practice the robotic maneuver of Canadarm2 using the robotic workstation. in the Destiny module. Photo credit: NASA
Once launched, CRS-17 will be the 17th SpaceX cargo flight to ISS as part of NASA's commercial replenishment service contract and the second of the five as an extension of Phase 1. Phase 2, called CRS2, should start the company starting with CRS-21 at the earliest in 2020.
The recent incident in Cape Canaveral Air Force Base 1 landing zone, involving a static SuperDraco engine fire test on the crewed version of the Dragon ship, did not stop SpaceX or NASA launch the CRS-17 mission. The only change to the mission profile is the landing of the first leg.
SpaceX's cargo missions to the ISS usually involve the return of the first leg of the Falcon 9 to the landing zone 1. This was moved to its drone vessel named "Of course, I love you." still ", which should be parked just 28 km off the coast. The ongoing investigation into the anomaly of Crew Dragon would be at the origin of the change. However, SpaceX has been discreet about the incident since its initial statement on April 20.
In orbit, the CRS-17 Dragon is expected to take about two days to get to the ISS, then position itself at about 10 meters under the Destiny module. Once there, astronaut David Sating-Jacques of the Canadian Space Agency should use Canadarm2 Canadian robot to "grab" the spacecraft.
NASA astronaut Nick Hague is expected to replace Saint-Jacques. Christina Koch, NASA, will assist by monitoring telemetry during Dragon's approach, announced the US Space Agency.
After the capture, the ground-based teams must remotely control the arm to maneuver Dragon to connect it to the Harmony module port facing the Earth at the front end of the ISS. The traps between the station and the spacecraft should be opened a little later, after checking for leaks.
On board the CRS-17 Dragon, approximately 2,500 kilograms of supplies and replacement equipment for the crew of Expedition 59. This includes two instruments in the outer space of the spacecraft at Inside his chest: Orbiting Carbon Observatory 3 (OCO-3) and Space Test Program – Houston 6 (STP-H6).
A diagram of the OCO-3 payload. Image credit: NASA
According to NASA, the OCO-3 was manufactured using spare parts from the OCO-2 and should be connected to the exposed installation of the Japanese Kibo module located at the Before the ISS. The instrument is designed to measure and record carbon dioxide levels in the Earth's atmosphere and to search for carbon sources and sinks, areas of the planet that absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide.
Once connected to the ISS, the OCO-3 should work for about three years. The 1500-pound instrument (500 kilograms) has about the size of a refrigerator 6 x 3.2 x 2.6 feet (1.85 x 1.0 x 0.8 m).
STP-H6 is an X-ray communication demonstration, according to NASA. It is designed to use a "new X-ray generation technique that can be turned on and off at a much faster rate than traditional X-ray sources."
According to NASA, this technology could prove useful for "providing effective communication to deep space probes or for communicating with hypersonic vehicles where plasma sheaths impede traditional radio communications."
This instrument must be mounted on an external platform on the ISS and use the Neutron Star Interiors Dialer (NICER) as a receiver. NICER is already aboard the ISS (she was brought to the outpost by CRS-11 in June 2017) and associated with External Logistics Carrier-2 on the S3 farm.
Video provided by JPL
Tagged: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station CRS-17 Dragon Expedition 59 Stories from the International Space Station Falcon 9 NASA Space Launch Complex 40
Joe Latrell
Joe Latrell has been a space enthusiast ever since and has created his own
rocket company in Roswell, NM, in addition to other consumer spaces
efforts. He continues to design, build and launch his own rockets and is passionate about seeing the next generation excited about the possibilities offered by space exploration. Joe shares his experiences in the field of business and small business with organizations such as Teachers In Space, Inc. He is also actively engaged in his church, investing his many skills to help this business and other businesses with purpose non-profit.
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