Dragon SpX-16 (CRS-16), GEDI, RRM3 - Falcon 9 - Canaveral SLC-40 - 05.12.2018 18:16 UTC

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Chris G


Ken Kremer


Emre Kelly

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Chris G - NSF‏ @ChrisG_NSF 12:55 - 3 дек. 2018 г.

24hrs between Falcon 9 is Hans' 'comfort zone' for data review between launches. Maybe as low as 13-14hrs. But have to make sure previous flight has effect on next booster.

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Chris G - NSF‏ @ChrisG_NSF 13:06 - 3 дек. 2018 г.

Dragon requires 2 days to rendezvous with ISS because of Station position at time of Dragon insertion to orbit. It could be 1 day (they've done a 30ish hr rendezvous with Dragon) or 3 to 4 days. All depends on where Station is each day.

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Брифинг завершен

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https://blogs.nasa.gov/stationreport/2018/11/30/iss-daily-summary-report-11302018/

ISS Daily Summary Report – 11/30/2018

SpaceX-16 Dragon On-Board Training:
The crew utilized the Robotic Onboard Trainer (ROBoT) to practice procedures that will be used to capture the SpX-16 Dragon next week. The crew ran a couple of simulations, including 30-meter approach, Capture Point (CP)-hold and 2-meters, during this training session.

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https://blogs.nasa.gov/kennedy/2018/12/03/spacex-crs-16-launch-coverage/

SpaceX CRS-16 Launch Coverage

Anna Heiney
Posted Dec 3, 2018 at 4:25 pm

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft are slated to lift off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 1:38 p.m. EST on Tuesday, Dec. 4. This will be the company's 16th commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station.

Follow the countdown on the Launch Blog starting at 1 p.m. on Tuesday. Learn more about the SpaceX CRS-16 mission by going to the mission home page at http://www.nasa.gov/spacex.

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Опубликована брошюра миссии

crs16_press_kit_12_3.pdf - 283.7 KB, 2 стр, 2018-12-03 22:54:07 UTC

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Эмблема миссии

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Трансляция пуска

на сайте SpaceX

spacex.com/webcast

или

на ТыТрубе

youtube.com/watch?v=Esh1jHT9oTA

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NASA Goddard‏Подлинная учетная запись @NASAGoddard 2 дек.

In the trunk of @SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft, #RRM3's got a friend in #GEDI! Launching together soon from @nasakennedy, RRM3 will store and transfer cryogenic fuel outside @Space_Station, while GEDI will map forests to see how they store and release carbon: https://go.nasa.gov/2DTac9c 

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NASA‏Подлинная учетная запись @NASA 5 ч.5 часов назад

To allow for time to replace parts of an @ISS_Research experiment, the launch of the @SpaceX cargo resupply mission to the International @Space_Station is now targeted for 1:16pm ET on Wed., Dec. 5. Details: https://go.nasa.gov/2FYRf7M 

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacex/2018/12/03/spacex-crs-16-now-targeted-for-dec-5/

SpaceX CRS-16 Now Targeted for Dec. 5

Stephanie Martin
Posted Dec 3, 2018 at 11:10 pm

NASA and SpaceX are now targeting Wednesday, Dec. 5 for launch of the 16th SpaceX cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station. The launch was moved to Wednesday after mold was found on food bars for a rodent investigation prior to handover to SpaceX. Teams will use the extra day to replace the food bars. The launch time for Wednesday is 1:16 p.m. EST.

На предстартовом брифинге о проблеме вкратце - #57

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https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/12/04/spacex-cargo-launch-slips-a-day-after-rodent-experiment-snag/

SpaceX cargo launch slips a day after rodent experiment snag
December 4, 2018 | Stephen Clark


File photo of a SpaceX Dragon capsule in orbit. Credit: NASA

NASA has announced a one-day delay in SpaceX's next cargo launch until Wednesday to allow time for ground teams to replace moldy food bars meant for 40 mice heading for the International Space Station as part of a biological research experiment, denying the launch company a chance at two Falcon 9 missions on back-to-back days.

The commercial cargo flight, previously set for Tuesday, is now scheduled for 1:16 p.m. EST (1816 GMT) fr om Cape Canaveral's Complex 40 launch pad aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. The Falcon 9 will loft SpaceX's Dragon cargo capsule into orbit in pursuit of the space station, where astronauts will snare the supply ship with the station's robotic arm.

The flight will be SpaceX's second launch of the week, following Monday's liftoff of a Falcon 9 rocket carrying 64 commercial smallsats into orbit from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. If the cargo launch from Cape Canaveral had occurred Tuesday, it would have marked SpaceX's second Falcon 9 flight in barely 24 hours.

As it stands, a launch from Cape Canaveral on Wednesday will still set a record for SpaceX's quickest turnaround between two Falcon 9 missions, with less than 48 hours separating the two flights from the West Coast and East Coast. The shortest span between Falcon 9 launches to date occurred in June 2017, when two rockets blasted off from Florida and California a little more than 49 hours apart.

NASA officials said in a press conference Tuesday afternoon that the SpaceX supply mission could be pushed back a day after ground crews discovered moldy food bars intended to feed mice set to ride to the station in the Dragon's pressurized cabin. The space agency confirmed the one-day slip in a brief statement Tuesday night.

"The launch was moved to Wednesday after mold was found on food bars for a rodent investigation prior to handover to SpaceX," NASA said in Tuesday night's upd ate. "Teams will use the extra day to replace the food bars."

NASA determined the rodent research experiment is critical enough for the space station's experiment program to keep the Dragon cargo flight on the ground until the food bars can be replaced. Fresh food bars were to be delivered to Cape Canaveral from NASA's Ames Research Center in California late Tuesday for loading into the Dragon capsule, but officials were racing a clock to seal the spacecraft's hatch and raise the Falcon 9 rocket vertical for final countdown preparations in advance of a Tuesday afternoon liftoff.

"Today, when we were in the process of preparing the rodents to be loaded on-board the vehicle, we were looking at some of the food bars that are necessary for the rodents," said Joel Montalbano, NASA's deputy space station program manager. "They were contaminated with some mold on there. So we have to go ahead and remove those.

"We're working hard with the SpaceX team, but it's going to be tight," Montalbano said Tuesday, hours before NASA confirmed the one-day launch delay.

The 40 mice, carried inside special habitats, were to be packed inside the Dragon spacecraft at the launch pad Monday while the Falcon 9 rocket sat horizontal. The "late load" capability on the eve of launch allows scientists to add time-critical specimens to the Dragon spacecraft cargo complement.

"We're assuming all the food is suspect, not only the food that was loaded today, but the food we already had loaded, so we're going to replace all of that food," Montalbano said. "Rodents is one of our primary mission objectives, so it's important enough for us that if we're not ready to go with the rodents, we'll go ahead and delay a day."

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Researchers are sending the mice to the space station to study the effects of microgravity on the animals' immune systems, muscles and bones, information that scientists compare to the condition of a control group of mice kept on Earth. The mice set to fly to space are also divided into young and old groups for comparative studies to chart how spaceflight affects aging processes in the body.

"Responses to spaceflight in humans and model organisms such as mice resemble certain aspects of accelerated aging," scientists wrote in a summary of the experiment on NASA's website. "This investigation provides a better understanding of aging-related immune, bone, and muscle disease processes, which may lead to new therapies for use in space and on Earth."

The Dragon capsule is set to carry 5,673 pounds (2,573 kilograms) of research experiments, crew provisions and space parts to the station.

In addition to the biological experiments stowed inside the Dragon's internal compartment, the spaceship's rear cargo bay contains a pair of NASA payloads to be mounted outside the space station. One will demonstrate new tools and techniques that could lead to a future capability to refuel satellites with cryogenic propellants in space, and another will scan the planet with a laser to measure the height, density and structure of forest canopies, data that could tell scientists more about the role of forests in the carbon cycle.

The Dragon spacecraft is set to remain at the space station until mid-January, when it will depart and head for a re-entry over the Pacific Ocean, culminating in a parachute-assisted splashdown off the coast of California, wh ere SpaceX teams will recover the capsule.

Wednesday's resupply launch will be the 16th conducted by SpaceX in a $3.04 billion, 20-flight contract with NASA. SpaceX also holds a follow-on cargo transportation contract covering at least six additional flights to the station through 2024, and a separate NASA contract for development and operations of the new Crew Dragon spaceship to ferry astronauts to and from the space station.

NASA also has cargo delivery contracts with Northrop Grumman and Sierra Nevada Corp., and a commercial crew contract with Boeing.

SpaceX aims to land the Falcon 9 rocket's first stage at Cape Canaveral a few minutes after Wednesday's launch, the first rocket return to Florida's Space Coast since a pair of boosters touched down during the Falcon Heavy rocket's inaugural flight in February. All the Falcon 9 flights from Florida's Space Coast since then have either featured landings on SpaceX's drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean, or they disposed of the first stage.

The booster se t for launch Wednesday is an all-new vehicle, and the Dragon capsule is a veteran of a previous space station resupply mission that launched in February 2017

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https://www.interfax.ru/world/640692

13:52, 4 декабря 2018
НАСА перенесло старт грузовика к МКС из-за плесени в корме для мышей

Москва. 4 декабря. INTERFAX.RU - Национальное управление США по аэронавтике и исследованию космического пространства (НАСА) перенесло на сутки, планировавшийся во вторник, запуск грузового космического корабля "Дрэгон" (Dragon) к Международной космической станции.

По сообщению НАСА, на пищевых батончиках, которые предназначены для проведения опытов над грызунами, была обнаружена плесень. "Командам потребуется дополнительный день для замены батончиков",- пояснило НАСА.

Запуск ракеты перенесен на 5 декабря на 13:16 по североамериканскому восточному времени (21:16 мск).

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Ракета-носитель Falcon 9 американской компании SpaceX должна отправить грузовой космический корабль "Дрэгон" (Dragon) с 2,5 тонны груза на Международную космическую станцию (МКС).

Старт планируется произвести с 40-го пускового комплекса на космодроме НАСА на мысе Канаверал в штате Флорида.

Это уже 16-я миссия космического корабля Dragon к МКС в рамках коммерческого контракта НАСА с компанией SpaceX по снабжению станции.

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https://www.spacex.com/webcast

SpaceX is targeting Wednesday, December 5 for the launch of its sixteenth Commercial Resupply Services mission (CRS-16) to the International Space Station. Liftoff is targeted for 1:16 p.m. EST, or 18:16 UTC, from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.

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https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/rrm3

Nov. 30, 2018

Keeping Cool: Robotic Refueling Mission 3

Heading to the International Space Station aboard December's SpaceX Commercial Resupply Services Mission-16 (CRS-16), the Robotic Refueling Mission 3 (RRM3) will test new methods for transferring and storing cryogenic fluids like liquid methane in space.
Cryogenic fluid can serve as a coolant to keep optical equipment in satellites operational or as a powerful propellant to steer satellites. 


Cryogen Servicing Tool before launch.
Credits: NASA

Across the public and private sectors, more satellites are launching each year. These largely autonomous tools are critical to national security, communications and GPS systems, and serve to monitor planetary conditions and the universe around us.

When satellites run out of fuel, they are no longer able to maintain their orbit or stay pointed in the right direction. When they run out of coolant, optical instruments stop functioning correctly. The shell left behind may experience orbital decay or become orbital debris, and a new satellite may need to be launched to take its place, adding a costly expense. When fuel runs low unexpectedly, a satellite's shutdown may also cause a loss of data and science.

RRM3's methods of storing and transferring cryogenic fluid could give the aerospace industry a practical way to extend the life of satellites and enable long duration exploration missions. A proven refueling process could ensure continuity for current satellite infrastructure and greatly expand mission capabilities for satellites traveling beyond low-Earth orbit.

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External view of RRM3 as it prepares for flight
Credits: NASA

Refueling and replenishing coolant isn't as simple as it sounds. Several fundamental properties make cryogenic fluids difficult to store and transfer, and the process remains one of the greatest unanswered challenges of modern spaceflight.

Cryogenic fluids are excellent for satellite propulsion and cooling, but they must remain at temperatures below -100 degrees Celsius, or even -200 degrees Celsius, to maintain their liquid form. When these liquids warm, they evaporate and return to a gaseous state – an occurrence known as boil-off. The resulting fluid loss can impede a satellite's mission and shorten the lifespan of its instruments.

The RRM3 module not only demonstrates the first ever transfer of cryogenic propellant in-orbit, but will also store cryogenic fluid for six months with zero boil-off, demonstrating the efficient use of these important consumables.


View of an insulated RRM3 transfer path for cryogen refueling.
Credits: NASA

RRM3 also tests a number of robotic tools and vision systems needed for satellite refueling missions. Similar tools and technologies could be applicable for satellite and spacecraft repair.

Morgan McAllister
International Space Station Program Science Office
Johnson Space Center

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Last Updated: Dec. 3, 2018
Editor: Michael Johnson

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https://spacenews.com/experiment-issue-delays-dragon-launch-to-the-iss/

Experiment issue delays Dragon launch to the ISS
by Jeff Foust — December 4, 2018


A Falcon 9 launch of a Dragon cargo spacecraft earlier this year. The launch of the next such mission to the ISS will be delayed a day to replace contaminated food that is part of a rodent experiment flying to the station. Credit: NASA/KSC

WASHINGTON — The launch of a SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station will be delayed a day because a problem that may be a first in the history of spaceflight: contaminated rodent food.

NASA announced late Dec. 3 that the Falcon 9 launch of the Dragon spacecraft on a mission designated CRS-16 had been delayed from its planned Dec. 4 launch by a day. The delay is needed to replace food bars for a rodent investigation that had been contaminated with mold. The launch is now scheduled for 1:16 p.m. Eastern Dec. 5 from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

At a pre-launch press conference Dec. 3, agency officials had warned that this "small issue" could delay the launch, although at the time they were hopeful that they would be able to replace the food in time to allow launch preparations to remain on schedule.

"When we were in the process of preparing the rodents to be loaded on board the vehicle, we were looking at some of the food bars that is necessary for the rodents, and they were contaminated with some mold," Joel Montalbano, deputy ISS program manager, said at the briefing. NASA decided to replace all the food bars for the experiment, including those that had been loaded on Dragon already.

The rodent experiment is part of "late load" cargo installed on the Dragon spacecraft less than 24 hours before launch. The replacement involved flying in unspecified hardware from the Ames Research Center in California that was not scheduled to arrive at the launch site until late Dec. 3, after the late load cargo would normally be installed. Montalbano said at the briefing that NASA was talking with SpaceX about how to modify the late load cargo schedule.

The rodent experiment is part of more than 1,000 kilograms of science investigations contained within the Dragon on this mission, as well as several hundred kilograms of crew supplies and vehicle hardware. The spacecraft is carrying nearly 1,000 kilograms of unpressurized cargo in the form of two experiments inside the spacecraft's trunk section that will be mounted on the station's exterior.

A one-day shift in the launch will also allow for improved weather for the launch. Forecasts had been predicting a 60 percent chance of acceptable weather, with concerns about clouds and lingering rain from a passing frontal system. The forecast for a Dec. 5 launch calls for a 90 percent chance of acceptable weather.

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The delay, though, deprives SpaceX of the opportunity to perform two launches almost exactly 24 hours apart. The Dec. 4 launch window was at 1:38:51 p.m. Eastern, while another Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 1:34 p.m. Dec. 3 on a mission to place 64 smallsats into orbit.

That 24-hour separation is about as close as SpaceX can currently perform two launches. "Twenty-four hours is, approximately, my comfort zone for reviewing data," said Hans Koenigsmann, vice president of build and flight reliability at SpaceX, said at the briefing. Depending on the time of the day of the launches, he said it could be possible to compress the time between launches to as little as 13 to 14 hours.

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