SpaceX launches next-generation Dragon cargo ship to space station

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket propelled a next-generation SpaceX cargo ship into orbit on Sunday, the first in a new line of more spacious and capable Dragon capsules with many of the most advanced systems used by the company. Crew Dragon astronaut shuttles.

Bringing the company’s 21st supply to the International Space Station, the first under a subsequent contract with NASA, the new Cargo Dragon was loaded with more than 6,500 pounds of crew supplies, spare parts, scientific equipment and other equipment. , including a commercial airlock. for onboard experiments.

Unlike the original Dragon cargo ship, which had to be captured by the space station’s robotic arm to dock, the Dragon 2 is designed to fly by itself to dock in the same ports used by the Crew Dragon manned ships. However, unlike the crewed version, the cargo ship is not equipped with seats or an emergency abort system.

Delayed by a day due to inclement weather, the long-awaited mission began at 11:17 a.m. EST when the Falcon 9’s nine first-stage Merlin 1D engines came to life in a torrent of flames, pushing the 229-foot rocket off height away from pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center.

It was the 24th launch of the Falcon 9 so far this year, the 101st since the rocket’s debut in 2010, the 21st cargo launch of SpaceX ISS and the first of a Dragon 2 capsule.

Accelerating with 1.7 million pounds of thrust, the rocket quickly arched to the northeast, climbing straight into the plane of the space station’s orbit, a requirement for spacecraft trying to reach and dock with a target moving nearly 5 miles per second.

Two and a half minutes after liftoff, now well out of the thick lower atmosphere, the first leg, making its fourth flight, fell and flew to a landing in a SpaceX spacecraft. It was SpaceX’s 68th successful booster recovery and the 47th at sea.

Meanwhile, Falcon 9’s second stage continued its ascent into space, releasing the Dragon 2 capsule into the planned preliminary orbit 12 minutes after launch. If all goes well, the capsule will meet the station on Monday and head itself to dock at the upper port of the Harmony Advanced Module around 1:30 p.m.

The space station is equipped with eight docking ports, four used by Russian spacecraft and four at the front end of the laboratory that are available for American cargo ships and crew. Two of the US ports are used by visiting cargo ships that need the station’s robotic arm to dock.

However, the other two US ports are equipped with docking mechanisms that can accommodate automated connections by the SpaceX crew and Boeing’s CST-100 Starlink cargo dragons and crew ferry. The Crew Dragon spacecraft that carried four astronauts to the station last month is docked at the most advanced port of Harmony, while the cargo ship Dragon 2 will carry out the first docking at the upper port of the space-oriented module.

SpaceX won NASA contacts valued at $ 3.04 billion for 20 space station refueling flights through 2020 using the original Dragon cargo ship design and contracts for an unspecified amount covering at least nine additional flights through 2024 using the spacecraft. Space Dragon 2. The capsule launched on Sunday is the first of these.

SpaceX also has a $ 2.6 billion contract with NASA to build and launch the Crew Dragon manned capsule to transport astronauts to and from the space station. So far, three Crew Dragons, two with an astronaut crew and one without, have docked at the station.

For its maiden flight, the pressurized cabin of the cargo ship Dragon 2 was loaded with 803 pounds of crew supplies; 2,100 pounds of science equipment; 265 pounds of spacewalk gear; 698 pounds of vehicle hardware; 102 pounds of computer equipment; and 53 pounds of Russian hardware.

Stored in the pressure-free trunk section of the capsule was a 2,400-pound airlock developed by Nanoracks, a company that facilitates flights for private industry, university and government-sponsored experiments. The airlock will be connected to the port on the far left of the Tranquility module and periodically detached, exposing the experiments inside and mounted outside to the vacuum of space.

The station already has a Japanese experimental airlock, but the Nanoracks unit, known as Bishop Airlock, is about five times larger, said project manager Brock Howe.

“There are a lot of different environments that scientists can use, a lot of different volumes, a lot of different payload power, and data capabilities on board the airlock that will really enhance your ability to do really cool science,” he said.

Other equipment on board the Dragon 2 includes parts for the next-generation female-friendly toilet recently delivered by the lab, equipment for the station’s water recycling system, a nitrogen tank for cabin repressurization, and a rodents with research samples.

Among the ongoing experiments are two designed to study how microgravity affects heart and brain tissue and another called “BioAsteroid” that will test the role that microbes could play in future space mining operations.

“BioAsteroid is an experiment to study whether we can use microorganisms, bacteria or fungi, to extract economically interesting elements from asteroid material,” said lead researcher Charles Cockell, professor of astrobiology at the University of Edinburgh.

“It’s essentially what we would call a bio-mining experiment, and we hope to find out if we can use microbes to extract things like rare earth elements and other elements that can be used to maintain a self-sustaining human presence throughout the solar system.”