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SpaceX CRS-3

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SpaceX CRS-3
Artist rendering of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft being berthed to ISS
Mission typeISS resupply
OperatorNASA
COSPAR ID2014-022A[1]
SATCAT no.39680[1]
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft typeDragon
ManufacturerSpaceX
Start of mission
Launch dateApril 18, 2014, 19:25:22 (2014-04-18UTC19:25:22Z) UTC[2][3]
RocketFalcon 9 v1.1
Launch siteCape Canaveral SLC-40[4][5]
ContractorSpaceX
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric
RegimeLow Earth
Semi-major axis6,700 km (4,200 mi)[1]
Eccentricity0.0015[1]
Perigee altitude312 km (194 mi)[1]
Apogee altitude333 km (207 mi)[1]
Inclination51.65 degrees[1]
Period90.97 minutes[1]
Epoch18 April 2014
Berthing at ISS
Berthing portHarmony nadir
File:SpaceX CRS-3.png

SpaceX CRS-3, also known as SpX-3, is a cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station, contracted to NASA, which was launched on April 18, 2014. It was the fifth flight for SpaceX's uncrewed Dragon cargo spacecraft and the third SpaceX operational mission contracted to NASA under a Commercial Resupply Services contract.

This was the first launch of a Dragon capsule on the Falcon 9 v1.1 launch vehicle, as previous launches used the much smaller v1.0 configuration. It was also the first time the F9 v1.1 has flown without a payload fairing, and the first experimental flight test of an ocean recovery of the first stage on a NASA/Dragon mission.[6]

The Falcon 9 with CRS-3 on board launched on time at 3:25 p.m. EDT on April 18, 2014, and is currently en route to the ISS[7] and scheduled to be grappled on 20 April at 7:14 a.m. EDT by Expedition 39 commander Koichi Wakata.[8]

Launch schedule history

The SpX-3 launch vehicle upright at SLC-40 on April 14th, 2014

The launch was notionally scheduled by NASA, as of November 2012, to be no earlier than 30 September 2013, with berthing to the station occurring three days later on 2 October 2013.[9]

As of 16 March 2013, the launch was scheduled by NASA for no earlier than 28 November 2013, with berthing to the station occurring three days later on 1 December 2013.[10] By August 2013, the launch date had been moved to no earlier than January 2014,[11] but then in September it was moved to February.[12] As of January 23, the launch was rescheduled again to March 1, 2014,[13][14] and then rescheduled to March 16 in early February. The several delays—from the nominal December 2013 date that had been in place since early 2013—have been mostly due to limited berthing windows in the ISS Visiting Vehicle schedule, and delays to both Orbital's Cygnus and SpaceX' Dragon from the December 2013 cooling issue on the ISS which required several spacewalks to mitigate.[15]

On 12 March 2014 the launch was rescheduled to 30 March or 2 April 2014, for a variety of reasons including data buffering issues, working some issues with the range, some operational issues with the new Dragon design, and some contamination of the impact shielding blanket. SpaceX ultimately decided to move forward and use the shielding blanket with the minor contamination problems and believe it will not be an impact to the optical payloads being carried in the Dragon trunk.[16][17]

On March 26, a further delay was announced related to a fire at one of the radar facilities on the Eastern Range. There is mandatory radar coverage for any launches from Cape Canaveral so this will force delay until coverage of that section of the launch trajectory can be covered, possibly by alternative means that would have telemetry communication capability to the Air Force facility responsible for launch safety. Repair of the radar facility could take up to 45 days. The impact on delaying the CRS-3 mission is not yet clear.[2]

The launch of SpaceX CRS-3 from Cape Canaveral on April 18, 2014.

After the Eastern Range radars were repaired and back online to support launches, approximately 2014-04-04, the CRS-3 launch was slated for no earlier than 2014-04-14 with a backup date of 2014-04-18, contingent upon a ULA Atlas V flight that could occur as early as 2014-04-10.[18]

On April, 11th, the International Space Station (ISS) suffered a failure of an external computer known as a Multiplexer/Demultiplexer (MDM), which will require a spacewalk on April 22nd to replace in order to restore vital redundancy to the station. Despite the challenges, SpaceX’s Dragon CRS-3 mission – which could have been impacted by the MDM failure – was still on for Monday, April 14th[2] with ISS berthing scheduled to take place two days later on 2014-04-16.[19]

However, during the launch attempt on April 14, a primary helium supply valve used in the stage separation system failed a pre-launch diagnostic test approximately one hour prior to the scheduled launch, so the SpaceX launch manager scrubbed the mission. In ground tests following the scrub, the redundant backup helium supply valve tested okay so the mission would likely have succeeded; however, it is SpaceX policy to not launch with any known anomalies.[20]

The launch was immediately rescheduled for no earlier than the Friday backup date, April 18.[21] That date was confirmed two days later, following replacement of the defective valve, but also noted that weather constraints may prevent the launch on April 18 from occurring at the instantaneous launch window of 3:25 pm ET. If the launch had been scrubbed on April 18, the next launch window would have been, Saturday, April 19 at 3:02 pm ET.[20]

On Friday, April 18, the vehicle was successfully launched.[22]


Primary payload

NASA has contracted for the CRS-3 mission from SpaceX and therefore determines the primary payload, date/time of launch, and orbital parameters for the Dragon space capsule.

Among other NASA cargo, including repair parts for the ISS, the SpaceX CRS-3 mission carried a large number of experiments to the space station, including:[6]

Secondary payloads

In addition to the primary payload, a Dragon cargo capsule resupply space transport mission to the ISS for NASA, SpaceX will deploy five secondary payload CubeSats on the CRS-3 Falcon 9 mission. The CubeSats are part of the ELaNa V flight partially funded under "NASA’s Educational Launch of Nanosatellites" program. These spacecraft are to be released from four Poly Picosatellite Orbital Deployers (PPODs) attached to the second stage of the Falcon 9 following the separation of the Dragon from the second stage:[6]

  • ALL-STAR, the Agile Low-cost Laboratory for Space Technology Acceleration and Research is equipped with the Telescopic High-definition Earth Imaging Apparatus (THEIA) camera, it will be used to return color images of the Earth. It is also the first flight a new nanosat satellite bus intended to serve as a platform for future university payloads. ALL-STAR is a three-unit CubeSat built by the University of Colorado at Boulder however its primary mission is to test the underlying spacecraft platform for future missions and to provide experience of designing, building and operating a satellite to the university’s students. ALL-STAR is a 3U CubeSat from the Colorado Space Grant Consortium (CoSGC).[29]
  • the KickSat CubeSat, which will further deploy as many as 250 cracker-sized[30] Sprite picosatellites.,[31] which was developed by Cornell University and funded through a campaign on the KickStarter website, will deploy a constellation of 104 “Sprites” or “ChipSats”. Each Sprite is a 3.2 centimeters (1.3 in) square which includes miniaturised solar cells, a gyroscope, magnetometer and a radio system for communication.[6]

Launch vehicle

The CRS-3 mission will be the fourth launch of the v1.1 version of the Falcon 9, and the second on which the first stage booster will be used after the mission for a booster descent and recovery flight test.

Post-mission launch vehicle testing

Main article: SpaceX Falcon 9 booster post-mission, controlled-descent, test program

In an arrangement unusual for launch vehicles the first stage of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will conduct a propulsive-return over-water test after the second stage with the Dragon CRS-3 payload separates from the booster. This will be the second high-altitude post-mission test of this type, after the first test on Falcon 9 Flight 6 in September 2013. That test was successful in gathering significant engineering test data, but the booster stage was not recovered.[33]

The SpaceX launch team was able to receive video from cameras placed on the first stage booster during the CRS-3 launch, but swells of 15-20 feet were reported in the anticipated recovery area. Even if a soft landing was successful, recovery was not anticipated.[34]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "LIVE REAL TIME SATELLITE TRACKING AND PREDICTIONS: SPACEX CRS-3". n2yo.com. Retrieved April 18, 2014.
  2. ^ a b c Bergin, Chris (2014-03-26). "Eastern Range Radar issue delays upcoming Cape launches". NASAspaceflight.com. Retrieved 2014-03-27. Cite error: The named reference "nsf20140326" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  3. ^ http://new.livestream.com/spacex/events/2833937/statuses/48058415
  4. ^ "Worldwide Launch Schedule". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 2012-05-28.
  5. ^ "SpaceX Launch Manifest". SpaceX. Retrieved 2012-05-31.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Graham, William (2014-04-14). "SpaceX ready for CRS-3 Dragon launch and new milestones". NASAspaceflight.com. Retrieved 2014-04-14.
  7. ^ SpaceX launch webcast
  8. ^ "ISS Launch Updates". NASA. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  9. ^ "Worldwide launch schedule". Spaceflightnow. 22 November 2012. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
  10. ^ "Worldwide launch schedule". Spaceflightnow. 16 March 2013. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  11. ^ Pete Harding and Chris Bergin (14 August 2013). "NASA planners switch next SpaceX Dragon mission to 2014". NASASpaceflight.com. Retrieved 20 August 2013.
  12. ^ Jim Wilson, ed. (2013-09-06). "Launch Schedule". NASA. Retrieved 2013-09-07.
  13. ^ "Expedition 38 thread (November 11, 2013 - March 12, 2014)". Forum.nasaspaceflight.com. Retrieved 2014-03-10.
  14. ^ "Rocket Launch Viewing at Cape Canaveral: Where & How to Watch, View and See Delta 4, Atlas 5 & Falcon 9 Launches". Launchphotography.com. Retrieved 2014-03-10.
  15. ^ Bergin, Chris (2014-02-05). "SpaceX realign Dragon's CRS-3 launch to March 16". NASAspaceflight.com. Retrieved 2014-02-08.
  16. ^ Gwynne Shotwell (2014-03-21). Broadcast 2212: Special Edition, interview with Gwynne Shotwell (audio file). The Space Show. Event occurs at 15:55–18:45. 2212. Archived from the original (mp3) on 2014-03-22. Retrieved 2014-03-22. '
  17. ^ SpaceX delays Dragon’s CRS-3 mission by two weeks, 13 March 2013, accessed 15 March 2014.
  18. ^ http://msdb.gsfc.nasa.gov/MissionData.php?mission=NROL-67 Mission Overview NROL-67 MSFC
  19. ^ "Range Realigns – SpaceX CRS-3 mission targets April 14". 2014-04-04. Retrieved 2014-04-04.
  20. ^ a b Bergin, Chris (2014-04-16). "SpaceX, NASA realign launch and EVA scenarios". NASAspaceflight.com. Retrieved 2014-04-16.
  21. ^ "CRS-3 Update". 2014-04-14. Today's launch has been scrubbed due to a Helium leak on Falcon 9's first stage. A fix will be implemented by the next launch opportunity on Friday April 18, though weather on that date isn't ideal. Check back here for updates
  22. ^ "SpaceX Dragon Heads to Space; Station Astronauts Prep for Wednesday Spacewalk". 2014-04-18. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, carrying the Dragon spacecraft loaded with nearly 2.5 tons of supplies and experiment hardware for the International Space Station's Expedition 39 crew, lifted off at 3:25 p.m. EDT Friday from Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
  23. ^ "NASA planners switch next SpaceX Dragon mission to 2014". NASASpaceFlight.com. 2013-08-14. Retrieved 2014-03-10.
  24. ^ STEPHEN CLARK (2013-03-21). "SpaceX confirms March 30 date for resupply launch". spaceflightnow.com. Retrieved 2014-03-22.
  25. ^ "ISS laser comm and earth obs projects rely on Dragon transportation". NewSpace Watch. 2013-02-25. Retrieved 2013-02-26. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |subscription= ignored (|url-access= suggested) (help)
  26. ^ "OPALS presentation at Future In Space Operations". NewSpace Watch. 2013-04-18. Retrieved 2013-04-19. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |subscription= ignored (|url-access= suggested) (help)
  27. ^ http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/863.html
  28. ^ http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/veggie/#.U0q4IDkvBhE
  29. ^ a b c d "Dragon C2, CRS-1,... CRS-12". Space.skyrocket.de. 2012-05-22. Retrieved 2014-03-10.
  30. ^ Garling, Caleb (2012-12-24). "Personal satellites that fly into space". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2012-12-26.
  31. ^ Dorminey, Bruce (November 28, 2012). "First Kickstarter Funded Satellites To Launch In 2013". Forbes. Retrieved 2012-12-26.
  32. ^ "PhoneSat - Home". Retrieved 19 April 2014.
  33. ^ Messier, Doug (2013-09-29). "Falcon 9 Launches Payloads into Orbit From Vandenberg". Parabolic Arc. Retrieved 2013-09-30.
  34. ^ http://www.space.com/25562-spacex-falcon-9-reusable-rocket-test.html
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