SpaceX CRS-3 (also known as SpX-3 ) is the fifth flight of SpaceX 's Dragon automatic cargo ship. The third flight in the ISS supply program, performed by SpaceX under a Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract with NASA .
| SpaceX CRS-3 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| General information | |
| A country |  USA |
| Organization | Spacex |
| Customer | NASA |
| Tasks | Cargo delivery to / from the ISS |
| Ship flight data | |
| Ship name | Dragon |
| Launch vehicle | Falcon 9 v1.1 (R) |
| Launch pad | US Air Force Base at Cape Canaveral , SLC-40 |
| Launch | April 18, 2014 , 19:25 UTC |
| Entry into orbit | April 18, 2014 19:35 UTC |
| Docking | April 20, 2014 14:06 UTC |
| Docking place | Harmony ( nadir ) |
| Undocking | May 18, 2014 11:55 UTC |
| Dock time | 27 days 21 hours 49 minutes |
| Landing | May 18, 2014 19:05 UTC |
| Orbit | Low reference orbit |
| Apogee | 333 km |
| Perigee | 312 km [1] |
| Mood | 51.65 ° |
| NSSDC ID | 2014-022A |
| SCN | |
| Payload | |
| Delivered on the ISS | 1518 kg (sealed) 571 kg (leaky) 28 kg (secondary load) |
| Returned with the ISS | 1563 kg |
| Emblem | |
 | |
| Associated Expeditions | |
Dragon is the only operating ISS supply ship capable of returning large volumes of cargo to Earth [2] .
Launch
Dragon’s first flight on a new version of the Falcon 9 v1.1 two-stage launch vehicle, in a heavier configuration, unlike previous launches on v1.0. The first launch of the launch vehicle in the Falcon 9 v1.1 (R) modification, equipped with reuse elements, including landing racks and a reactive control system (RCS) using compressed nitrogen. The Falcon 9 v1.1 was launched for the first time without a head fairing, and an experiment was successfully conducted on the soft landing of the first stage in the ocean.
The launch of the spacecraft was originally scheduled for March 16, 2014. After repeated transfers, the launch took place on the fourth attempt: the first time the launch was delayed for two weeks, until April 30, due to the presence of contamination in the cargo compartment of the Dragon spaceship. The second time the start was postponed due to a malfunction of the USAF tracking system radar [1] .
The reason for the third transfer of the launch, scheduled for April 14, was an abnormal pressure in one helium valve of the stage separation system, detected during pre-launch testing of the systems. Despite the fact that further checks did not reveal a leak, as well as the availability of a backup system for supplying helium to the pneumatic mechanisms for separating steps, it was decided to postpone the start until April 18, in order to further check the system [3] .
The Falcon 9 v1.1 (R) booster rocket uses compressed helium for numerous purposes: creating increased pressure in the fuel tanks, separating stages, accelerating turbopump units of Merlin 1D engines , and unfolding landing racks [1] .
The launch took place on April 18, 2014 at 19:25 UTC .
10 minutes after the launch, after the upper stage of the launch vehicle reached the target orbit with indicators of 312 x 333 km, the inclination is 51.65 °, the spacecraft was undocked. A few minutes later, after the maneuver of the step preventing the collision with the ship, the secondary load of the mission, 5 small satellites, with a total weight of 28 kg: KickSat, All-Star / THEIA, SporeSat, PhoneSat 2.5 and TSAT [1] was separated.
Convergence and Docking
On April 20, the spacecraft reached the station and at 11:14 UTC was captured by the Canadarm-2 manipulator, which was controlled by astronauts: ISS-39 commander Koichi Wakata (during the capture) and Richard Mastraccio (during docking with the ISS), and then was docked to Harmony module at 14:06 UTC .
On April 30, with the help of the ISS Canadianadarm-2 and Dextr manipulators , the HDEV apparatus was removed from the non-hermetic container, on May 7 - the OPALS apparatus [1] .
Payload
Dragon delivered 1,518 kilograms of payload to the ISS in an airtight compartment, including [4] :
- Provisions and things for the crew - 476 kg
- Materials for scientific research - 715 kg
- Equipment for EVA - 123 kg
- Equipment and station details - 204 kg
- Computers and accessories - 0.6 kg
Among other things, the ship delivered a pair of legs for Robonaut 2 , the experimental farm, a refurbished spacesuit # 3003, and spare parts for the spacesuits.
In the non-pressurized compartment, the following were delivered: High Definition Earth Viewing ( camera and (Optical Payload for Lasercomm Science) laser communication system, which were later deployed aboard the ISS using the Canada -2 and Dexter . The total weight of the devices is 571 kg.
Dragon returned 1563 kilograms of payload back to Earth, including [4] :
- Crew items - 158 kg
- Materials of scientific research - 741 kg
- Station equipment and details - 376 kg
- Equipment for EVA - 285 kg
- Computers and accessories - 4 kg
Among other things, two GLACIER freezers connected to the ship’s network have been returned. To repair the sublimator, the spacesuit # 3015, placed in the ship on a special rack, on which the repaired spacesuit # 3003 was delivered to the ISS, was returned to Earth. A pump separator from the suit # 3010 was also returned for repair on Earth.
Docking and Returning
The ship was loaded for a week, on May 17, experimental samples critical to the delivery time were loaded, after which the ship's hatch was closed.
The undocking was carried out by the ISS-40 expedition commander Stephen Swanson , he was assisted by the astronaut Alexander Skvortsov , and the astronaut Oleg Artemyev also participated in the loading of the ship and preparations for the undocking.
On May 18, at 12:00 UTC, Dragon was undocked with the Harmony module using the Canadaarm-2 manipulator. At 12:50 UTC, the ship was diverted by the manipulator 10 meters from the station, and after the necessary checks, Canadarm-2 latches were opened at 13:26 UTC. With the help of three engine starts, Dragon left the station for 6 km. At 18:12 UTC, the engines were turned on for 10 minutes to leave the ship from orbit.
At 18:53 UTC, a parachute was opened at an altitude of 13.7 km, and at 19:05 UTC, the Dragon splashed 490 km west of the coast of California [2] .
First Stage Return
2 minutes 43 seconds after launch, the first stage of the Falcon 9 v1.1 (R) launch vehicle was disconnected from the second stage at an altitude of about 80 km and a speed of about 10 Machs . An experiment was conducted on controlled reduction, disclosure of supports and splashdown. Due to the storm in the area of the splashdown, the step was not found, however, according to telemetry data obtained, including from a plane flying in the landing area, the experiment is considered successful.
Elon Musk said that the latest telemetry data obtained on the air in the flight control center showed a speed of 360 m / s, an altitude of 8.5 km and virtually no longitudinal rotation of the stage. The latter is important due to the fact that during the previous splashdown attempt, due to the strong rotation of the stage, the fuel was centrifuged in the tanks, which led to interruptions in its supply and the inability to start the engines. Subsequent viewing of telemetry data recorded by the aircraft up to the stage touching the water confirmed the soft splashdown of the stage [5] .
Gallery
Links
- Video. SpaceX-3 Launch nasa.gov .
- Video. Launch SpaceX CRS-3 (Eng.) . nasa .
- Video. Capture and dock SpaceX CRS-3 (eng.) . nasa .
- Video. Opening the SpaceX CRS-3 hatch . nasa .
- ISS astronauts mailbox: “Dragon” in free flight .
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 Dragon SpX-3 Mission Updates . spaceflight101.com (May 23, 2014). Date of treatment April 7, 2015.
- ↑ 1 2 SpaceX Dragon Spacecraft Returns Critical NASA Science from Space Station .
- ↑ Bergin, Chris . SpaceX, NASA realign launch and EVA scenarios , nasaspaceflight.com (April 16, 2014). Date of treatment April 7, 2015.
- ↑ 1 2 SpaceX-3 Cargo By-The-Numbers and Science Highlights . nasa.gov (April 7, 2014). Date of treatment April 7, 2015.
- ↑ Ulanoff, Lance . SpaceX Successfully Soft-Landed Booster Rocket in the Atlantic , mashable.com (April 25, 2014). Date of treatment April 7, 2015.