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- SpaceX Forum Section<\/li>\n
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However, a large amount of mission requirements have to proceed as advertised to get to such a historic moment in US space flight. This is due to the combined nature of the mission, approved by NASA following the success of the opening Dragon demonstration mission (C1\/D1).<\/p>\n
Firstly, SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9 \u2013 a two stage rocket, with both stages burning RP-1 propellant with liquid oxygen oxidiser, consisting of a first stage powered by nine Merlin 1C engines, and a second stage powered by a single Merlin Vacuum engine \u2013 has to complete its role of safely lofting the Dragon uphill.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Z92.jpg\" "\\"Z9\\"")
Once on orbit, Flight Day 1 and 2 will involve Dragon carrying out the opening C2 (D2) mission requirements during what is known as far field phasing, involving abort demos, free drift, Assisted GPS and other tasks \u2013 according to a flight plan walkthrough overview (L2 Link).<\/p>\nDragon will then greet the ISS on Flight Day 3, flying 2.5km under the Station, with commands between the two spacecraft.<\/p>\n
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The Mission Management Team (MMT) at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) and the team at SpaceX\u2019s HQ will then evaluate a Go\/No Go for Dragon to conduct final C2 (D2) and opening C3 (D3) mission elements, including the HA3\/CE2 burn pair, resulting in Dragon approaching to 1.2 km distance below the ISS.<\/p>\n
Several additional Go\/No Go decision points will be reached during the approach and required burns, prior to arriving at the capture point, allowing the ISS\u2019 Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) arm to capture the spacecraft, after the crew inhibit the ISS thrusters and command Dragon to free drift. (A more expansive mission profile article will follow in the run up to the mission).<\/p>\n
Click here for other Dragon News Articles: http:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/tag\/dragon\/<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Z82.jpg\" "\\"Z8\\"")
In preparation for Dragon\u2019s arrival at the ISS, the Station\u2019s \u201cbig arm\u201d conducted a \u201cdouble walk off\u201d from its previous location at the Mobile Base System (MBS) Power Data Grapple Fixtures -1 (PDGF-1) to Node 2\u2019s PDGF. The Mobile Transporter (MT) also translated to its supporting position on Thursday.<\/p>\n\u201cSSRMS Double Walk Off to Node 2 Completed \u2013 Late Wednesday, ground controllers completed the double walk-off of the SSRMS from MBS PDGF 1 to MBS PDGF 3 to NODE 2 PDGF. No issues,\u201d noted L2\u2019s ISS Update Notes (L2 Link). \u201cAfter the MT Translate on Thursday, the system (is) in a good configuration for SpaceX grapple and berthing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The role the ISS\u2019 robotics have to play in making this mission a success are vital, not least due to Dragon being captured and berthed to the ISS \u2013 like Japan\u2019s HTV, as opposed to Dragon docking to the Station \u2013 the same way as Europe\u2019s ATV arrives.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Z73.jpg\" "\\"Z7\\"")
The work required to capture Dragon will be conducted in the Cupola\u2019s Robotic Work Station (RWS), with the Lab\u2019s RWS classed as a hot back up, in case of issues with the former.<\/p>\nPreparations during Dragon\u2019s mission will begin with the ISS crew configuring the RWS monitor views and overlays to support crew monitoring of the vehicle\u2019s approach. Prior to final approach to capture point, crew will review contingency cue cards to be fully prepared for any problems they may encounter.<\/p>\n
Upon receiving the \u201cGo for Capture\u201d call from Houston, the ISS crew will arm the SSRMS capture command and begin tracking the vehicle through the camera on the Latching End Effector (LEE) of the SSRMS, noted an overview presentation (L2 \u2013 Link).<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Z311.jpg\" "\\"Z3\\"")
With the ISS\u2019 thrusters inhibited and Dragon confirmed to be in free drift, the arm\u2019s LEE will be maneuvered over the Grapple Fixture (GF) pin on Dragon to trigger the capture sequence ahead of pre-berthing maneuvers.<\/p>\nThe Dragon, now secured by the SSRMS, is then carefully translated to the pre-install set-up position, 3.5 meters away from the Station\u2019s module, allowing the crew to take camcorder footage of the vehicle through the Node 2 windows. This footage will then be downlinked to the ground for engineers to evaluate the condition of the Dragon spacecraft.<\/p>\n
The SSRMS then maneuvers Dragon to the second pre-install position, at a distance of 1.5 meters out. Desats are then inhibited prior to the maneuver of the Dragon into Common Berthing Module (CBM) interface to begin the securing of the spacecraft to the ISS.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Z410.jpg\" "\\"Z4\\"")
A go at this point will be marked by all four Ready To Latch (RTL) indicators providing confirmation on the RWS panel.<\/p>\nAs has been seen with other arrivals \u2013 and indeed new additions to the Station itself \u2013 Dragon will then be put through first stage capture tasks, allowing the SSRMS to go limp, ahead of second stage capture, officially marking Dragon\u2019s berthing with the ISS, in turn allowing the SSRMS to release and translate to its return position.<\/p>\n
While leak checks are conducted between the ISS and Dragon \u2013 required ahead of hatch opening \u2013 the SSRMS will have another job to complete, this time picking up the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM) \u2013 otherwise known as Dextre \u2013 who will also greet the new member of the ISS resupply family.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Z56.jpg\" "\\"Z5\\"")
The plan relates to performing a survey of the Dragon trunk using SPDM at the end of the SSRMS, after the big arm retrieves its Canadian cousin from the Mobile Base System at Work Station 5 (WS5).<\/p>\nDragon\u2019s trunk will be surveyed using Dextre\u2019s own LEE and Camera Light Pan Tilt Assembly (CLPAs), under the control of MCC-Houston. This task will allow for teams on the ground to assess viewing and lighting conditions to aid in operations planning for future trunk cargo extraction\/insertion operations that will play a resupply role during future missions.<\/p>\n
Once the survey has been completed, the SSRMS will return Dextre to the MBS, which will then carry the robot back to Work Station 2 (WS2).<\/p>\n
The Station arm will then return to its preplanned position ahead of its final task to release Dragon as part of the unberthing procedures.<\/p>\n
(Images: L2\u2019s SpaceX Dragon C2\/C3 Mission Special Section \u2013 Containing presentations, videos, images, interactive high level updates and more, with additional images via NASA and SpaceX). <\/p>\n
(Click here: http:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/l2\/ \u2013 to view how you can access the best space flight content on the entire internet).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The International Space Station\u2019s robotic arm has completed a double walk-off to be in position to grapple SpaceX\u2019s Dragon spacecraft next month. Currently set to launch NET (No Earlier Than) April 30, Dragon will have to successfully complete a series of demonstration milestones, prior to permission being granted to approach the Station for berthing via […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30376,"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":[8854,1395,233,316,8957],"class_list":["post-40155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-dextre","tag-dragon","tag-iss","tag-spacex","tag-ssrms"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40155"}],"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=40155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40155\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}