Dragon SpX-14 (CRS-14) – Falcon 9 – Canaveral SLC-40 – 02.04.2018 20:30 UTC

[поц]

Jeff Foust‏ @jeff_foust сейчас6 секунд назад


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Jensen: starting with CRS-8 (first mission this Dragon flew) we installed additional water sealing, which paid off. Only a handful of items from previous mission not being reused here.

[tnt22]

[tnt22]

Прогноз погоды на пуск

[tnt22]

Jeff Foust‏ @jeff_foust 15 мин. назад

Jensen confirms that there will be video coverage from the launch as well as solar array deployment after separation. "No restrictions" versus Iridium-5 launch Friday.

[tnt22]

Chris G - NSF‏ @ChrisG_NSF 26 мин. назад

These Dragon-1 capsules are certified to fly 3 times. None have yet, but chance they will in the future. #SpaceX #Falcon9 #Dragon #CRS14

23 мин. назад

This booster is expendable to test landing procedures/practices that push the bounds. This booster has already flown. Trade between landing or doing a demonstration. This booster will fly trajectory toward the limits to collect data for the future. #SpaceX #Falcon9 #Dragon #CRS14

[tnt22]

[tnt22]

Пресс-конференция завершена

[zandr]

http://tass.ru/kosmos/5086327

SpaceX доставит на МКС приборы для изучения бурь на Земле и патогенов на борту станции
НЬЮ-ЙОРК, 2 апреля. /ТАСС/. Американская компания SpaceX доставит на Международную космическую станцию (МКС) груз массой 2,63 тонны, в том числе приборы для изучения бурь на Земле и выявления болезнетворных организмов на борту МКС. Об этом сообщило в воскресенье Национальное управление США по аэронавтике и исследованию космического пространства (NASA).
Ракета-носитель Falcon 9 с космическим грузовым кораблем Dragon стартует в понедельник с пускового комплекса 40 базы ВВС на космодроме на мысе Канаверал (штат Флорида). Взлет намечен на 16:30 по времени Восточного побережья США (23:30 мск).
Как уточнило NASA, через 10 минут после старта ракета достигнет заданной орбиты, развернет панели солнечных батарей и начнет движение к точке встречи с МКС. Ракета должна достигнуть станции 4 апреля.
Стыковка поручена астронавту Японского агентства аэрокосмических исследований Норисигэ Канаи, страховать которого будет американец Скотт Тингл. Им предстоит с помощью руки-манипулятора Canadarm2 провести захват Dragon и подвести его к шлюзовому люку модуля Harmony. Помимо Канаи и Тингла, вахту на МКС несут американцы Эндрю Фойстел и Ричард Арнольд, россияне Олег Артемьев и Антон Шкаплеров.
Американский корабль везет на орбиту более двух тонн груза, включая питьевую воду, продовольствие и материалы для проведения научных экспериментов. Среди них приборы, предназначенные для изучения экстремальных явлений в земной атмосфере, влияния состояния невесомости на изделия с высокими эксплуатационными свойствами, а также для выращивания пригодных для питания культур на станции. Dragon доставит на МКС и оборудование для экспериментов, призванных опробовать воздействие космического пространства на материалы, оболочки и компоненты, а также испытать экспериментальный пластырь с антибиотиком для ран.

Спойлер

SpaceX завершила предыдущий рейс на МКС и обратно в середине января. Это была 13-я по счету миссия по доставке запасов и материалов на орбитальный комплекс с помощью Dragon. Космический грузовик доставил на Землю материалы ряда экспериментов, в том числе образцы изготовленного в условиях невесомости оптоволокна, разработанного компанией Made in Space. Также на борту грузовика на Землю вернулись растения и живые мыши, над которыми ставили опыты.

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[tnt22]

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacex/2018/04/01/nasa-tv-to-air-events-supporting-next-space-station-resupply-mission-2/

NASA TV to Air Events Supporting Next Space Station Resupply Mission

Linda Herridge
Posted Apr 1, 2018 at 2:29 pm

Preparations continue as NASA's commercial cargo provider, SpaceX, is getting ready to launch its 14th resupply mission to the International Space Station. Liftoff is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. EDT Monday, April 2.

Weather forecasters with the U.S. Air Force's 45th weather squadron at Patrick Air Force Base call for a 80 percent chance for favorable conditions for launch. The primary launch weather concerns are flight through precipitation and cumulus clouds with the showers.

Packed with almost 5,800 pounds of research material, crew supplies and hardware, the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft will launch on a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

You may follow ... the countdown taking place at NASA's Kennedy Space Center on NASA Television at:
https://www.nasa.gov/nasalive

...

Monday, April 2
4 p.m. – Launch coverage begins for liftoff scheduled for 4:30 p.m.
6:30 p.m. – Post launch news conference at Kennedy with representatives from NASA's International Space Station Program and SpaceX.

For the latest schedule of prelaunch briefings, events and NASA TV coverage, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/content/spacex-crs-14-briefings-and-events/

[tnt22]

https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/04/01/eliminating-space-junk-could-take-step-toward-reality-with-station-cargo-launch/

Eliminating space junk could take step toward reality with station cargo launch
April 1, 2018 | Stephen Clark


Artist's illustration of the RemoveDebris satellite de-orbiting at the end of its mission with the assistance of a dragsail. Credit: SSTL

European engineers who developed a small satellite hitching a ride to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX supply ship Monday are gearing up for a first-of-a-kind experiment to examine ways to snare a chunk of space junk and tug it back to Earth.

Developed in a public-private partnership, the RemoveDebris mission will test the utility of nets and harpoons to capture tumbling objects in orbit, repurposing devices commonly used in fishing to pluck debris out of orbit and bring them into Earth's atmosphere to burn up.

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Guglielmo Aglietti, principal investigator for the RemoveDebris mission, calls the project a "proof-of-concept."

They crux of the mission, Aglietti said in an interview, is to prove that cleaning up space junk can be relatively inexpensive — something that could be affordable by commercial companies, or governments operating under budget limitations.

"We want to learn as much as possible," said Aglietti, who is also director of the Surrey Space Center, a research institute affiliated with the University of Surrey and Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd., a British manufacturer of small satellites. "Even if some experiment doesn't go exactly as planned, provided we get all the data, it's still a positive outcome."

The RemoveDebris satellite will launch in a container inside a SpaceX Dragon cargo craft set for launch at 4:30 p.m. EDT (2030 GMT) Monday fr om Cape Canaveral. The commercial supply ship is carrying more than 5,800 pounds (2.6 metric tons) of food, provisions and experiments to the space station's six-person crew.

RemoveDebris accounts around 220 pounds, or 100 kilograms, of the Dragon's cargo load.

But the small spacecraft, developed by SSTL in the United Kingdom, punches above its weight. The RemoveDebris mothership contains two CubeSats, a net and a harpoon, a laser ranging instrument, and a "dragsail" designed to unfurl behind the main satellite and hasten its fall back into Earth's atmosphere using aerodynamic resistance.

Assuming the Dragon resupply mission takes off Monday, the cargo capsule is due to reach the space station early Wednesday. Astronauts will unpack the RemoveDebris satellite, along with tons of other equipment, in the following weeks.


The RemoveDebris spacecraft during final assembly at SSTL. Credit: SSTL/Max Alexander

Some time this spring, the crew will take the one-meter cube-shaped spacecraft fr om its shipping container, remove shields used to protect it during launch, then place it on a sliding tray inside the Japanese Kibo lab module airlock.

Fixed to a NanoRacks carrier, the spacecraft will transfer through the airlock to the Japanese lab's outside science deck, where the Kibo module's robotic arm will grab it and move to a predetermined position for release.

Aglietti said RemoveDebris is currently slated for deployment fr om the space station in late May, but the schedule is not yet confirmed.

"The mission will really start once we are deployed out of the space station, hopefully at the end of May or the beginning of June," he said.

RemoveDebris will be the biggest satellite launched fr om the space station. That has placed the mission under extra scrutiny from NASA managers, who want to ensure the satellite poses no hazard to the orbiting outpost or its crew.

The launch of RemoveDebris was supposed to happen last year, but officials bumped it to a later SpaceX cargo flight.

"It took a little bit longer to make sure that all the right boxes were ticked," Aglietti said.

The demo craft's high-flying experiments will not begin until the satellite is well away from the space station, Aglietti said. In fact, the satellite will remain in a dormant mode for around a half-hour after its release, before switching on to begin checkout procedures.

Ground controllers at SSTL's campus in Guildford, England, will put the spacecraft through four primary experiments.

"Basically, it has a net, a harpoon and a dragsail on-board," said Jason Forshaw, the RemoveDebris mission's project manager at SSTL. "The concept is it's going to go up there, and it's going to eject small little satellites that will be used as artificial space junk."


File photo of a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft arriving at the International Space Station. Credit: NASA

One of the CubeSats, about the size of a loaf of bread, will inflate a balloon to mimic the dimensions of a bigger piece of tumbling space junk. Flying a short distance away, RemoveDebris will release a net to envelop the CubeSat — named DebrisSat 1 — which will be cut loose to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere.

"The net, as a way to capture debris, is a very flexible option because even if the debris is spinning, or has got an irregular shape, to capture it with a net is relatively low-risk compared to ... going with a robotic arm, because if the debris is spinning very fast, and you try to capture it with a robotic arm, then clearly there is a problem," Aglietti said. "In addition, if you are to capture the debris with a robotic arm or a gripper, you need somewh ere you can grab hold of your piece of debris without breaking off just a chunk of it."

Another CubeSat, named DebrisSat 2, will separate from the RemoveDebris mothership to test out tracking and ranging lasers and algorithms. The RemoveDebris satellite will use DebrisSat 2 to test out close-up navigation technology needed for an orbiting garbage collector to approach an out-of-control piece of space junk.

The LIDAR instrument "can observe debris, and figure out all the parameters of what this debris is doing in order to plan your capture," Aglietti said. "We have a normal camera, and then a LIDAR, which uses lasers to illuminate the object and figure out what the object is doing, and try to quantify the parameters, not just looking and seeing it, but also trying to see the spin rate, for example."

The third RemoveDebris experiment will test the functionality of a harpoon, which would be used to fire at a dead satellite and spear it, allowing the junk to be maneuvered out of orbit for a fiery re-entry.

But RemoveDebris will not test the harpoon on an actual satellite. The technology is still untried in space, and there are legal concerns about using it to lasso someone else's spacecraft without permission.

"Maybe it's a bit more risky because you have to hit your debris in a place that is suitable to be captured by the harpoon," Aglietti said. "Clearly, you have to avoid any fuel tanks ... That would produce some undesired effects."

Instead, RemoveDebris will extend an arm with a target for the harpoon on the end, then fire the projectile on a tether.

"We have harpoons, we have nets," Forshaw said in a TEDx talk last year. "These all seem like simple concepts, and they are. They've been used for thousands of years underwater to capture things such as sea creatures. However, taking technologies that are mature on Earth, in the oceans, and actually bringing them up there into space and seeing (if) these concepts work for the first time — nobody has ever used a net or a harpoon for these purposes in space before."

Finally, RemoveDebris will open up an expandable sail to act like an airbrake or spoiler, generating drag from collisions with air molecules in the rarefied outer atmosphere. At the space station's altitude of around 250 miles (400 kilometers), the dragsail will bring the RemoveDebris satellite back into the denser layers of the atmosphere, wh ere it will burn up.


(video 3:27)

"All the elements of the mission should be de-orbited very quickly," Aglietti said. "Clearly, for a mission like ours, we don't to further contribute to the problem of space debris. We want to make sure that all the pieces we are putting up there are going to come down pretty quickly. For us, a launch from the International Space Station is particularly good because it's in such a low orbit, that in any case, even if some of the experiments do not work out as planned, it doesn't matter because everything is going to come down and burn up in the atmosphere."

Budgeted at 15.2 million euros — $18.7 million at today's currency exchange rates — the RemoveDebris mission was partially funded by the European Commission. The rest of the project was paid by the 10 companies involved in the demonstration, including SSTL, Airbus Defense and Space, and Ariane Group.

"Since the beginning of the space era, orbital debris has progressively been building up and there are now almost 7,000 tons of it around the Earth," said Martin Sweeting, SSTL's executive chairman. "It is now time for the international space community to begin to mitigate, lim it and control space junk, and I am very pleased that the RemoveDebris consortium is leading the way with an innovative ADR (Active Debris Removal) mission which I hope will be a precursor to future operational ADR missions."

In-space collisions have happened before.

In 2009, a commercial Iridium communications satellite collided with a deactivated Russian military craft, destroying both objects and creating thousands more pieces of space junk.

"Satellites that get old also have residual fuels on them," Forshaw said. "Sometimes these fuels mix, so satellites are remarkably good at exploding by themselves."

"One of the core questions is who is responsible for all of this," Forshaw said. "Who is responsible for keeping space tidy? There, space law is complicated. Every single item in space, whether it be a full satellite or a piece of glass, is actually owned by somebody. You can't take away their property without their permission. Besides, if a tiny little fragment hit your satellite, you wouldn't even know who did it."

As companies like OneWeb, SpaceX and others build out planned "mega-constellations" of hundreds and thousands of communications satellites, the space debris problem will remain top of mind for many in the industry.

OneWeb and SpaceX say they will steer their planned broadband communications satellites back into Earth's atmosphere once their missions are complete, but some of the spacecraft could become stranded if they suffer unexpected failures.

"There are really two solutions: Either we ensure things launched into space have the ability to come back down themselves, and/or we launch missions up there to actually capture some of this space junk and bring it back down to Earth, wh ere it will burn up in the Earth's atmosphere," Forshaw said.

"Once the whole campaign is finished, and the (RemoveDebris) satellite is de-orbited, it would be great if companies offered this as a service, and there will be bigger missions when they will go and capture a real piece of debris using some of the technologies we have demonstrated," Aglietti said.

One company established to remove space debris out of orbit is Astroscale, headquartered in Singapore. Astroscale is developing a commercial space debris capture experiment in partnership with SSTL.


Artist's concept of ESA's e.Deorbit mission capturing the defunct Envisage Earth observation satellite with a net. Credit: ESA–David Ducros, 2016

The European Space Agency also has a mission concept called e.Deorbit, which would launch in 2024 to rendezvous with Envisat, a defunct Earth observation satellite that failed suddenly in 2012. Envisat is the size of a double-decker bus, and experts anticipate it will remain in space for up to 150 years, posing a hazard to other satellites in the same region of space nearly 500 miles (800 kilometers) above Earth.

The e.Deorbit mission, if approved by ESA member states, would bring Envisat down in a controlled manner. The RemoveDebris mission will check to see if some of the fundamental parts of such an endeavor will work.

"At the end of the day, everything boils down to funding," Aglietti said. "We all agree, in the space sector, that it is a good idea to start to remove larger pieces of debris, which are the ones that cause the major threat. The problem is just financial.

"That was why we're testing cost-effective technologies," he said. "In my opinion, the stumbling block is the cost ... If the cost to do it is exorbitant, then people will prefer to take the risk that their new satellite is going to be hit by a piece of debris. If we manage to lower the cost of the missions, then this is much more likely to happen."

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[tnt22]

https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/04/02/falcon-9-dragon-crs-14-mission-status-center/

Live coverage: SpaceX readies reused rocket and capsule for launch
April 2, 2018 | Stephen Clark

04/02/2018 08:28 Stephen Clark

SpaceX is counting down to its second launch in fewer than four days Monday, when a reused Falcon 9 booster and a previously-flown Dragon cargo capsule are set to blast off from Cape Canaveral to resupply the International Space Station.

Спойлер

Packed with more than 5,800 pounds (2,600 kilograms) of experiment hardware, food and other supplies, the Dragon spaceship is set for liftoff at 4:30:38 p.m. EDT (2030:38 GMT) Monday from Cape Canaveral's Complex 40 launch pad.

The 213-foot-tall (65-meter) rocket has an instantaneous launch opportunity Monday in order to rendezvous with the space station Wednesday. A backup launch opportunity is available Tuesday.

It will be the 14th resupply launch to the space station by SpaceX since 2012 under a multibillion-dollar contract with NASA, and the company's seventh rocket flight overall so far this year.

Forecasters from the U.S. Air Force's 45th Weather Squadron predict an 80 percent chance of acceptable conditions at launch time.

"Cloudiness associated with the decaying frontal boundary has diminished over Central Florida, allowing temperatures to climb into the 80s with a few very isolated rain showers," the Air Force weather team wrote in a forecast issued Sunday morning. "On Monday, the boundary will continue to dissipate along the Space Coast with partly cloudy conditions, but showers remain a risk. The primary weather concerns are flight through precipitation and cumulus clouds with the showers. Maximum upper-level winds will be from the northwest at 95 knots near 40,000 feet."

Forecasters expect mostly cloudy conditions at launch time, with isolated rain showers possible in the area. Winds should be from the southeast at 10 to 15 mph, and the temperature is expected to be around 77 degrees Fahrenheit.

Similar weather conditions are in the forecast for Tuesday with an 80 percent probability of favorable weather, albeit with a decreased threat of rain.

Monday's launch will come a little more than three days after SpaceX's last Falcon 9 mission, which took off Friday morning from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. That launch lofted 10 commercial Iridium communications satellites.

But the quick turnaround between SpaceX's launch bases in California and Florida is not a record. SpaceX launched two Falcon 9 missions from Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg barely two days apart in June 2017.

Monday's launch sports reused booster and capsule hardware.

The Falcon 9's first stage previously flew on SpaceX's 12 logistics mission to the space station in August 2017, then landed back at Cape Canaveral for inspections, refurbishment and reuse. The Dragon cargo ship delivered several tons of equipment to the space station in April 2016 on SpaceX's eighth commercial resupply mission, then splashed down in the Pacific Ocean.

SpaceX does not intend to retrieve the Falcon 9's first stage booster on Monday's launch. Instead, engineers will put the stage through experimental descent maneuvers more stressing than usual to try new rocket landing techniques that could be employed on future flights.

The first stage is expected to splash down in the Atlantic Ocean, and will not be recovered.

Assuming the Falcon 9 rocket takes off as scheduled Monday, the Dragon supply ship is set to arrive at the space station around 7 a.m. EDT (1100 GMT), when the research lab's Canadian-built robotic arm will grapple the approaching cargo capsule to begin a month-long stay.

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[us2-star]

Русскоязычные трансляции:

[tnt22]

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacex/2018/04/02/launch-day-arrives-for-spacex-crs-14/

Launch Day Arrives for SpaceX CRS-14

Bob Granath
Posted Apr 2, 2018 at 9:01 am



A Dragon spacecraft is poised for liftoff atop a Falcon 9 rocket at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex 40. The launch vehicle will boost the resupply capsule on its 14th commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station. SpaceX's Dragon will deliver supplies and equipment supporting numerous science investigations for the crew working aboard the orbiting laboratory. Liftoff is scheduled for today at 4:30 p.m. EDT.

Be sure to join us here at 3:55 p.m. EDT to follow this live blog-cast during the last stages of the countdown and early portions of flight. You also may follow the countdown on NASA Television (https://www.nasa.gov/nasalive) beginning at 4 p.m. EDT for updates.

[tnt22]

SpaceX‏Подлинная учетная запись @SpaceX 3 мин. назад

Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft for today's resupply mission to the @Space_Station are both flight-proven.

[кукушка]

Eliminating space junk could take step toward reality with station cargo launch
 April 1, 2018 | Stephen Clark

Планируется в этом запуске?

[tnt22]

Chris G - NSF‏ @ChrisG_NSF 13 мин. назад

Launch day weather forecast: Completely unchanged. Everything the same. 80% chance of acceptable conditions at the instantaneous launch time of 16:30:38 EDT (20:30:38 UTC). #SpaceX #CRS14 #Dragon #Falcon9 #NASA

[tnt22]

кукушка пишет:
Планируется в этом запуске?

#21

We're happy to say that the Remove Debris spacecraft is now on board SpaceX's dragon awaiting launch NET 2nd April

Если всё пойдёт по плану

tnt22 пишет:
"The mission will really start once we are deployed out of the space station, hopefully at the end of May or the beginning of June,"

то запустят из Кибо в конце мая-начале июня...

[tnt22]

Brady Kenniston‏ @TheFavoritist 18 мин. назад

Dragon's launch today is looking on track for 4:30pm! Here are a few photos from remote camera setup.

Спойлер

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[tnt22]

SpaceX's CRS-14 Mission to the Space Station: What's On Board?

NASA

Опубликовано: 2 апр. 2018 г.

Over 5,800 pounds of NASA science, crew supplies and hardware will launch to the International Space Station on SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft. It's scheduled to launch April 2, 2018 at 4:30 p.m. EDT, and you can watch live on NASA Television. This will be SpaceX's 14th cargo mission to the station.

 (3:04)

[tnt22]

Chris G - NSF‏ @ChrisG_NSF 20 мин. назад

The countdown clocks have started here at Kennedy. No change to precise launch time. Clocks counting to 16:30:38 EDT (20:30:38 UTC).