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SpaceX COTS Demo Flight 2

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Template:Infobox berthing cargo spacecraft

COTS Demo Flight 2 is the second test-flight for SpaceX's uncrewed Dragon cargo spacecraft, Dragon C2+, and the third overall flight for the company's two-stage Falcon 9 launch vehicle. The Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Dragon C2+ flight was successfully launched from Cape Canaveral on 22 May 2012. It was the first United States vehicle to visit the International Space Station (ISS) since the end of the Space Shuttle program. It was the first commercial spacecraft ever to rendezvous and berth with another spacecraft. The flight is under contract to NASA as the second Dragon mission in the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) phase one program. The purpose of the COTS program is to develop and demonstrate commercial sources for cargo re-supply of the ISS.

Initially, the mission was to carry out a fly-by of the ISS, practice rendezvous maneuvers and berthing communications, and return to Earth. In July 2011, NASA gave tentative approval for combining the objectives of the COTS 2 mission with the actual berthing mission, the COTS Demo Flight 3. In December 2011, NASA formally approved the merger of the COTS 2 and 3 missions into the Dragon C2+ flight.

There were several launch date delays before the actual launch date, the last delay occurring on 19 May 2012, due to a launch abort during the last second before liftoff. Once aloft, during the mission's first three days, it tested rendezvous techniques and communications between Dragon and the ISS. It passed all requirements, and successfully completed all COTS 2 objectives.

The mission's COTS 3 phase began on 25 May when Dragon rendezvoused again with the ISS and then was successfully captured using the Canadarm2. It was berthed to the station later that day, using the robotic arm. After checking its air-quality, the station's crew first entered the Dragon on 26 May to begin the cargo unloading process. Dragon will be staying for about a week: enough time for the astronauts to unload cargo, and then reload it with Earth-bound cargo. On 31 May, it is expected to be unberthed and returned to Earth via a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean near the California coast. If all the COTS objectives are successfully completed, then the Falcon 9-Dragon system will be certified to start regular cargo delivery missions to the ISS.

History

COTS 2 Dragon capsule being lowered onto its trunk at LC-40 on 16 November 2011 during pre-launch processing.

NASA and SpaceX signed a contract for COTS cargo resupply services on 18 August 2006.[1][2] The agreement called for three test-flights, under the COTS phase 1 demonstration program.[3] The first COTS mission, COTS Demo Flight1, was completed successfully on 8 December 2010, when the Dragon capsule was successfully recovered from orbit, making it the first commercially built and operated spacecraft to ever do so.[4] Due to the mission's success, SpaceX lobbied NASA to combine the COTS 2 ISS flyby flight, which would have seen a Dragon spacecraft approach the station but stay about 10 km away from it, and the COTS 3 flight that would berth with the ISS.[3] At a 15 July 2011 meeting, NASA tentatively approved combining the two COTS missions to accelerate the program into the operational supply mission phase in 2012.[5] On 9 December, NASA officially approved the merger of the COTS 2 and 3 missions into the renamed Dragon C2+ flight.[6][7] It is expected to be the first American vehicle to visit the ISS since the end of the Space Shuttle program, and the first commercial spacecraft ever to rendezvous and be berthed with another spacecraft.[8]

The Falcon 9 launch vehicle arrived at SpaceX's Cape Canaveral, Florida facilities at Launch Complex 40 (LC-40) in July 2011.[9] The mission's Dragon spacecraft arrived at the launch site on 23 October 2011.[10] On 1 March 2012, a fueled countdown test called a Wet Dress Rehearsal (WDR), was successfully completed for the COTS 2 mission.[11] On 16 April its Flight Readiness Review (FRR) was completed by NASA and stated that a 30 April launch was feasible.[11][12] Following the review SpaceX announced a launch delay, due to continued flight software testing issues, and the next major mission milestone was the successful Falcon 9 static-fire engine test on 30 April.[13] NASA approved Dragon's flight software on 11 May, solving an issue that had previously been responsible for several launch date postponements.[14] On 17 May, the mission passed its final launch review and the Falcon 9/Dragon were erected on the launch pad in preparation for the launch.[15] The first launch attempt, on 19 May, was aborted at T-00:00:00.5 due to a pressure issue in one of the Falcon 9's engines.[16] The launch window was nearly instantaneous, for fuel-efficiency reasons, leaving little margin for error due to fuel consumption restrictions caused by the extra manoeuvres required to certify the Dragon spaceship before attempting to berth with the ISS.[17] Dragon's launch window could have been longer, but the extra fuel required to catch the ISS would have likely surpassed safety margins, due to the pre-berthing tests.[18][19]

Mission plan

Flight day 1, launch (22 May)

The COTS 2 Falcon 9 successfully launches with the Dragon spacecraft on 22 May 2012.

Launch occurred at 03:44 EDT (07:44 UTC) on 22 May.[20] After the launch, main engine cut-off occurred at approximately the 180 second mark, the first stage fell away, and the second stage ignited once the first stage fully separated.[18] About nine minutes into the flight, Dragon reached its preliminary orbit and deployed its solar arrays.[21]

The initial COTS 2 tests began during this flight segment, when Dragon performed a test of its Absolute GPS (AGPS) system, using global positioning system satellites to determine its location.[17] Next, Dragon opened its bay door which houses its grapple fixture and relative navigation sensors, a thermal imager and the LIDAR based DragonEye.[22] After a checkout of these sensors was completed, Dragon demonstrated its ability to abort during an approach, first with a continuous firing of its Draco engines and then with a pulsed firing.[22] Then a free drift demonstration began, allowing the spacecraft to float freely without using its thrusters which would normally correct its orbital path.[17][22]

Flight day 2 (23 May)

On flight day two, Dragon began a series of thruster burns, called "height adjustment" burn (HA-1), and "co-elliptical" burn (CE-1).[17][22][a] The CE-1 burn changed Dragon's orbit characteristics by placing it into a circular orbit around the Earth.[17][22] The HA-1 burn raised Dragon's altitude to within a few kilometres below the ISS, in preparation for the next day's rendezvous demonstration.[24]

Flight day 3 (24 May)

Dragon spacecraft seen from the ISS during the fly-under day three, 24 May 2012.

On flight day three, Dragon performed height adjustment burn 2 (HA-2) at 03:58 EDT (07:58 UTC), to get within about 10 km (6.2 mi) of the ISS, the "communication zone."[25][26] At 04:43 EDT (08:43 UTC) co-elliptical burn 2 (CE-2) raised its orbit to nearly the same plane as the ISS, and brought it to within 2,500 metres (8,200 ft) below the station.[26][27] During this “fly-under,” Dragon established communications with the station using its COTS Ultra-high frequency Communication Unit (CUCU).[26] Dragon performed a test of its Relative GPS (RGPS) system, which used the relative positions of the spacecraft to the space station to determine its location.[28][29] Also, using the Crew Command Panel (CCP) on board the Cupola module, the Expedition 31 crew briefly interacted with Dragon, monitoring the fly-under and just before 07:00 EDT (11:00 UTC) sending a command to Dragon to turn on its strobe light.[29] At about 07:25 EDT (11:25 UTC) the Dragon made its closest approach to the ISS.[29] Once the fly-under was completed, Dragon fired its thrusters to begin a loop out in front, above and then behind the station in a racetrack oval pattern at a distance between 7 to 10 km (4.3 to 6.2 mi).[26] The Dragon performed a final burn for the day, at 07:57 EDT (11:57 UTC), that moved it away from the ISS, and set the spacecraft up for a re-rendezvous with the station the next day.[29] After Dragon cleared the station's vicinity, NASA approved the berthing to occur on day 4, meaning all the original COTS 2 mission requirements were met.[30][31]

Flight day 4 (25 May)

Canadarm2 grappling Dragon.
The Dragon Capsule berthed to the International Space Station on day four, 25 May 2012.

On flight day four, Dragon performed HA-3 and CE-3 thruster burns to bring it 2.5 km (1.6 mi) below the station once again.[32] A decision was made by NASA's Mission Control Houston team to allow SpaceX to perform another set of burns that brought Dragon to within 1,400 m (4,600 ft) of the station.[32] Another decision was made at Mission Control Houston, and then Dragon moved to 250 m (820 ft) from the station.[33] At this point, the COTS 3 demonstration objectives began.[32] Dragon's DragonEye system demonstrated and confirmed that its position and velocity were accurate by comparing its LIDAR image to its thermal imagers.[32] A series of checkout maneuvers commenced. The SpaceX flight control team in Hawthorne, California, commanded the spacecraft to approach the station from its hold position.[32] It moved from 250 to 220 m (820 to 720 ft) below the station.[32] The crew, using the command panel, then instructed Dragon to retreat, and the spacecraft moved back down to the hold point.[32] This test ensured that Dragon's range to the ISS was accurate, and that the flight control team saw the spacecraft's acceleration and braking perform as expected.[32] It was in a holding pattern at 250 m (820 ft), and once again the Dragon flight team commanded it to approach the station.[32] At the 220 m (720 ft) position, the crew commanded the vehicle to hold.[32]

Another decision was made in Houston, and Dragon was permitted to enter the Keep-Out Sphere (KOS), a virtual area 200 m (660 ft) around the station intended to prevent collision with the orbiting complex.[34] Two additional and non-planned holds occurred: one at 150 m (490 ft) to further verify LIDAR; and finally one by SpaceX at 70 m (230 ft) for a small trajectory correction and more LIDAR verification.[35] Stray reflections from the JAXA JEM module's External Facility (EF) caused interference with the LIDAR.[33] SpaceX decided to narrow the LIDAR's view range, to eliminate the reflections from its field of view, by turning off one of LIDAR's two eyes.[35]

Dragon proceeded to a position 30 m (98 ft) from the station and automatically came to a stop for a hold.[35] Another decision was made, and then Dragon proceeded to the capture point position at 9 m (30 ft).[35] A final decision was made, and the Mission Control Houston team notified the crew they were go to capture Dragon.[35] At that point, from the Cupola module, Expedition 31 crew member Don Pettit used the station's Mobile Servicing System (Canadarm2) to reach out and grapple the Dragon spacecraft at 09:56 EDT (13:56 UTC) over Western Australia.[36] Upon capture, Pettit told ISS CAPCOM Megan McArthur, "Looks like we got us a Dragon by the tail. We're thinking this sim went really well, we're ready to turn it around and do it for real."[34] Pettit, with the help of fellow crewmember André Kuipers, guided Dragon to the Harmony module's Earth-facing Common Berthing Mechanism, and berthed it to the station at 12:02 EDT (16:02 UTC).[37]

Flight day 5 and remainder of mission (26 May to 31 May)

Don Pettit opening Dragon's hatch on 26 May.

On flight day five, after performing an inspection of the air inside Dragon, the crew opened the hatch between Dragon and the station at 05:53 EDT (09:53 UTC).[38] Pettit and Russian cosmonaut and station commander Oleg Kononenko were the first crew members to enter the Dragon.[39] They wore protective goggles and breathing masks as they tested to make sure the atmosphere inside the capsule was safe, which it was, though they noted that "the inside smells like a brand new car."[40] Dragon will spend approximately six days berthed to the space station, allowing astronauts time to unload its cargo.[41] They will then reload it with Earth-bound cargo.[42] Unloading and reloading will take the station's crew a total of 25 hours.[39]

On its final day at the station, the crew will unberth Dragon from Harmony using the Canadarm2.[18] The arm will move Dragon about 10 meters (33 ft) away from the station and release it.[43] Dragon will then perform a series of engine burns that will place it on a trajectory to take it away from the vicinity of the station.[44] Mission Control Houston will then confirm that Dragon is on a safe path away from the complex.[44] Approximately four hours after Dragon leaves the station, it will conduct its deorbit burn, which lasts about seven minutes.[28] It takes about 30 minutes for Dragon to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere and splash down in the Pacific Ocean.[44] It will be recovered from about 450 kilometers (250 miles) off the West Coast of the United States.[43] If all mission objectives are successfully completed, then the Falcon 9-Dragon system would achieve certification for cargo delivery and SpaceX would be allowed to begin its COTS contract, likely in September 2012.[45] Most of the COTS 3 objectives were achieved by day four, but if other mission goals are missed or not performed up to specification, a COTS Demo Flight 3 flight will be scheduled for summer 2012, should it be needed.[45][46]

Payload

The pressurized section carries 520 kg (1,150 lb) worth of cargo to the ISS, which includes food, water, clothing, cargo bags, computer hardware, the NanoRacks Module 9 (student experiments and scientific gear) and other miscellaneous cargo.[47] The return flight is planned to carry 660 kg (1,460 lb) worth of pressurized cargo back to Earth, the cargo includes experiment samples, experiment hardware, ISS' systems hardware and Extravehicular Mobility Unit hardware.[47]

An unannounced addition to the cargo manifest, made public after the launch, was a small canister, affixed to the second stage's top, containing the 1-gram ash remains of over 300 people including Project Mercury Astronaut Gordon Cooper, and James Doohan, the actor who played Scotty on the television show Star Trek in the 1960s.[48] The remains were flown semi-secretly by Celestis, a company that has flown burial canisters in the past on SpaceX's Falcon 1 launch vehicle.[49] The second stage and the burial canister are in a temporary orbit, and will burn up in the Earth's atmosphere in about a year's time.[50]

On its return to Earth, it will bring experiments back including the Shear History Extensional Rheology Experiment (SHERE) administered by NASA's Glenn Research Center.[51] SHERE investigated rotational stress effects on polymer fluids.[51] Items from SHERE include a toolbox, fluid modules, stowage trays, cables and a keyboard, and science data recordings.[51] Another experiment returning with Dragon, is the Multi-user Droplet Combustion Apparatus (MDCA), and the Combustion Integrated Rack-Fluids and Combustion Facility (CIR).[51]

Another experiment returning at the end of this mission is the Material Science Research Rack (MSRR), which investigated microgravity experiments on aluminum-alloy rods.[51] Returning from MSRR are cartridges from thermal and vacuum investigations done on metal rods in the SETA-2 and the MSL-CETSOL and MICAST studies.[51]

Originally, SpaceX also intended to launch two secondary payload satellites from the Dragon sometime in the first 72 hours after launch;[52] however, on 28 December 2011, SpaceX and Orbcomm announced a revised schedule that dropped the satellite deployment from the Dragon C2+ flight plan.[53]

Delays

COTS Demo Flight 2 was supposed to take place as early as 2010, but was delayed first by internal SpaceX issues; and then in 2011 by NASA issues.[54] As planned on the manifests, COTS 2 was supposed to fly in June 2011.[6] That was pushed back to late 2011, and then it was further delayed by the failure of the Russian Progress 44 cargo resupply vessel in August, which might have forced the ISS to be temporarily abandoned in mid-November.[55] Another delay was caused due to the berthing procedure which requires two ISS personnel to be trained and available for the berthing, as only one person was trained to berth the Dragon in early December 2011.[56] The launch date moved as follows: 6 June 2011, 8 October, 30 November and 19 December;[57] and 7 January 2012, 30 April, and 7 May.[57]

With a busy launch schedule at Cape Canaveral, and with other missions to the ISS, NASA and SpaceX did not announce a new date until mid-March for a 30 April launch.[58][59] More testing was required by SpaceX for the computer code that controlled berthing, causing another delay to be announced on 23 April, delaying the launch to 7 May at 09:38 EDT (13:38 UTC).[60][61] A further delay was announced by NASA, pushing the launch to sometime in May.[60] On 4 May, the new targeted launch date was set for 19 May at 04:55 EDT/08:55 UTC. The launch proceeded nominally but was automatically aborted at T−00:00:00.5 when pressure in engine number 5 rose to unacceptable limits.[62] After making repairs, the launch date was set for 22 May at 03:44 EDT (07:44 UTC), with a secondary backup date of 23 May at 03:22 EDT (07:22 UTC) if a longer delay became necessary.[18]

Launch attempts

Attempt Planned Result Turnaround Reason Decision point Weather go (%) Notes
1 19 May 2012, 8:55:26 am Abort — Technical 19 May 2012, 8:55 am ​(T−0:00:00.5) 80% Launch was automatically aborted with higher than acceptable pressure detected in engine 5.[63] This was due to a faulty check valve, which was then replaced later that day.[63]
2 22 May 2012, 7:44:38 am Success 2 days 22 hours 49 minutes 90% Nominal launch, inserted Dragon into preliminary orbit, nine minutes and 48 seconds after launch.[64]
  • COTS 2 Dragon capsule in SpaceX hangar at LC-40 on 23 October 2011.
    COTS 2 Dragon capsule in SpaceX hangar at LC-40 on 23 October 2011.
  • SpaceX technicians stow cargo in the COTS 2 Dragon at LC-40 on 4 April 2012.
    SpaceX technicians stow cargo in the COTS 2 Dragon at LC-40 on 4 April 2012.
  • Astronauts Donald Pettit (foreground) and André Kuipers practice grappling Dragon in a simulation aboard the ISS on 11 April 2012.
    Astronauts Donald Pettit (foreground) and André Kuipers practice grappling Dragon in a simulation aboard the ISS on 11 April 2012.
  • Dragon with trunk pontoons installed on 26 April 2012.
    Dragon with trunk pontoons installed on 26 April 2012.
  • The Falcon 9/Dragon vertical at launch pad on 18 May 2012 in preparation for the launch.
    The Falcon 9/Dragon vertical at launch pad on 18 May 2012 in preparation for the launch.
  • At launch pad around 05:00 EST on 19 May 2012 (five minutes after automated abort). Strongback is being reapplied.
    At launch pad around 05:00 EST on 19 May 2012 (five minutes after automated abort). Strongback is being reapplied.
  • Falcon 9, Flight 3, launch on 22 May 2012 (video).
  • Dragon C2+, flight day four, berthing with the ISS on 25 May 2012.

References

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Notes

  1. ^ A height adjustment burn is a thruster burn that changes the Dragon spacecraft's altitude, while the co-elliptical burn changes its shape. "Coelliptic orbits can be defined as two orbits that are coplanar and confocal. A property of coelliptic orbits is that the difference in magnitude between aligned radius vectors is nearly the same, regardless of where within the orbits they are positioned. For this and other reasons, coelliptic orbits are useful in rendezvous".[23]

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