Dragon COTS 2+ - Falcon 9 v1.0 - Canaveral SLC-40 - 22.05.2012 UTC

[KURYER]

NASA дало добро на запуск частного космического грузовика к МКС
Американское космическое агентство предварительно согласилось на запуск частного космического грузовика Dragon к МКС 30 ноября 2011 года. Официального объявления об этом, как сообщает портал Spaceflight Now, пока не было.
 NASA дало добро на объединение двух тестовых полетов, проводимых компанией SpaceX - создателем корабля Dragon. В итоге грузовой космический корабль будет выведен на орбиту ракетой-носителем средней грузоподъемности Falcon 9, которая также была создана специалистами SpaceX. Стыковка с орбитальной космической станцией намечена на 7 декабря. В настоящее время первая и вторая ступени ракеты находятся на стартовой площадке компании SpaceX на космодроме космического центра имени Кеннеди.
 Полноценный тестовый полет грузовика Dragon состоялся 8 декабря 2010 года. Космический корабль был выведен в космос ракетой-носителем Falcon 9, совершил два витка вокруг Земли и приводнился в Тихом океане.
 Компания SpaceX заключила контракт с NASA на осуществление 12 полетов космических грузовиков Dragon в МКС. Цена контракта составляет 1,6 миллиарда долларов. Аналогичный контракт, только на сумму 1,9 миллиарда долларов, был заключен между Американским космическим агентством и компанией Orbital Sciences. Эта компания занимается разработкой грузового космического корабля Cygnus и ракеты-носителя Taurus 2.

lenta.ru/news/2011/07/26/agreement/

[KURYER]

Вроде, утвердили C2/C3 combined.

NASA has "technically" agreed to combine SpaceX's next two demonstration flights of the company's Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule, electing to send the next mission all the way to the space station, according to Bill Gerstenmaier, the head of the agency's human space programs.
"We technically have agreed with SpaceX that we want to combine those flights, but we haven't given them formal approval yet," Gerstenmaier said last week. "We still want to go through some more analysis to go take and look and define exactly what criteria makes up that combined mission, what objectives are there, what the go/no go criteria is."

www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1107/25cotsdemo/

[Димитър]

Cygnus уже ушёл на февраль.

Полет корабля к МКС - да.    

А в декабре вроде ракету испитывают:
The first Orbital Sciences Taurus 2 rocket will launch a simulated Cygnus spacecraft on a demonstration flight.

[Salo]

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1107/25cotsdemo/index.html

Speaking to reporters after the shuttle's last landing, Gerstenmaier said NASA is analyzing SpaceX's flight software using Monte Carlo methods. SpaceX's flight design for the mission is also being reviewed, particularly regarding two small Orbcomm communications satellites to be carried as secondary payloads on the mission.

The first and second stages of the Falcon 9 rocket for SpaceX's cargo flight are already at the company's Cape Canaveral launch pad. The Dragon spacecraft is due to arrive in August or September.

"We're doing all the planning to go ahead and combine those missions," Gerstenmaier said. "The capsule is being designed that way and the software is being built that way, and we're just kind of waiting for the right formal time where we collectively agree that this is the right thing to go forward."[/size]

[Salo]

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_channel.jsp?channel=space&id=news/awx/2011/07/28/awx_07_28_2011_p0-352990.xml&headline=SpaceX%20Eyes%20Nov.%2030%20Cargo%20Launch%20to%20ISS

SpaceX Eyes Nov. 30 Cargo Launch to ISS[/size]

Jul 28, 2011

By Irene Klotz/Reuters

Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), a privately owned firm developing a space taxi with U.S.-government backing, plans to launch its second test capsule on Nov. 30 and send it all the way to the International Space Station, a company manager said July 28.

SpaceX leveraged $300 million of NASA funds with $500 million from investors, including founder and chief executive Elon Musk, to develop the Falcon family of rockets, multipurpose Dragon capsules, manufacturing and test sites, and launch facilities in Florida and at Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.

The Hawthorne, Calif.-based company is working on upgrading the Dragon cargo capsule for human occupants and has broken ground on a third launch site at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California for a heavy-lift version of the Falcon rocket.

"We see both cargo and crew (flight) services as being the key to opening up not only NASA's full use of the great International Space Station but also to open up other uses of low-Earth orbit, some we are talking about and some we have yet to even envision," Dennis Stone, a program manager with NASA's Commercial Crew and Cargo office at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, said at a commercial space conference July 28.

The space station, a $100 billion project of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan and Canada, is a complex of laboratories and platforms built to take advantage of the unique environment of microgravity for research and to test new technologies.

It was assembled 220 miles (350 km) above Earth over the past 11 years, primarily with the now-retired U.S. space shuttle fleet.

SpaceX, which in December became the first private company to put a capsule into orbit and bring it back to Earth, is one of two firms NASA has hired to fly cargo to the space station in the post-shuttle era.

The second firm, Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va., plans to debut its Cygnus capsule next year.

SpaceX intends to combine its second and third test flights with a single mission, scheduled to launch Nov. 30 from Cape Canaveral, Fla., Garrett Reisman, a former astronaut now working with SpaceX, said at the NewSpace 2011 conference that was held at NASA's Ames Research Center in California and broadcast on the Internet.

"The next flight of the Dragon we're going to go all the way and berth it to the space station, drop cargo off and bring stuff back," Reisman said.

That would position SpaceX to begin work on its 12-flight, $1.6 billion station cargo delivery mission.

SpaceX also is among four companies holding a combined $269 million in NASA contracts to develop space taxis that can fly astronauts to the space station, a job now handled by Russia for tens of millions of dollars per person.

NASA's other partners are Boeing, privately owned Sierra Nevada Corp., and Blue Origin, a start-up owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.[/size]

[Salo]

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_channel.jsp?channel=space&id=news/asd/2011/07/29/12.xml&headline=Next%20ISS%20Crew%20Prepares%20For%20Commercial%20Freighters

Next ISS Crew Prepares For Commercial Freighters[/size]

Jul 29, 2011
 
By Irene Klotz

CAPE CANAVERAL — The first International Space Station crew in the post-shuttle era had an additional stop in its training flow — Space Exploration Technologies' Hawthorne, Calif., facility for familiarization with the company's Dragon cargo freighter.

Two-time shuttle veteran Dan Burbank, 50, and rookie cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov, 39, and Anatoly Ivanishin, 42, are due to launch on Sept. 22 onboard a Russian Soyuz TMA-22 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. They will join the Expedition 29 crew of NASA astronaut Michael Fossum, 53, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, 47, and Russian cosmonaut Sergey Volkov, 38.

The first of NASA's new commercial cargo ships is expected to make a trial run to the station in December. A successful docking of the Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) Dragon capsule would clear the way for the company to begin working on its 12-flight, $1.6 billion station cargo resupply missions for NASA in 2012.

Burbank says the crew also received training to handle berthing with NASA's second cargo resupplier, Orbital Sciences Corp., which expects to debut its Cygnus capsule with a docking at the space station in early 2012, possibly before Burbank and his crewmates return to Earth in mid-March. Orbital Sciences holds a second NASA cargo resupply contract worth $1.9 billion for eight Cygnus flights.

"We've got some visiting vehicles that we're hoping for and looking forward to seeing while we're onboard [the] space station, one of which at least — hopefully more — will be the first of the commercial resupply ships," Burbank told reporters July 27.

Both ships will be berthed to the station's Harmony node with the station's robotic arm, a maneuver that is very similar to the docking of Japan's HTV capsules.

"Our operations as far as monitoring the rendezvous, monitoring the vehicles as they come up the R-bar, toward the space station's nadir, or Earth-facing side, and then how we track and capture them ultimately with the space station robotic arm and then mate them to Node 2 — those are essentially the same," Burbank says.

Burbank, who will take over command of the station from Fossum in December, and his crewmates also will be onboard during a major upgrade of the station's avionics software, intended to increase the communications bandwidth as the station shifts into full-time research operations. "Now that assembly is complete, it's time to actually get our return on the investment," Burbank says.[/size]

[Salo]

http://www.spacenews.com/satellite_telecom/110809-strong-quarter-has-orbcomm-feeling-bullish.html

All of Orbcomm's 18 second-generation satellites, under construction by Sierra Nevada Corp. of Sparks, Nev., include AIS capability. One or two of these satellites are scheduled for launch in late November aboard a Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) Falcon 9 rocket whose main mission will be to place SpaceX's Dragon international space station logistics capsule into orbit.

The mission profile for this launch calls for the vehicle to drop off the Dragon capsule before reigniting its upper stage engine to place the Orbcomm spacecraft into a different orbit. The drop-off point is not ideal for Orbcomm. It will force the satellite — whether one or two are launched is still undecided, Eisenberg said — to carry itself to its operational orbit, adding risk to the mission.[/size]

[Salo]

http://www.spacex.com/updates.php

August 15, 2011

Over the last several months, SpaceX has been hard at work preparing for our next flight — a mission designed to demonstrate that a privately-developed space transportation system can deliver cargo to and from the International Space Station (ISS). NASA has given us a Nov. 30, 2011 launch date, which should be followed nine days later by Dragon berthing at the ISS.

NASA has agreed in principle to allow SpaceX to combine all of the tests and demonstration activities that we originally proposed as two separate missions (COTS Demo 2 and COTS Demo 3) into a single mission. Furthermore, SpaceX plans to carry additional payloads aboard the Falcon 9's second stage which will deploy after Dragon separates and is well on its way to the ISS. NASA will grant formal approval for the combined COTS missions pending resolution of any potential risks associated with these secondary payloads. Our team continues to work closely with NASA to resolve all questions and concerns.

This next mission represents a huge milestone not only for SpaceX, but also for NASA and the US space program. When the astronauts stationed on the ISS open the hatch and enter the Dragon spacecraft for the first time, it will mark the beginning of a new era in space travel.

Through continued private-public partnerships like the one that helped develop the Falcon 9 and Dragon system, commercial companies will transform the way we access space. Together, government and the private sector can simultaneously increase the reliability, safety and frequency of space travel, while greatly reducing the costs.

The update below highlights our recent progress towards the combined C2/C3 mission and missions beyond. From the 1,500 team members here at SpaceX, thank you for your continued support, and for joining us in this exciting, vital adventure.


Photo: Kyle Cothern / SpaceX

This week, we successfully completed a wet dress rehearsal (WDR) for the Falcon 9 Flight 3 launch vehicle at Space Launch Complex 40, Cape Canaveral, Florida. The WDR is a significant test during which we load propellant into the vehicle and perform all operations just as we would on launch day right down to T-1 seconds, at which point we abort and detank the propellant.

Since our last flight, we have made significant upgrades to the launch pad to streamline the countdown. For example, we installed new liquid oxygen (LOX) pumps that reduced our previous loading time from 90 minutes to under 30. Improvements like this are getting us closer to our long term goal of Falcon 9 going from hangar to liftoff in under an hour. This is no easy task for a vehicle with about the same takeoff weight as a fully loaded Boeing 747, but if a 747 can do it reliably day after day, then Falcon 9 can too.


Photo: Roger Gilbertson / SpaceX

In a SpaceX clean room in Hawthorne (Los Angeles) California, technicians prepare the Dragon spacecraft for thermal vacuum chamber testing. The open bays will hold the parachutes. NASA has given us a launch date of Nov 30, 2011 for Falcon 9 Flight 3, which will send a Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program.


Photo: SpaceX

Also in Hawthorne, we have conducted separation tests of the Dragon trunk from the Falcon 9 second stage. Release mechanisms hold the trunk (top, with solar panel covers on left and right sides) to the stage (bottom). When activated, springs on the Falcon 9 push against the Dragon trunk. The trunk separates and the test fixture's counterbalance system raises the spacecraft up and away.


Photo: SpaceX

In the Hawthorne factory high bay, we tested the Dragon solar array rotary actuator by hanging the full array from the ceiling. The actuator (top center) turns the entire array. In flight, the solar panels will track the sun for maximum energy capture.


Upper Left: First stage tank, with domes and barrels for the second stage. Upper Right: All nine Merlin engines have been individually tested in Texas and then returned to California for integration into the thrust assembly. Lower Left: Composite interstage structure that joins the stages. Lower Right: The pressure vessel for the CRS-1 Dragon spacecraft has 10 cubic meters (350 cu ft) of interior volume. Photos: Roger Gilbertson / SpaceX

We are well into production with all parts (shown above) for the following launch, Falcon 9 Flight 4 and its Dragon CRS-1 spacecraft, which should be the first commercial cargo resupply mission under NASA Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) program. Significant additional tooling and automation with be added to the factory, as we build towards the capability of producing a Falcon 9 first stage or Falcon Heavy side booster every week and an upper stage every two weeks. Depending on demand, Dragon production is planned for a rate of one every six to eight weeks.


Photos: Melissa Heilman / SpaceX

Demolition work continues at Space Launch Complex 4 East, our new launch site at Vandenberg Air Force Base on the central coast of California. Recently, the crew dropped the big "hammerhead" overhanging structure from the legacy Titan IV Mobile Service Tower (sequence above). Removing the tower is a major step in upgrading the pad for Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launches. We are targeting late 2012 to bring Falcon Heavy to Vandenberg for vehicle to pad integration tests and 2013 for liftoff. Falcon Heavy will be the most powerful rocket in the world.

Stay tuned for more updates on the combined COTS-2 and COTS-3 mission to the ISS, slated for launch on Nov 30, 2011.[/size]

[Salo]

http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/580727main_4%20-%20Lindenmoyer%20COTS%20Status_508.pdf

[zeaman]

А не выйдет так, что к концу ноября на станции никого не останется?
(Из-за аварии Протона) Как же тогда С2/С3 будет проводиться?

И кстати все ли из шестерки космонавтов тренировались управлять Драконом - или только некоторые из них?

UPD: аварии Прогресса, конечно

[LG]

А не выйдет так, что к концу ноября на станции никого не останется?
(Из-за аварии Протона) Как же тогда С2/С3 будет проводиться?

И кстати все ли из шестерки космонавтов тренировались управлять Драконом - или только некоторые из них?

В принципе все возможно.
Касаемо МКС - давно отработаны резервные варианты. Подождем двух пусков Союза. Хотя я считаю - это нафиг не надо. Все ясно что было с третьей ступенью Союза как и с Бризом.

[instml]

Российские космонавты смогут помочь коллегам со стыковкой Dragon

МОСКВА, 30 авг - РИА Новости. Российские космонавты смогут помочь своему американскому коллеге на МКС со стыковкой первого коммерческого космического корабля Dragon, если из-за сдвигов графика к концу ноября, когда планируется запустить корабль, на станции не будет "планового" экипажа, сообщил журналистам менеджер программы МКС в НАСА Майкл Саффредини (Michael Suffredini).

Ракета-носитель "Союз-У" с космическим грузовиком "Прогресс М-12М", который вез на МКС в том числе продукты, воду и оборудование, стартовала 24 августа с космодрома Байконур. На 325-й секунде полета произошло нарушение работы двигательной установки, что привело к ее аварийному отключению. Из-за аварии "Прогресса" специалисты приняли решение перенести возвращение трех из шести членов экипажа МКС с 8 сентября ориентировочно на 16 сентября, а запуск новой экспедиции - с 22 сентября на конец октября-начало ноября.

"Конечно, если к концу ноября станция останется без экипажа, вопрос становится бессмысленным. Но если у нас будет экипаж из трех человек, мы сможем осуществить стыковку, мы можем подготовить к этому экипаж", - сказал Саффредини на пресс-конференции, которая транслировалась в прямом эфире на сайте НАСА.

Ранее Саффредини заявлял, что если к ноябрю полеты "Союзов" не возобновятся, то станция впервые за 11 лет может перейти в беспилотный режим: вторая тройка экипажа МКС, работающая сейчас на станции - космонавт Роскосмоса Сергей Волков, астронавт НАСА Майкл Фоссум и астронавт японского космического агентства JAXA Сатоши Фурукава - должна вернуться на Землю до конца ноября.

Вместе с тем, как сообщалось ранее, на конец ноября-начало декабря был запланирован второй по счету демонстрационный полет космического корабля Dragon. Специалисты НАСА обсуждали возможность разрешения его стыковки с МКС в ходе полета. Стыковка корабля со станцией осуществляется экипажем МКС с помощью манипулятора Canadarm2.

По словам Саффредини, для стыковки Dragon с МКС необходимо два астронавта НАСА, проходивших специальное обучение. Изначально к моменту, когда планировалась стыковка, на борту станции должны были находиться астронавты Дэниэл Бербэнк и Дональд Петтит. Старт "Союза" с экипажем, в который входит Бербэнк, был запланирован на 22 сентября, Петтит должен был стартовать к МКС 29 ноября.

Вместе с тем, как отметил представитель НАСА, российские космонавты Антон Шкаплеров и Анатолий Иванишин, которые отправятся на станцию с Бербэнком, также проходили необходимую подготовку.

"Мы можем "подтянуть" наших коллег до необходимого уровня, а команда на Земле поможет им всем", - отметил Саффредини.

"Нам еще надо обдумать этот вопрос, мы пока до этого не дошли. Но если бы нам потребовалось обязательно запустить корабль SpaceX до того, как на станции вновь будет шесть человек, я думаю, мы смогли бы это сделать", - заключил представитель НАСА.

В декабре 2010 года компания SpaceX - частная космическая фирма, которая производит и использует семейство ракет-носителей Falcon ("Сокол") и участвует в программе НАСА по созданию силами частных компаний кораблей, способных летать на МКС после прекращения полетов шаттлов - осуществила на собственной ракете-носителе успешный запуск капсулы Dragon - первого частного космического корабля. Ракета вывела Dragon на околоземную орбиту, после чего капсула обогнула нашу планету по кругу и приводнилась в Тихом океане.

http://ria.ru/science/20110830/426876284.html

[Потусторонний]

(Из-за аварии Протона)

А что с Протоном-то?

[zeaman]

(Из-за аварии Протона)

А что с Протоном-то?

Оговорился - Прогресса, конечно.

[Salo]

Следующий полет Дракона к МКС (COTS 2/3) переползает, возможно, на конец января 2012. Интересно, что если бы он состоялся 30 ноября, то экипаж всего в трех человек (включая только одного американца) не был бы основанием для переноса сроков, так как оказывается, что русские члены экспедиции проходили обучение на захват дракона манипулятором на станции.

the SpaceX combined COTS 2/3 demo mission, currently planned for 30th November, may slip to late January 2012.

http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2011/08/iss-managers-flight-manifest-following-progress-failure/

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=26616.msg801478#msg801478

I wish I had written that. Pete's amazing with ISS content

As soon as we're updated on the software, I'll note.

Meanwhile...SpaceX PAO sent this out:

FYI – If you haven't seen it, NASA's latest Return on Investment Newsletter is out.

Below is the update on SpaceX's next mission from the newsletter (dated 8/16).

Attached is the full newsletter, including CCDev milestones & timelines.  Also attached is a picture of the COTS 2 Falcon 9 rocket at the SpaceX hangar at Cape Canaveral.

NEXT SPACEX CARGO DEMO FLIGHT

After the successful launch of the first SpaceX cargo demonstration flight (C1) in December 2010, SpaceX approached NASA with a plan to accelerate its cargo transportation capability by attempting to achieve the third cargo demonstration flight (C3) mission objectives on the second demonstration (C2) flight.

C2 mission objectives include demonstrating ISS/Dragon communications and flight navigation, control, and contingency operations near ISS.

C3 mission objectives include demonstrating ISS proximity operations, berthing with the ISS, cargo transfer, and return to Earth. Operationally, the plan would be for SpaceX to successfully complete all the C2 mission objectives and then be given approval to rendezvous and berth with the ISS during the same flight.

According to Alan Lindenmoyer, Commercial Crew and Cargo Program Manager, "Combining C2 and C3 could accelerate cargo services to station by about two months." NASA will not relax or eliminate any technical or safety requirements; rather, the combination will allow SpaceX the opportunity to meet all the C2 and C3 milestone objectives in a single flight.

At this point, NASA has not identified anything that would preclude combining the C2 and C3 mission objectives and is proceeding with mission planning. However, SpaceX wants to deploy two commercial satellites (Orbcomm) from the F9 second stage. The addition of Orbcomm's payloads to the combined mission is under review. If the risks associated with the secondary payloads are determined to be acceptable, NASA will give formal approval to the combined mission execution.

The C2 Falcon 9 launch vehicle is currently at Pad 40, Cape Canaveral, and is undergoing final preparation for the mission. The integrated Dragon spacecraft is preparing for electromagnetic compatibility and thermal vacuum testing to verify the spacecraft's compatibility with ISS environments. The Dragon spacecraft is planned to be shipped from SpaceX's Hawthorne facility to Cape Canaveral in September.

This bi-monthly newsletter of accomplishments, progress, and happenings in NASA's commercial spaceflight

development programs is distributed by the Commercial Spaceflight Development Division at NASA

Headquarters.[/size]

[Salo]

[Крок]

Да, это будет пинок по яйцам, если Дракон успешно пристыкуется к МКС до того, как возобновятся полеты Прогрессов.

[Ну-и-ну]

Такого физически не может быть. Т.е. либо Прогрессы-Союзы начинают летать до пресловутого 9-го декабря (это самая оптимистичная дата стыковки Драгона), либо станция остаётся без людей и Драгон сидит на Земле.

[DAP]

the SpaceX combined COTS 2/3 demo mission, currently planned for 30th November, may slip to late January 2012.

http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2011/08/iss-managers-flight-manifest-following-progress-failure/

Below is the update on SpaceX's next mission from the newsletter (dated 8/16).

Пресс-релиз НАСА двухнедельной давности. Хардинг статью писал 31. Судя по всему, дата запуска все-таки переползет на 2012. Крис Бергин на форума сказал же, чтобы все обратили внимание на новости о дате старта в статье...

[DAP]

Почему ветка по C3 в пилотируемых полетах???