Showing posts with label CRS-5. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CRS-5. Show all posts

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Falcon 9 Delivers Dragon, Just Misses Landing


On Saturday, January 10, SpaceX's Falcon 9 flagship rocket launched a supply capsule to the International Space Station for the fifth time under a commercial resupply contract with NASA. The night launch out of Cape Canaveral was flawless in its beauty. Capture (aka catch the dragon with a robotic arm on the ISS) and docking of the capsule went as planned. 


 Image credit: SpaceX / NASA
SpaceX's Dragon CRS-5 being grappled and docked by astronauts aboard the International Space Station, with a little help from Houston Mission Control.

  
The historic aspect of this mission - landing Falcon 9's upper stage on a barge using technology developed by SpaceX - fell just short of its goal. The rocket reached the drone ship in the Atlantic, but didn't land on point. It crashed and damaged structures on the ship. Still, considering the difficulty of precision-landing a used rocket on a ship in the ocean, it was a bold attempt, a first in the history of rocketry. SpaceX is optimistic they will stick the landing next time.

The technological leap that comes with reliable reusability technology is significant. Capsules that return to Earth have historically landed inside vast target zones, such as the ocean (Apollo) or the Russian tundra (Soyuz), using parachutes and braking rockets. The precise landing spot is uncertain and ground support teams must locate the capsule once it has splashed or touched down. Since the Space Shuttle retirement, these imprecise landings are the only option we have to return astronauts to Earth. Compare that to the precision inherent in landing on a 300-by-170 foot (90-by-50 m) barge, and eventually a pad on land. Yes, a rocket isn't reusable if it reaches a specific spot and crashes on it, but I'm certain SpaceX is on its way to getting it right.

Elon Musk, SpaceX's CEO, posted this series of tweets, with his characteristic understatement and humor:




















Update January 16, 2015: 

Late last night, Elon Musk released drone footage pictures of the almost-landing and its aftermath on twitter. These tweets appeared as @ replies to another user, so they are not as visible as his regular tweets and got somewhat less attention than usual. In addition, these images were released the same day as the announcement of the Hyperloop test track construction in Texas, which dominated yesterday's coverage of Elon Musk. Well played, Elon!













I would have called it "involuntary full conversion of an asset" but RUD is good, too! Of course this wouldn't be Elon Musk tweeting without this next tweet. Unlike the others above, it appears in his main tweet stream (not tweets & replies) so it got a lot more attention in terms of FVs and RTs:



A few hours ago, a video of the (crash) landing appeared in SpaceX's main tweet stream:





As someone who has previously critiqued media coverage of SpaceX and its CEO, I noted a change in the tone used by space and science writers to cover the rocket company and its CEO over the past year, and especially today. Gone are the diminutive references and labels of SpaceX as a "scrappy startup". In its place are grudging acknowledgments that SpaceX is, in fact, a major player in the industry, evidenced by descriptors of Elon Musk as, for example, "space boss". I predict this will become "industry leader" within a year.




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Tuesday, December 16, 2014

SpaceX's Jan. 10 CRS-5 Launch Includes Precision-Landing Upper Rocket Stage On Barge



Update - January 8: SpaceX's CRS-5 resupply mission to the ISS has been postponed to Saturday, January 10, 1:47 a.m. PST (10:47 CET) - a weekend night launch. I'm sure other West Coast night owls like myself will stay awake to watch and live tweet the launch, given the historic nature of this mission. NASA TV will provide live coverage, starting at 12:30 a.m. PST (9:30 CET). Details about this mission are below the Update sections.



Update - January 6: Today's launch attempt was scrubbed at the last minute due to a problem with an actuator assembly, a part of the rocket's second stage engine steering system. The next launch attempt is scheduled for Friday, January 9, at 2:09 a.m. PST (11:09 CET) - an almost reasonable time for us West Coast night owls. SpaceX is characteristically stingy with details; Elon Musk posted this tweet today:
 



Update - December 18: Due to issues with a static fire test this week, SpaceX has moved the launch date to January 6, 2015, at 3:18 a.m. PST (12:18 CET).





Delayed multiple times since September, SpaceX's cargo delivery to the International Space Station is scheduled for January 10, 1:47 a.m. PST (10:47 CET), launching a Dragon cargo capsule atop a Falcon 9 rocket from pad SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral. This mission will be the private space company's fifth cargo delivery to the ISS under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services contract. 

The mission is named CRS-5 and here is its patch. I like how the launch state of Florida is marked in a lighter blue color. Naturally, the traditional SpaceX clover leaf is there as well. What I like most about it is that Falcon 9 is practically bursting out of the confines of this beautiful patch, conveying anticipation, excitement and confidence in what's ahead. The Dragon capsule on the right has already found a way to escape its patch boundaries, but, hey, that lucky capsule is going to the International Space Station, so Dragon's impatience is quite understandable!


 


For SpaceX, CRS-5 is quite a bit more than another supply run to the ISS, as the company will further test re-usability functions and performance of its flagship Falcon 9 rocket. From its inception, SpaceX has aimed to make spaceflight more affordable and accessible. Reusable rocket stages are a crucial factor in the quest to develop rockets that are significantly cheaper to fly than their single-use counterparts. Notice the upside down V-shaped structures on the rocket in the patch - or, from a Trekkie's perspective, the Star Trek emblem-shaped structures affixed to this Falcon 9 stage. These are Falcon 9's landing legs for attempting a soft landing on a spaceport barge.

On a mission earlier this year, SpaceX began post-launch re-usability testing by guiding the Falcon 9's rocket stage to hover upright above the ocean for a few seconds before it tipped over sideways into the water. SpaceX uses a combination of landing legs, grid fins, retro rockets and stabilizing technologies, enabling Falcon 9's upper stage to perform a precision soft landing on water and eventually on land.

 This time, Falcon 9's upper stage is expected to land on an autonomous spaceport drone ship. On twitter, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk gave us a glimpse of what to expect on January 10 - a historic milestone never before achieved: precisely land and recover a rocket that is intact and reusable, without the need to fish it out of the water.









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Sunday, November 30, 2014

This Holiday Season..... Don't Miss These Launches!


Even though it's practically December that doesn't mean the year is winding down for spaceflight. On the contrary, it's going to be a busy month: Fourteen launches are scheduled for the month of December, roughly one every other day, and there are some you don't want to miss!


(No earlier than) December 2/3

Hayabusa 2 will launch on an asteroid sample return mission atop an H-2A rocket from Tanegashima Space Center, Japan. Hayabusa 2 is slated to rendezvous with asteroid 1999 JU3 in 2018 and tasked with returning a sample to Earth in 2020. This is JAXA's second asteroid sample retrieval mission. The first Hayabusa craft returned an asteroid sample to Earth in 2010. "Hayabusa" is Japanese for peregrine falcon.

If Hayabusa 2 launches on December 3, the launch time in the U.S. fill fall on December 2: 11:22 p.m. EST / 8:22 p.m. PST. Hayabusa 2 has been delayed twice due to weather. I will post updates here if the launch slips again. 


Image credit: JAXA




December 4

NASA is scheduled to launch its new Orion multi-purpose crew vehicle on its first uncrewed mission to space: Exploration Flight Test One (EFT-1). Orion marks NASA's return to human spaceflight and is widely expected to pave the space agency's path to crewed Mars landings and other deep space missions. 

A United Launch Alliance's Delta 4-Heavy rocket will carry the Orion craft to orbit. This is a heavy lift vehicle with a triple-body rocket that brings the power of the Saturn V from the Apollo era Moon landings back to the launch pad at Cape Canaveral in Florida. Orion will reach an altitude of 3,600 miles above Earth. For comparison, the International Space Station orbit is ca. 220 miles above Earth. The Space Shuttle, retired in 2011, was not capable of traveling beyond low Earth orbit.

Exploration Flight Test One will test many of Orion's critical systems, such as its heat shield that must withstand temperatures of 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit as re-entry speed reaches 20,000 miles per hour. Other Orion components to be tested during EFT-1 include the launch abort system and the parachute system that will help land Orion off the coast of California after completing two orbits.

The launch window for EFT-1 on December 4 is 7:05-9:44 a.m. EST / 4:05-6:44 a.m. PST. This is going to be rough on us West Coasters.


 Image credit: NASA
Update 2 - December 18: SpaceX CRS-5 launch moved up into the first week of January 2015. Click here for current updates and more info about the new launch date and time.  

Update 1 - December 16: Launch re-scheduled for December 19, 10:22 a.m. PST (19:22 CET)

December 16 (original date before re-schedules)

Delayed multiple times since September 12, SpaceX's cargo delivery to the International Space Station is now scheduled for December 16, launching a Dragon cargo capsule atop a Falcon 9 rocket from pad SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral. This mission will be the private space company's fifth cargo delivery to the ISS under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services contract. The mission is named CRS-5 and has a brief launch window: 2:31 p.m. EST / 11:31 a.m. PST.

 For SpaceX, CRS-5 is quite a bit more than another supply run to the ISS, as the company will further test the re-usability of its flagship Falcon 9 rocket. From its inception, SpaceX has aimed to make spaceflight more affordable and accessible. Reusable rocket stages are a crucial factor in the quest to develop rockets that are significantly cheaper to fly than single-use rockets. 

 On a mission earlier this year, SpaceX began post-launch re-usability testing by guiding the Falcon 9's upper stage (the rocket stage to be recovered) to hoever upright above the ocean for a few seconds before it tipped over sideways into the water. SpaceX uses a combination of landing legs, grid fins, retro rockets and stabilizing technologies to enable Falcon 9's upper stage to perform a precision soft landing on water and eventually on land.

 This time, Falcon 9's upper stage is expected to land on an autonomous spaceport drone ship. Last week on twitter, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk gave us a glimpse of what to expect on December 16 - a historic milestone never before achieved: precisely land and recover a rocket that is intact and reusable, without the need to fish it out of the water.




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