The SpaceX CRS-6 (also known as the SpX-6 ) is the eighth flight of the SpaceX automatic Dragon cargo ship. The sixth flight in the ISS supply program, performed by SpaceX under a Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract with NASA .
SpaceX CRS-6 | |
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General information | |
A country | USA |
Organization | Spacex |
Customer | NASA |
Tasks | Delivery of cargo to / from the ISS |
Ship flight data | |
Ship name | Dragon C108 |
Carrier rocket | Falcon 9 v1.1 (R) |
Launch pad | US Air Force Base at Cape Canaveral , SLC-40 |
Launch | April 14, 2015 20:10 UTC |
Going into orbit | April 14, 2015 20:20 UTC |
Docking | April 17, 2015 13:29 UTC |
Docking place | Harmony ( nadir ) |
Undocking | May 21, 2015 09:19 UTC |
Joining time | 33 days, 19 hours, 50 minutes |
Landing | May 21, 2015 16:42 UTC |
Orbit | Low reference orbit |
Apogee | 357 km |
Perigee | 203 km |
Mood | 51.6 ° |
NSSDC ID | 2015-021A |
SCN | |
Payload | |
Delivered on ISS | 2015 kg |
Returned with ISS | 1370 kg |
Emblem | |
Related expeditions | |
External video files | |
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Launch webcast |
Content
Run
Prelaunch countdown on April 13, 2015 was interrupted 3 minutes before launch due to adverse weather conditions in the area of the launch pad.
The successful launch of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle took place on April 14, 2015 at 20:10 UTC from the SLC-40 launch site at Cape Canaveral [1] .
10 minutes after launch, the Dragon spacecraft was undocked from the second stage of the launch vehicle, and after another 2 minutes the wings of the solar panels opened successfully.
It was the seventeenth launch of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle and the twelfth launch of version v1.1.
Converging and Docking
On April 17, 2015, after two and a half days of flight, the Dragon spacecraft reached the International Space Station and at 10:55 UTC was captured by the Canadarm 2 manipulator, which was operated by astronauts Samantha Cristoforetti and Terry Wörts , and then docked to the Harmony module at 13:29 UTC [1] .
Payload
Dragon delivered to the ISS 2015 kilograms of payload (1898 kg, excluding packaging) in an airtight compartment, including [2] :
- Crew supplies and items - 500 kg
- Station equipment and parts - 518 kg
- Materials for scientific research - 844 kg
- Computers and accessories - 18 kg
- Spacewalk equipment - 18 kg
The first space coffee machine ISSpresso [3] , designed and manufactured in Italy [4], was delivered to the ISS. Also, 20 experimental mice were delivered to the station as part of Rodent Research-2, to study the effect of space flight on the immune system and the effects of increased intracranial pressure in microgravity [5] [6] [7] . On board the Dragon, the mice are delivered to the ISS for the second time, the first time within the framework of SpaceX CRS-4 .
Also, a 4-pound satellite telescope Arkyd-3 from Planetary Resources was delivered, instead of that lost during the accident of the Cygnus CRS Orb-3 mission and another series of 14 small Flock-1e satellites from Planet Labs for receiving high-resolution images of the Earth [5 ] . All satellites will be released directly from the station.
Dragon returned 1370 kilograms of payload (1248 kg, excluding packaging) back to Earth, including [2] :
- Crew stuff - 73 kg
- Station equipment and parts - 254 kg
- Research materials - 449 kg
- Computers and accessories - 2 kg
- Spacewalk equipment - 20 kg
- Rubbish - 450 kg
Undocking and returning
At 09:19 UTC on May 21, 2015, the ship was undocked from the Harmony module using the Canadarm 2 manipulator, under the control of astronaut Scott Kelly , and released at 11:04 UTC [1] .
At 16:42 UTC , the landing of the Dragon spacecraft was confirmed 250 km from the coast of California [8] .
First Stage Returns
External video files | |
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Landing first stage | |
Full version video | |
Video from the platform |
After the first stage of the launch vehicle was disconnected, a second attempt was made to land it on the Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship floating platform. The return to the atmosphere and the decrease were successful, but the landing was again too hard for the stage to survive [9] . According to Ilona Mask , the stage landed on the platform, but an excess of lateral speed led to its tilting after landing [10] . A short video of the landing stage, published by SpaceX after a few hours, demonstrates how close this attempt was to success [11] . The high-resolution video taken from the observer aircraft shows how the engines of the reactive control system , located in the upper part, are trying to equalize the tilting stage, but their power is not enough. Step falls to the platform and explodes.
A day later, Ilon Musk tweeted that the platform did not receive any serious damage and requires only minimal recovery [12] .
The reason for the unsuccessful landing attempt was the failure of the throttle valve of the central engine, which did not provide the expected response speed, which led to excessive maneuvering of the stage in the final landing phase. The next landing attempt on the platform was planned to be carried out within the framework of the SpaceX CRS-7 mission [13] , however, due to the launch vehicle accident and the loss of the ship during the third minute of flight, these plans remained unfulfilled.
Gallery
Links
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 Dragon SpX-6 Mission Updates (English) . spaceflight101.com.
- ↑ 1 2 SpaceX CRS-6 OVERVIEW (English) . nasa.gov. The appeal date is April 7, 2015.
- ↑ ISSpresso (English) . NASA (March 19, 2015). Archived April 18, 2015.
- ↑ 2014: COFFEE IN SPACE (English) . Argotec. Archived April 18, 2015.
- ↑ 1 2 Dragon SpX-6 Cargo Overwiew (eng.) . spaceflight101.com. The appeal date is April 15, 2015.
- Dent Rodent Research-2 (NASA # 1) Impact of Spacelight on Primary and Secondary Antibody Responses (Rodent Research-2 (NASA # 1)) - 04/03/15 (English) . Nasa The appeal date is April 15, 2015. Archived April 15, 2015.
- ↑ Rodent Research-2 (NASA # 2) Implications for Elevated Intracranial Pressure (Rodent Research-2 (NASA # 2)) - 04/03/15 (English) . Nasa The appeal date is April 15, 2015. Archived April 15, 2015.
- In atashl 12 (eng.) . twitter.com (21 May 2015).
- ↑ Musk, Elon . Ascent successful. Dragon enroute to Space Station. Rocket landed on droneship, but too hard for survival. (eng.) , twitter.com (14 April 2015). The appeal date is April 14, 2015.
- ↑ Musk, Elon . False backed landing (English) , twitter.com (14 April 2015). The appeal date is April 14, 2015.
- ↑ Falcon 9 first stage landing landing Read . Spacex . Vine (April 15, 2015). The appeal date is April 15, 2015.
- ↑ Musk, Elon . Droneship is fine. No hull breach and repairs are minor. Impact overpressure is closer to a fast fire than an explosion. (eng.) , twitter.com (15 April 2015).
- ↑ Musk, Elon . Throttle valve response response. Next attempt in 2 months. (eng.) , twitter.com (19 April 2015).