Dragon (spacecraft)

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SpaceX Dragon spacecraft
Manned and cargo Dragon spacecraft.jpg
Artist's rendering of the cargo variant of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft (bottom) and the manned variant (top right) both connected to the ISS.
Description
Role: Commercial: various roles that put humans and cargo into LEO[1]
Government: supply the International Space Station after retirement of the Shuttle
Crew: Dragon Cargo: 0
Dragon Crew: 7
Carrier Rocket: Falcon 9
Dimensions
Height: 2.9 m 9.51 ft
Diameter: 3.6 m 11.8 ft
Sidewall angle: 15 degrees
Pressurized Volume:[2] 10 m3 353 cu ft
Unpressurized Volume:[2] 14 m3 494 cu ft
Unpressurized Volume
(with additional trunk extended):[2]		 34 m3 1,200 cu ft
Mass:[3] 4,200 kg 9,260 lb
Launch Payload:[2] 6,000 kg 13,228 lb
Return Payload:[2] 3,000 kg 6,614 lb
Performance
Endurance: 1 week to 2 years[2]
Re-entry: 3.5 g's[4]

The Dragon is a reusable spacecraft developed by SpaceX, a private space transportation company based in Hawthorne, California. During its uncrewed maiden flight in December 2010, it became the first commercially-built and -operated spacecraft to ever be successfully recovered from orbit.[5]

The Dragon is contracted to deliver cargo to the International Space Station (ISS) under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services program, and was initially planned to fly a test mission to the ISS in February 2012,[6] although this was later rescheduled.[7] Additionally, NASA awarded SpaceX a Commercial Crew Development astronaut-transportation contract in April 2011. The Dragon is designed to carry up to seven astronauts, or a mixture of personnel and cargo, to and from low Earth orbit. The Dragon's heat shield is furthermore designed to withstand re-entry velocities from potential lunar and Martian space flights, for which it has been proposed as a crew vehicle.[8]

Contents

[edit] Design

The Dragon is a conventional blunt-cone ballistic capsule with a nose-cone cap that jettisons to reveal a standard ISS Common Berthing Mechanism. This mechanism allows Dragon to be captured by the ISS's Mobile Servicing System (Canadarm2) and berthed to the station's non-Russian segments. The crewed variant of the Dragon will use the NASA Docking System (NDS) for docking.[citation needed]

The Dragon capsule is launched atop a Falcon 9 booster.[9] SpaceX has built a full-sized prototype of the capsule and thoroughly tested its life support system.[10] During its initial cargo and crew flights, the Dragon will land in the Pacific Ocean and be air-lifted to the shore by helicopter, although SpaceX plans to eventually install deployable landing gear and use eight upgraded SuperDraco thrusters to perform a land-based landing.[11][12][13]

[edit] Development

Development started on the Dragon capsule in 2005. In 2006, SpaceX was contracted by NASA to begin demonstration flights of the capsule under the COTS program (see NASA partnership).[14] In June 2009, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk stated that the company planned to conduct the maiden flight of the Dragon spacecraft in 2009, and have the capsule enter service in 2010, before the scheduled final flight of the Space Shuttle.[15] However, the Dragon's maiden flight did not ultimately occur until December 2010, and the Space Shuttle was retired in July 2011, prior to the beginning of the Dragon's commercial operations.[16]

On 23 February 2009, SpaceX announced that its chosen heat shield material, PICA-X (a proprietary variant of NASA's phenolic impregnated carbon ablator (PICA) material), had passed heat stress tests in preparation for the Dragon's maiden launch.[17] In 2010, Elon Musk stated that the Dragon "is capable of re-entering from a Lunar velocity, or even a Mars velocity with the heat shield that it has."[18] PICA-X is ten times less expensive to manufacture than the NASA PICA heat shield material.[19]

An early Dragon pressure vessel, photographed during factory tests in 2008.

The first flight of a stripped-down version of the Dragon capsule occurred in June 2010, during the Falcon 9 rocket's maiden flight. This Dragon Spacecraft Qualification Unit was originally used as a non-flying test bed to validate several of the capsule's systems. During its first flight, the unit's primary mission was to relay aerodynamic data captured during the ascent.[20][21] The Dragon spacecraft itself first flew on 8 December 2010, during the second flight of the Falcon 9.[22]

The docking target system for the Dragon module, the DragonEye, was tested in 2009 during the STS-127 Space Shuttle mission, when it was mounted near Space Shuttle Endeavour's docking port and used while the shuttle approached the International Space Station. The DragonEye's LIDAR and thermal imaging capabilities were both tested successfully.[23][24] The DragonEye flew again on STS-133 in February 2011 for further on-orbit testing.[25]

Wikinews has related news: SpaceX Dragon spacecraft certified by US Federal Aviation Administration

On 22 November 2010, NASA announced that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had issued a reentry license for the Dragon capsule, the first such license ever awarded to a commercial vehicle.[26]

In summer 2009, SpaceX hired former NASA astronaut Ken Bowersox as vice president of their new Astronaut Safety and Mission Assurance Department, in preparation for crews using the spacecraft.[27] In 2009 and 2010, Elon Musk suggested on several occasions that plans for a crewed variant of the Dragon were proceeding and had a two-to-three-year timeline to completion.[28][29]

[edit] NASA partnership

The Dragon capsule being lowered onto its cargo ring at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in November 2011, during pre-launch processing for its COTS 2 demonstration mission.

[edit] Commercial cargo transport contracts

In 2005, NASA solicited commercial rocket companies to submit proposals for its Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program, which entails the commercial resupply of the ISS, replacing the now-retired Space Shuttle. The Dragon spacecraft was part of SpaceX's proposal, submitted to NASA in March 2006. SpaceX's team for the COTS proposal consisted of a number of companies including MD Robotics, the Canadian company that built the ISS's Canadarm2.

On 18 August 2006, NASA announced that SpaceX had been chosen, along with Kistler Aerospace, to develop cargo launch services for the ISS.[30] The initial plan called for three demonstration flights of SpaceX's Dragon capsule to be conducted between 2008 and 2010.[31] SpaceX and Kistler were to receive up to $278 million and $207 million respectively,[31] if they met all NASA milestones, but Kistler failed to meet its obligations, and its contract was terminated in 2007.[32] NASA decided to re-award Kistler's portion of the contract after a competition.[32] On 19 February 2008 NASA announced that it had chosen Orbital Sciences as the new winner.[33]

NASA awarded a $1.6 billion cargo delivery contract to SpaceX on 23 December 2008, with options that potentially increase the maximum contract value to $3.1 billion.[34] The contract calls for 12 flights to the ISS, with a minimum of 20,000 kg (44,000 lb) of cargo carried to the ISS.[34] COTS Demo Flight 1, the first of three contracted demonstration flights, was successfully flown on 8 December 2010.[35] In December 2011, NASA combined the COTS 2 and 3 mission objectives into one Falcon 9/Dragon flight, COTS 2/3, and initially scheduled it to launch on 7 February 2012.[36] However, SpaceX rescheduled the launch in January 2012, stating that the spacecraft needed further preparation work.[7] If COTS 2/3 is successful, commercial resupply flights to the ISS will begin in 2012.[36]

[edit] Commercial crew development contracts

In December 2010, SpaceX submitted a proposal under NASA's Commercial Crew Development program to transport astronauts to the International Space Station after the retirement of the Space Shuttle in 2011. Under phase 2 of the program, SpaceX proposed to develop an integrated launch escape system design for the Dragon spacecraft, with several claimed advantages over the more traditional tractor tower approaches used on all prior crewed spacecraft.[37][38] These advantages include:[39]

  • provision for crew escape all the way to orbit
  • reusability, since the integrated escape system returns to earth with the spacecraft, and reduces mission cost
  • improved crew safety, due to the elimination of one stage separation from the launch profile
  • escape engines which may be used during the landing phase for a precise land landing of Dragon under rocket power. An emergency parachute provides a redundant backup for the landing.

A video simulation of this escape system's operation was released in January 2011.[12] According to Elon Musk, the developmental cost of a crewed Dragon and Falcon 9 would be between $800 million and $1 billion.[40]

In April 2011, NASA announced that SpaceX would receive $75 million under the CCDev 2 program to advance the development of its side-mounted launch abort system and crew transportation capsule. The CCDev 2 program between NASA and SpaceX began in April 2011 and will run until May 2012. NASA is aiming to be able to fly commercial vehicles to the ISS by 2016.[38] SpaceX's launch abort system received preliminary design approval from NASA in October 2011.[41] In January 2012, SpaceX successfully conducted full-duration tests of its SuperDraco landing/escape rocket at its Rocket Development Facility in McGregor, Texas.[42]

[edit] "Red Dragon" Mars mission

As of July 2011, NASA Ames Research Center is developing a concept for a low-cost Mars-exploration mission utilising a Falcon Heavy as the launch vehicle and trans-Martian injection vehicle, and the Dragon capsule to enter the Martian atmosphere and house the Mars surface science experiments. The concept would be proposed in 2012/2013 as a NASA Discovery mission for launch in 2018 and arrival at Mars several months later. The science objectives of the mission would include the search for evidence of life on Mars — detecting "molecules that are proof of life, like DNA or perchlorate reductase ... proof of life through biomolecules. ... Red Dragon would drill 100 cm (3.3 ft) or so underground, in an effort to sample reservoirs of water ice known to lurk under the red dirt."[43] The mission cost is projected to be less than $425,000,000 USD, not including the launch cost.[43] Preliminary plans indicate that a "substantially unmodified" Dragon capsule has the capability to deliver approximately 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) of payload mass to the Martian surface.[44]

Red Dragon will utilize the same propulsion system for descent and landing that is used on the LEO crewed version of the capsule. Preliminary analysis indicates that Dragon "contains most of the features necessary for a Mars lander" and would be capable of performing the necessary Entry, Descent and Landing (EDL) functions, "including deceleration from hypersonic to supersonic speeds, initiation of a terminal descent and then achieve a controlled soft landing, cost-effectively for NASA.[44]

[edit] Maiden flight

The maiden launch of the SpaceX Dragon on a Falcon 9 rocket on 8 December 2010.

On 8 December 2010, a Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral in Florida, carrying an uncrewed SpaceX Dragon on COTS Demo Flight 1. The launch was a success, and the Dragon cleanly separated from the Falcon approximately 10 minutes after launch. Three hours of orbital maneuvering tests were conducted at an altitude of 300 kilometres (190 mi; 160 nmi) before a deorbit burn was conducted, putting the Dragon on a re-entry course that ended in a successful splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, approximately 800 kilometres (500 mi; 430 nmi) west of Mexico's Pacific coast.[45]

The recovery of the Dragon capsule in the Pacific Ocean after re-entry.

SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell stated that this was the first of three primary flight tests under the NASA COTS contract. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden offered his congratulations to SpaceX on the company's successful mission.[46]

Though the Dragon capsule transported neither passengers nor practical cargo, the SpaceX team launched the spacecraft with a small piece of secret payload. It was revealed more than a day after the successful flight that the secret cargo was a wheel of Le Brouère cheese. The stunt was said to be an homage to the well-known Cheese Shop sketch from the British comedy series, Monty Python's Flying Circus. SpaceX's CEO did not reveal the identity of the cargo during the post-splashdown news conference, for fear of the joke overshadowing the company's accomplishments.[47]

[edit] Specifications

The Dragon spacecraft can carry up to seven passengers in its crew transportation configuration[14] or 6,000 kg (13,000 lb) and 24 m3 (850 cu ft) of payload, optionally extensible to 44 m3 (1,600 cu ft), to LEO in its cargo configuration[14]

General specifications for the spacecraft that apply to both its crew and cargo configurations include:

Artist's rendering of the cargo variant of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft (bottom) berthing to the International Space Station (top).

[edit] Uncrewed version

Dragon Cargo

When used for contract space cargo transportation to and from the ISS for NASA, the uncrewed version of the Dragon spacecraft is referred to as the Dragon Cargo. As of November 2011, the SpaceX launch manifest lists 12 Dragon Cargo missions contracted to NASA for ISS resupply – two per year in 2012 and 2013, three during 2014, and five scheduled for 2015.[49]

DragonLab

When used for non-NASA, non-ISS commercial flights, the uncrewed version of the Dragon spacecraft is named DragonLab.[50] It is reusable, free-flying, and is capable of carrying both pressurized and unpressurized payloads. Its subsystems include propulsion, power, thermal and environmental control, avionics, communications, thermal protection, flight software, guidance and navigation systems, and entry, descent, landing, and recovery gear.[2] It has a total combined up-mass of 6,000 kilograms (13,000 lb) upon launch, and a maximum down-mass of 3,000 kilograms (6,600 lb) when returning to Earth.[2] As of November 2011, there are two DragonLab missions listed on the SpaceX launch manifest: one in 2014 and another in 2015.[49]

[edit] General specifications

Pressure vessel
  • 10 m3 (350 cu ft) interior pressurized, environmentally-controlled, payload volume.[2]
  • Onboard environment: 10–46 degrees Celsius (50–115 °F); relative humidity 25~75%; 13.9~14.9 psia air pressure (958.4~1027 hPa).[2]
Unpressurized sensor bay (recoverable payload)
Unpressurized trunk (non-recoverable)
  • 14 m3 (490 cu ft) payload volume in the 2.3 m (7 ft 7 in) trunk, aft of the pressure vessel heat shield, with optional trunk extension to 4.3 m (14 ft 1 in) total length, payload volume increases to 34 cubic metres (1,200 cu ft).[2]
  • Supports sensors and space apertures up to 3.5 m (11 ft 6 in) in diameter.[2]
Power, telemetry and command systems

[edit] Production

In December 2010, the SpaceX production line was reported to be manufacturing one new Dragon spacecraft every three months.[51]

[edit] See also

Comparable vehicles

[edit] References

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  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Dragonlab datasheet, 18 September 2009. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
  3. ^ "SpaceX Brochure – 2008" (PDF). http://www.spacex.com/SpaceX_Brochure_V7_All.pdf. Retrieved 9 December 2010. 
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  40. ^ NASA expects a gap in commercial crew funding, Spaceflightnow.com, 2010-10-11, accessed 2011-2-28.
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  42. ^ "SpaceX Tests New ‘Super’ Rocket Engines". Wired, 1 February 2012.
  43. ^ a b Wall, Mike (31 July 2011). "'Red Dragon' Mission Mulled as Cheap Search for Mars Life". SPACE.com. http://www.space.com/12489-nasa-mars-life-private-spaceship-red-dragon.html. Retrieved 31 July 2011. 
  44. ^ a b John Karcz et al (2011-10-31). "Red Dragon: Feasibility of a Dragon-derived Mars lander for scientific and human-precursor investigations". RLV and Space Transport News (NASA--The Spaceport). http://www.thespaceport.us/forum/index.php?app=core&module=attach&section=attach&attach_id=23064. Retrieved 2011-12-15. 
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