Dragon SpX-20 (CRS-20), Bartolomeo (CEPHFISS), iSIM – Falcon 9 – Canaveral SLC-40 – 02.03.2020

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tnt22 написал:
 

Jeff Foust ‏ @jeff_foust    12 мин. назад

At the CRS-20 prelaunch briefing, SpaceX's Hans Koenigsmann said the failed booster landing last month was because the booster decided to divert; winds it encountered were not those that were predicted by models.

страшный ветер и здесь дотянулся

[zandr]

https://www.militarynews.ru/story.asp?rid=1&nid=528344&lang=RU

К МКС стартует американская ракета Falcon 9 с "грузовиком" Cargo Dragon
       Вашингтон. 7 марта. ИНТЕРФАКС - Ракета-носитель Falcon 9 с грузовым космическим кораблем Cargo Dragon американской компании SpaceX в субботу по московскому времени стартует к Международной космической станции (МКС), сообщает Национальное управление США по аэронавтике и исследованию космического пространства (NASA).
      20-й по счету запуск "грузовика" Cargo Dragon к МКС в рамках коммерческого контракта между NASA и компанией SpaceX планируется осуществить с 40-го пускового комплекса на авиабазе на мысе Канаверал в штате Флорида в субботу в 07:50 мск (в пятницу в 23:50 по времени Восточного побережья США).
       Это будет уже третий полет данного многоразового "грузовика" к МКС. По сообщению компании SpaceX, корабль ранее уже дважды побывал в космосе - в феврале 2017 года и декабре 2018 года.
       Он должен доставить на МКС более двух тонн продовольствия, а также оборудования и материалов для проведения десятков научных экспериментов экипажем станции.
       Среди прочего корабль в негерметичном отсеке доставит на МКС платформу Bartolomeo Европейского космического агентства. Платформа будет установлена на европейский модуль Columbus на внешней стороне станции. Она оснащена 12 отсеками полезной нагрузки для размещения коммерческого исследовательского оборудования. Европлатформа позволит государственным и частным организациям быстро и экономически эффективно проводить исследования в космосе. Полезные грузы не потребуют обслуживания членами экипажа МКС.
       Через две минуты после старта от американской ракеты-носителя Falcon 9 должна отделиться первая многоразовая ступень, которая, как предполагается, затем совершит управляемую посадку на космодроме на мысе Канаверал. Она уже использовалась в ходе запуска в декабре 2019 года.
       В настоящее время Cargo Dragon является единственным космическим кораблем для снабжения МКС, который способен возвращать грузы на Землю.
       Стыковка "грузовика" с МКС запланирована на 9 марта. Она будет осуществляться путем захвата "грузовика" 17-метровой автоматической рукой-манипулятором Canadarm-2 МКС и последующим присоединением его к американскому сегменту станции - модулю Harmony. "Ловить" корабль будет американский астронавт Джессика Меир. А процесс его непосредственной стыковки со станцией будет осуществляться по командам из Центра управления полетами NASA в Хьюстоне.
       Cargo Dragon будет находиться в составе МКС около четырех недель. Затем он будет сведен с орбиты, и его спускаемая капсула приводнится в Тихом океане вблизи Калифорнии. Корабль привезет на Землю результаты экспериментов, проведенных экипажем МКС на орбите, общим весом более 1,8 тонны.
       В настоящее время на МКС продолжают работу россиянин Олег Скрипочка и американские астронавты Эндрю Морган и Джессика Меир.

[tnt22]

 Chris G - NSF‏ @ChrisG_NSF 8 мин.8 минут назад

Hans: The 2nd stage grey stripe on a past mission worked as designed to keep propellant at temperature for long-coast missions.  Also, SpaceX can fly up to 3 or 4 Dragons in orbit at the same time.

[tnt22]

https://spaceflightnow.com/2020/03/06/space-station-to-receive-new-outdoor-deck-for-science-experiments/

Space station to receive new outdoor deck for science experiments
March 6, 2020 | Stephen Clark


Ground teams inspect the Bartolomeo science platform at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida before loading into the drunk of a SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule. Credit: NASA

An Airbus-owned, German-built outdoor science deck is set for launch Friday night fr om Cape Canaveral aboard a SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule, heading for the International Space Station to make the orbiting research outpost more accessible for commercial space experiments.

The Bartolomeo platform will be robotically installed to the outside of the space station's Columbus module later this month, and astronauts will hook up wiring on a spacewalk to ready the structure to host science payloads.

Developed by Airbus Defense and Space in Germany in partnership with the European Space Agency, the Bartolomeo platform is designed to offer commercial companies a streamlined way of getting their experiments into orbit. Rather than launching their experiments on a standalone satellite, or spending money on complicated power and data handling systems, a customer can develop an experiment and plug it into Bartolomeo for months or years of operations.

Bartolomeo will be attached to the leading edge of ESA's Columbus module. The platform has 12 mounting points, each providing payloads with electricity and data connections to power the experiments and ensure scientists promptly receive data from their research investigations.

"Simply put, Bartolomeo is a science and payload hosting facility to be mounted on on the outside of the International Space Station to provide additional payload locations for the external science and research community," said Kris Kuehnel, director of Airbus DS Space Systems in Houston. "Bartolomeo was commercially developed by Airbus in a cooperative agreement with the European Space Agency.

Named for the younger brother of explorer Christopher Columbus, Bartolomeo is similar to the unpressurized outdoor platform affixed to the Japanese Kibo lab module on the opposite side of the space station. But Kibo's exposed facility was funded by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and primarily hosts government-owned experiments from the United States and Japan.

Bartolomeo is European-owned, and Airbus is emphasizing its usefulness for commercial companies, academic institutions and other lower-budget customers.

"It started a couple of years ago when the European Space Agency asked for ideas how to promote science and increased commercial activities on-board the ISS, and our answer is the Bartolomeo platform," said Andreas Schütte, Bartolomeo's project manager at Airbus. "With Bartolomeo, we can offer 12 payload slots available for any organization, be it a research organization, university, or a commercial entity. We sell to anyone to enable science, in-orbit demonstrations, you name it."

Airbus spent about 40 million euros ($45 million) to develop the Bartolomeo platform, according to DLR, the German space agency. DLR says accommodations on-board Bartolomeo will be priced from 300,000 to 3.5 million euros ($340,000 to $4 million) per year.

"Radiation biologists, solar physicists and astrophysicists, Earth observers and atmospheric and climate researchers will all benefit from the new platform," said Julianna Schmitz, who is responsible for ISS commercialization at DLR. "Bartolomeo is particularly suitable for technology testing and validation. There are unique possibilities here that cannot be achieved in any laboratory on Earth because optical sensors, materials, robotic components and antennas can be tested directly in the space environment."

Bartolomeo is loaded inside the unpressurized trunk of a SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule for liftoff from Cape Canaveral on top of a Falcon 9 rocket Friday at 11:50 p.m. EST (0450 GMT Saturday).


Artist's illustration of the Bartolomeo platform installed outside the International Space Station's Columbus lab module. Credit: Airbus Defense and Space

The Dragon cargo mission — SpaceX's 20th operationally resupply launch to the space station — is set to deliver 4,358 pounds (1,977 kilograms) of supplies, experiments and other equipment to the orbiting research outpost. Bartolomeo makes up about one-quarter of the cargo mass on the Dragon capsule.

The mission will mark the final flight by SpaceX's first-generation Dragon spacecraft, which first flew in space in 2010 on a test flight before reaching the space station on a subsequent mission in 2012.

With a successful launch Friday night and a rendezvous with the space station early Monday, SpaceX will have delivered more than 94,000 pounds (around 43 metric tons) of cargo to the research complex on 20 missions, including a test flight in 2012. One of the operational resupply flights suffered a launch failure in 2015.

The 20 Dragon missions have returned about 74,000 pounds (33 metric tons) of cargo from the space station back to Earth.

The Dragon commercial cargo missions were conducted under a $3.04 billion resupply services contract with NASA, which also helped pay for development of the Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 launcher through an earlier $396 million funding agreement.

SpaceX plans to begin resupply missions using its next-generation Dragon 2 spacecraft in October. The Dragon 2 was developed to ferry astronauts to and from the space station, but the new capsule comes in dedicated crew and cargo configurations.

Along with Bartolomeo, the Dragon cargo mission set for launch Friday night will deliver about a ton of scientific experiments, including biological research investigations studying microgravity's impact on stem cells, intestinal diseases and chemical reactions.

Another experiment heading to the space station comes from Delta Faucet, which will study water droplet formation in microgravity in hopes of developing better-performing shower heads while reducing water usage.

The Dragon spacecraft is also packed with spare parts and replacement hardware for the space station's research facilities and life support systems. Components launching Friday include upgraded hardware for the station's urine processing system, which converts human waste into drinking water.

The new components will allow NASA teams to test out modifications designed to extend the lifetime of the urine processing system's distillation assembly ahead of future missions to the moon and Mars, which will require longer-lasting life support equipment.


The Bartolomeo is fastened inside the trunk of a SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule for liftoff from Cape Canaveral. Credit: Airbus Defense and Space

When the Dragon spacecraft reaches a position roughly 30 feet (10 meters) below the space station, astronauts Jessica Meir and Drew Morgan will use the station's Canadian-built robotic arm to grapple the SpaceX cargo capsule.

The robot arm will maneuver the ship to a berthing port on the station's Harmony module, and astronauts will begin unpacking the contents of the capsule's pressurized compartment.

Meanwhile, the robotics systems outside the station will reach into the Dragon's trunk and grapple the Bartolomeo platform.

"We are eagerly awaiting the launch, but this is only one milestone on the way for Bartolomeo," Schütte said. "The most interesting part is eventually the robotic installation of Bartolomeo."

The robotic arm will attach the Bartolomeo platform to trunnion bolts on the Columbus module, which connected the lab to restraints inside the space shuttle payload for its journey to the space station in 2008. The platform is folded up to fit inside the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, and it will open up to its fully-deployed configuration as it's connected to the Columbus module.

"We needed to fit ... into the SpaceX trunk," Schütte said.  "We also had to fold the outrigger boom to attach between the trunnions, so that required some really complex mechanisms, and requires also a lot of robotics activities when Bartolomeo is going to be installed."

Astronauts will mate power and data connectors on a spacewalk to finish readying the Bartolomeo platform for operations.

Data from experiments attached to Bartolomeo will be routed to the ground through the space station's telemetry system, then go into cloud storage, wh ere scientists can access the information via a smartphone. Payload owners can also send commands to their experiments through a smartphone, Schütte said.

"No astronauts will need to be deployed to retrofit Bartolomeo with scientific payloads," Schmitz said. "Thanks to the payloads' standardized dimensions and interfaces, installation is much easier and can be carried out purely robotically via remote control from Earth."

A German-made laser communications terminal will be added to Bartolomeo in 2021, allowing faster data links between experiments and their operators on the ground.

"The first experiment to find its science spot (on Bartolomeo) will be the Multi-Needle Langmuir Probe, a payload made in Norway to control the electric potential of a spacecraft or satellite platform with an electron emitter," ESA said.

Another experiment from CNES, the French space agency, could also be mounted to Bartolomeo to investigate the aging of materials during spaceflight.

Airbus is also partnering with the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs to solicit ideas for Bartolomeo payloads from around the world. Developing countries are particularly encouraged to participate, according to the UN.

[tnt22]

03/07/2020 01:02 Stephen Clark

Forecasters predict a 60 percent chance of acceptable weather conditions for tonight's Falcon 9 launch fr om Cape Canaveral, which is timed for 11:50:31 p.m. EST (0450:31 GMT).

The primary concern is with ground winds, which are predicted from the north at 25 to 30 mph, just below the lim it for a Falcon 9 launch from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral.

Officials are also watching upper level winds, but conditions aloft are trending more favorable for a launch tonight.

[tnt22]

[tnt22]

[tnt22]

[tnt22]

 John Kraus  :f09f9a80:‏ @johnkrausphotos 20 мин. назад

Falcon 9 and Dragon seen in silhouette against a beautiful sunset sky as SpaceX readies launch of the CRS-20 mission at 11:50pm EST this evening.

[tnt22]

Jack Beyer‏ @thejackbeyer 3 мин. назад

Absolutely unreal sunset lighting for remote setup at SLC-40 this evening. SpaceX is poised to launch the final first gen Cargo Dragon tonight at 11:50 pm est. on a resupply mission to the ISS. I placed two cameras at the launch pad, cross your fingers they work! @NASASpaceflight

[tnt22]

Урезанная запись предстартовой пресс-конференции (без Q&A)

Prelaunch news conference for the 20th SpaceX resupply mission to the Int. Space Station

space googlevesaire

6 мар. 2020 г.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/Zzofo5U8aG8?feature=oembed (21:35)

[tnt22]

https://spaceflightnow.com/2020/03/06/launch-timeline-for-spacexs-20th-space-station-resupply-mission/

Launch timeline for SpaceX's 20th space station resupply mission
March 6, 2020 | Stephen Clark

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket will go from Cape Canaveral to low Earth orbit in less than 10 minutes Friday night with a Dragon capsule heading for the International Space Station carrying more than 4,300 pounds of supplies and experiments.

Liftoff is set for 11:50 p.m. EST Friday (0450 GMT Saturday) from Cape Canaveral's Complex 40 launch pad.

It will be the 82nd flight of a Falcon 9 rocket, and SpaceX's fifth launch of the year. Working under contract to NASA, Saturday's launch will be the 20th of least 26 SpaceX resupply missions to depart for the space station under two separate cargo transportation contracts.

The resupply mission, known as CRS-20 or SpaceX-20, will be the final flight of SpaceX's first-generation Dragon cargo capsule. Future resupply flights to the station will be flown using the next-generation Dragon 2 vehicle, an automated, unpiloted capsule based on the new human-rated Crew Dragon spacecraft.

The illustrated timeline below outlines the launch sequence for the Falcon 9 flight with the Dragon spacecraft. It does not include times for the descent and landing of the first stage booster at Landing Zone 1 around 6 miles (9 kilometers) south of pad 40.

Three ignitions of the first stage engines after separation will steer the booster back toward Florida's Space Coast from the northeast. Here are key times for the landing maneuvers:

[/li]
• T+plus 2 minutes, 35 seconds: First stage boost-back burn begins
  
• T+plus 6 minutes, 32 seconds: First stage entry burn begins
  
• T+plus 8 minutes, 17 seconds: First stage landing
  

The first two burns will be performed using three of the Falcon 9's nine Merlin first stage engines. The final landing burn will occur using just the center engine.

T-0:00:00: Liftoff


After the rocket's nine Merlin engines pass an automated health check, hold-down clamps will release the Falcon 9 booster for liftoff from pad 40.

T+0:01:18: Max Q


The Falcon 9 rocket reaches Max Q, the point of maximum aerodynamic pressure.

T+0:02:18: MECO


The Falcon 9's nine Merlin 1D engines shut down.

T+0:02:22: Stage 1 Separation


The Falcon 9's first stage separates from the second stage moments after MECO.

T+0:02:29: Second Stage Ignition


The second stage Merlin 1D vacuum engine ignites for an approximately six-minute burn to put the Dragon spacecraft into orbit.

T+0:08:35: SECO


The second stage of the Falcon 9 rocket shuts down after reaching a elliptical target orbit at an inclination of 51.6 degrees. The second stage will later reignite for a de-orbit burn, falling back into the atmosphere for a destructive re-entry.

T+0:09:35: Dragon Separation


The Dragon spacecraft separates from the Falcon 9 rocket's second stage.

T+0:12:02: Solar Arrays Deployed


The Dragon spacecraft's two solar array wings extend one-at-a-time to a span of 54 feet (16.5 meters).

[свернуть]

[tnt22]

03/07/2020 06:36 Stephen Clark

[tnt22]

William Harwood‏ @cbs_spacenews 4 мин. назад

F9/CRS-20: Liftoff from pad 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is targeted for 11:50:31pm EST; the sky is generally clear, but high ground-level winds are a concern; no update yet on upper-level winds

[tnt22]

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacex/2020/03/06/launch-day-arrives-for-spacex-crs-20/

Launch Day Arrives for SpaceX CRS-20

Linda Herridge
Posted Mar 6, 2020 at 10:30 pm


The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon cargo spacecraft are on Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, awaiting launch on the company's 20th commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station. Launch is scheduled for 11:50 p.m. EST tonight, March 6. Photo credit: NASA

Liftoff of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon cargo spacecraft is targeted for 11:50 p.m. EST this evening. Countdown activities are in progress at Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, where the rocket awaits launch on the company's 20th commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station.

CRS-20 is the second U.S. resupply mission to the space station this year, and the first resupply mission for SpaceX this year.

Be sure to join us here on the blog and on NASA Television beginning at 11:30 p.m. EST for updates from the countdown. Learn more about the SpaceX CRS-20 mission by going to the mission home page at http://www.nasa.gov/spacex.

[tnt22]

03/07/2020 07:02 Stephen Clark

T-minus 48 minutes. All weather parameters are currently observed "go" at this time.

[tnt22]

 Stephen Clark‏ @StephenClark1 2 мин. назад

Ground winds are currently below the 34mph limit, but close.

[tnt22]

[tnt22]

03/07/2020 07:19 Stephen Clark

Fueling of the Falcon 9 rocket at Cape Canaveral should have started a couple of minutes ago. But SpaceX is not currently providing a way for media to confirm the status of tonight's countdown, as the company typically does before launches.

[tnt22]