{"id":11767,"date":"2021-04-05T22:03:30","date_gmt":"2021-04-05T14:03:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/spacexs-crew-dragon-capsule-swaps-docking-ports-on-space-station\/"},"modified":"2021-04-05T22:03:30","modified_gmt":"2021-04-05T14:03:30","slug":"spacexs-crew-dragon-capsule-swaps-docking-ports-on-space-station","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/spacexs-crew-dragon-capsule-swaps-docking-ports-on-space-station\/","title":{"rendered":"SpaceX\u2019s Crew Dragon capsule swaps docking ports on space station"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_50974\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-50974\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-50974\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/crew1relocate1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"668\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/crew1relocate1.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/crew1relocate1-300x167.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/crew1relocate1-768x428.jpg 768w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/crew1relocate1-678x377.jpg 678w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-50974\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Crew Dragon \u201cResilience\u201d spacecraft closes in for docking Monday at the International Space Station. Credit: NASA TV\/Spaceflight Now<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In the home stretch of nearly a half-year on the International Space Station, four astronauts suited up and rode their SpaceX-owned Crew Dragon \u201cResilience\u201d spaceship to a new docking port outside the orbiting research lab Monday, a first-of-its kind maneuver for the new generation of commercial crew spaceships.<\/p>\n<p>The maneuver clears the way for arrival of the next SpaceX Crew Dragon mission at the space station later this month, and sets up for the docking of a Dragon cargo freighter in June carrying a new pair of solar arrays to upgrade the outpost\u2019s power system.<\/p>\n<p>Commander Mike Hopkins, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialists Soichi Noguchi and Shannon Walker suited up in their SpaceX-made pressure garments and boarded their Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft early Monday. All four astronauts were aboard the Crew Dragon, which also serves as their lifeboat, for the relocation maneuver in case problems prevented the spacecraft from reconnecting with the space station, forcing an early return to Earth.<\/p>\n<p>After closing hatches between their capsule and the space station, the astronauts configured their cockpit displays as ground teams gave a final \u201cgo\u201d for the relocation maneuver.<\/p>\n<p>The capsule detached from the forward docking port on the space station\u2019s Harmony module at 6:30 a.m. EDT (1030 GMT) and fired its Draco thrusters to back away to a range of more than 200 feet, or 60 meters.<\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" class=\"\" style=\"position: static; visibility: visible; width: 0px; height: 0px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1379019896240099333&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fspaceflightnow.com%2F2021%2F04%2F05%2Fspacexs-crew-dragon-capsule-swaps-docking-ports-on-international-space-station%2F&amp;sessionId=d10b1ad7beacd69da98a69628b8903fa38de080a&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&amp;width=550px\" data-tweet-id=\"1379019896240099333\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-twitter-extracted-i178246904148547127=\"true\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Undocking confirmed. The Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft \u2014 with four astronauts on-board \u2014 is now backing away from the International Space Station to begin the maneuver to relocate to a different docking port.<\/p>\n<p>Watch live: https:\/\/t.co\/reM7dZtvvc pic.twitter.com\/gy8uf5uY0u<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Spaceflight Now (@SpaceflightNow) April 5, 2021<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>After ensuring the Dragon\u2019s laser navigation system had a good lock on the space station, mission control gave the go-ahead for Hopkins to send a command for the spacecraft to reposition itself from the station\u2019s forward docking axis to an approach corridor above the complex.<\/p>\n<p>The Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft performed the flyaround maneuver in autopilot mode. Once the capsule was aligned with Harmony\u2019s top-facing, or zenith, docking port, Hopkins issued another command for the Crew Dragon to begin an autonomous final approach back toward the station.<\/p>\n<p>The spacecraft docked with the station again at 7:08 a.m. EDT (1108 GMT), completing a 38-minute relocation maneuver that was the first of its kind for a commercial crew vehicle.<\/p>\n<p>Russian Soyuz crew capsules have relocated to different docking ports 19 times in the history of the International Space Station program. Unlike the Crew Dragon, the Soyuz spacecraft are relocated manually with hand inputs from Russian cosmonauts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSpaceX, Houston, from Resilience, congratulations on a successful port relocation,\u201d radioed Hopkins from the Crew Dragon spacecraft. \u201cWe\u2019ve got leak checks to go, but a great capability that\u2019s going to really enhance the options up here for the International Space Station, so congratulations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Spacecraft relocations are useful for mission planners to open up docking ports for different types of visiting crew and cargo vehicles.<\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-1\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" class=\"\" style=\"position: static; visibility: visible; width: 0px; height: 0px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-1&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1379030406528389122&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fspaceflightnow.com%2F2021%2F04%2F05%2Fspacexs-crew-dragon-capsule-swaps-docking-ports-on-international-space-station%2F&amp;sessionId=d10b1ad7beacd69da98a69628b8903fa38de080a&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&amp;width=550px\" data-tweet-id=\"1379030406528389122\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-twitter-extracted-i178246904148547127=\"true\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Docking confirmed.<\/p>\n<p>The Crew Dragon Resilience and its four astronauts have linked up with a docking port on the top side of the space station\u2019s Harmony module, clearing the way for arrivals of new crew and cargo capsules, and a new set of solar arrays.https:\/\/t.co\/reM7dZtvvc pic.twitter.com\/QMGbUiOwCw<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Spaceflight Now (@SpaceflightNow) April 5, 2021<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The astronauts planned to enter the space station again later Monday morning to resume normal work.<\/p>\n<p>Hopkins\u2019s crew launched Nov. 15 aboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft, which they named Resilience, from NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, kicking off the first fully operational flight of a SpaceX crew capsule. Their mission, known as Crew-1, docked with the International Space Station the next day.<\/p>\n<p>NASA astronaut Kate Rubins, who was aboard the Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft when it swapped docking ports last month, said last week the relocation is \u201cnot just a pleasure trip.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s all of the fun and the work of undock day, plus all of the fun and the work of docking day,\u201d Rubins said, speaking from recent experience. \u201cIt\u2019s a lot of activity. But it\u2019s pretty cool, and it is quite an amazing view to separate from your vehicle that\u2019s been your home for months and to be able to look at it from 60 meters.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The relocation Monday clears the way for the next SpaceX crew mission to dock with the forward position on the Harmony module. SpaceX\u2019s Crew-2 mission mission, set for launch April 22 from the Kennedy Space Center, will carry commander Shane Kimbrough, pilot Megan McArthur, Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, and European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_50964\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-50964\" style=\"width: 1100px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-50964\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/crew1-suits.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1100\" height=\"825\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/crew1-suits.jpg 1100w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/crew1-suits-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/crew1-suits-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/crew1-suits-678x509.jpg 678w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/crew1-suits-326x245.jpg 326w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/crew1-suits-80x60.jpg 80w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-50964\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Astronauts Shannon Walker, Victor Glover, Mike Hopkins, and Soichi Noguchi put on their SpaceX pressure suits for a fit check last week in preparation for relocation of the Crew Dragon \u201cResilience\u201d spacecraft outside the International Space Station. Credit: NASA\/JAXA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Hopkins and his crewmates are scheduled to end their mission April 28 with a departure from the space station and a fiery re-entry back into Earth\u2019s atmosphere, culminating in a parachute-assisted splashdown off the coast of Florida.<\/p>\n<p>Their undocking April 28 will then clear the top port on the Harmony module for the arrival of the next SpaceX Dragon cargo mission scheduled for launch June 3. NASA wants the Dragon cargo ship to dock with Harmony\u2019s zenith port, within the reach of the space station\u2019s Canadian-built robotic arm, which will extract a new pair of solar arrays from the Dragon\u2019s trunk to upgrade the orbiting lab\u2019s power system.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve got some pretty big milestones coming up, so let\u2019s not take our foot of the gas and make sure we\u2019re keeping our eye on the ball,\u201d Hopkins said Friday.<\/p>\n<p><b><i>Email the author.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Crew Dragon \u201cResilience\u201d spacecraft closes in for docking Monday at the International Space Station. Credit: NASA TV\/Spaceflight Now In the home stretch of nearly a half-year on the International Space Station, four astronauts suited up and rode their SpaceX-owned Crew Dragon \u201cResilience\u201d spaceship to a new docking port outside the orbiting research lab Monday, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[524,291,235,1156,1747,1748,1545,717],"class_list":["post-11767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-commercial-crew","tag-commercial-space","tag-crew-dragon","tag-crew-dragon-resilience","tag-crew-1","tag-expedition-64","tag-human-spaceflight","tag-international-space-station"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11767"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11767"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11767\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11767"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}