Dragon SpX-10 (CRS10) - Falcon 9 v1.2 - Canaveral SLC-40 - 19.02.2017 14:38 UTC

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03/19/2017 12:36
Thomas Pesquet, a European Space Agency flight engineer on the station, radioed his congratulations to the Dragon team shortly after the craft's departure.
"Houston, it looks like it's time to say goodbye to Dragon," Pesquet said. "There's a part of us that will come back to down to Earth with her, and I mean that literally because it carries lots of important scientific samples, and some obtained directly fr om the crew.
"I know scientists can't wait to get their hands on their results, and thanks to return vehicles like Dragon, the ISS is able to fulfill its mission of science and discovery. From all the crew of Expedition 50, many thanks and congratulations to all the teams involved in this CRS-10 mission."
Michael Hopkins, an astronaut servicing as spacecraft communicator in mission control in Houston, replied: "Thanks for those words, Thomas, and congratulations to the crew as well. You guys did a fantastic job, as well, always staying ahead of the timeline, and it's going to be great to get Dragon back on Earth."

03/19/2017 12:33
Coming up in a few hours, the Dragon spacecraft will close the door to its guidance, navigation and control bay shortly before 9 a.m. EDT (1300 GMT).
Ignition of the capsule's thrusters is set for 9:55 a.m. EDT (1355 GMT) for an appoximately 10-minute deorbit burn. Splashdown a few hundred miles west of Baja California is scheduled for 10:54 a.m. EDT (1454 GMT).
NASA Television coverage of the Dragon resupply flight has ended. SpaceX does not plan to provide live coverage of splashdown, but you can check back here for updates on the status of the mission as we receive information

03/19/2017 12:23
Dragon's third and final departure burn is complete, moving the craft beyond the 200-meter keep-out sphere, an imaginary bubble around the space station.

03/19/2017 12:15
The Dragon spacecraft has finished its second departure burn. A yaw maneuver is coming up at about 5:21 a.m. EDT (0921 GMT), then a final departure maneuver is planned about a minute later.

03/19/2017 12:15
The robotic arm has backed away to a distance of more than 10 feet. The first of three rocket burns to guide Dragon away from the space station is complete.

03/19/2017 12:13  Dragon release

Dragon is now flying on its own, having been released from the grasp of the space station robotic arm at 5:11 a.m. EDT (0911 GMT) as the craft flew 257 miles above the Indian Ocean just south of Australia.

03/19/2017 12:02
Mission control in Houston just gave the station crew a "go" for release of the Dragon spacecraft by the robotic arm.

03/19/2017 11:59
NASA and SpaceX report they are in good shape for the departure of Dragon with more than 5,400 pounds of cargo for the return trip to Earth. The items include euthanized mice specimens, stem cell samples, and three disused experiment packages tagged for disposal inside the spacecraft's trunk, which will burn up on re-entry.

03/19/2017 11:56
More than 5,400 pounds of cargo, vehicle hardware and experiment samples are packed inside the Dragon capsule's pressurized cabin and the ship's disposable trunk.

03/19/2017 11:54

Grasped by the robotic arm, the Dragon spacecraft is at its planned release point below the space station.
Astronauts Thomas Pesquet and Shane Kimbrough will command the arm to release the capsule at 5:11 a.m. EDT (0911 GMT). The duo will stand by at a communications panel to issue commands to Dragon if necessary.
The crew will monitor the spacecraft until it exits the so-called keep-out sphere 200 meters (660 feet) around the space station.

Спойлер

03/19/2017 07:16
After 24 days at the International Space Station, SpaceX's Dragon supply ship is set to head back to Earth on Sunday with more than 5,400 pounds of cargo, human and animal research specimens, and other gear tagged for the trip home.
The commercial cargo craft will be detached from the space station's Harmony module with the research lab's Canadian-built robot arm, then maneuvered to a location around 30 feet, or 10 meters, below the complex.
Astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Thomas Pesquet inside the station's windowed cupola, which offers panoramic views of the outpost, will command the robot arm to release the automated cargo carrier at 5:11 a.m. EDT (0911 GMT).
The Dragon spacecraft will fire its thrusters to depart the vicinity of the space station, moving out to a safe distance several miles away to close and latch the door to its navigation bay and start a 10-minute de-orbit burn with its Draco thrusters around 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT).
The spaceship will jettison its unpressurized trunk section and solar panels a few minutes later to burn up in the atmosphere, while the main module re-enters cocooned inside a specialized ablative heat shield developed by NASA and SpaceX to withstand temperatures reaching up to 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit on its hypersonic approach to a landing zone a few hundred miles off the coast of Baja California.
Dual drogue parachutes will deploy when the capsule passes an altitude of about 45,000 feet, then three 116-foot-diameter (35-meter) main chutes will open to slow down the craft's descent to a gentle 10 mph for splashdown at 10:54 a.m. EDT (1454 GMT).
NASA TV will broadcast the departure events live, but the de-orbit burn and splashdown will not be televised.

A maritime recovery team will be on standby to recover the capsule from the Pacific Ocean and ferry it back to port in Long Beach, California, wh ere SpaceX will hand over time-sensitive samples to NASA for delivery to science teams around the world.
"This cargo will include science samples from human and animal research, external payloads, biology and biotechnology studies, physical science investigations and education activities," NASA said in a statement.
SpaceX Dragon spacecraft is the only vehicle currently capable of returning large amounts of cargo from the space station to Earth intact.
This mission is SpaceX's 10th operational resupply flight to the space station. One of those 10 missions ended in a launch failure.
The Dragon supply ship launched Feb. 19 atop a Falcon 9 rocket from launch pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It arrived at the space station Feb. 23.
Astronauts unpacked 3,373 pounds (1,530 kilograms) of cargo inside the ship's pressurized compartment over the last few weeks.
The station's robotics systems pulled two large research platforms from the Dragon's unpressurized trunk and mounted them on platforms outside the complex.
One of the external payloads will measure the condition of Earth's ozone layer, and the other is a conglomeration of more than a dozen NASA and U.S. military experiments, including a lightning camera and a navigation testbed designed to gather data for future satellite servicing missions.
Officials report both major experiments are in good health.
Cargo coming home inside Dragon's internal cabin include specimens from 40 euthanized mice launched inside the capsule last month. Scientists sent 40 mice into orbit to examine how bone fractures heal in the absence of gravity, and search for the biological reasons why most animals, including humans, cannot regrow lost limbs.
Materials from a stem cell experiment aimed at helping researchers learn how human cancers start and spread are also coming back to Earth.
Several items were loaded into the Dragon capsule's trunk for disposal during its destructure re-entry, including disused hardware from NASA's Robotic Refueling Mission, an experiment that tested technologies and techniques for future satellite servicing missions.
Other gear tagged for disposal include OPALS, an external payload developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which arrived at the station in April 2014 and tested a high-speed laser communications link between the space station and ground stations on Earth.
Another package that was fixed outside the space station to be discarded Sunday is one in a series of Materials on International Space Station Experiments, or MISSE payloads, that tested the radiation tolerance of a new computer system built for long-duration spaceflight.

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SpaceX Dragon CRS-10 departure highlights

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SpaceX CRS-10 dragon returning

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https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2017/03/19/spacex-dragon-spacecraft-departs-space-station/

SpaceX Dragon Spacecraft Departs Space Station
Posted on March 19, 2017 at 5:30 am by Hayley Fick.


The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft was released fr om space station at 5:11 a.m. ET on March 19 after delivering more than 5,500 pounds of cargo.

Expedition 50 astronauts Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency) and Shane Kimbrough of NASA released the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft from the International Space Station's robotic arm at 5:11 a.m. EDT.

With the spacecraft a safe distance from the station, SpaceX flight controllers in Hawthorne, California, will command its deorbit burn around 10 a.m. The capsule will splash down at about 10:54 a.m. in the Pacific Ocean, wh ere recovery forces will retrieve the capsule and its more than 5,400 pounds of cargo. The cargo includes science samples from human and animal research, external payloads, biology and biotechnology studies, physical science investigations and education activities.

The deorbit burn and splashdown will not be broadcast on NASA TV.

NASA and the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), the non-profit organization that manages research aboard the U.S. national laboratory portion of the space station, will receive time-sensitive samples and begin working with researchers to process and distribute them within 48 hours of splashdown.

Dragon, the only space station resupply spacecraft able to return to Earth intact, launched Feb. 19 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and arrived at the station Feb. 23 for the company's 10th NASA-contracted commercial resupply mission.

This entry was posted in Expedition 50 and tagged dragon, European Space Agency, Expedition 50, International Space Station, NASA, spacex on March 19, 2017 by Hayley Fick.

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Thomas Pesquet‏Подлинная учетная запись @Thom_astro 1 ч. назад

Today we said good bye to #Dragon! She is taking part of us back to ground with her – important scientific samples, some from the crew!
 

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03/19/2017 17:49
Splashdown confirmed! The Dragon spacecraft has returned to Earth with approximately 3,600
pounds of space station cargo, ending its 10th operational cargo flight to the complex.

03/19/2017 17:47
The three main parachutes have deployed, SpaceX says. Standing by for splashdown a few hundred miles west of Baja California.

03/19/2017 17:46
After deploying two drogue parachutes for stability, Dragon should now be descending through 10,000 feet under three 116-foot main parachutes, which are designed to slow the craft's speed to a gentle 11 mph at the time of splashdown.

03/19/2017 17:33
Temperatures outside the Dragon spacecraft are expected to reach up to 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit during re-entry.

03/19/2017 17:32
As with its previous missions, SpaceX is not providing live coverage of the re-entry and splashdown of the Dragon supply ship. We'll post updates here as we get them.
Dragon should now be encountering the upper reaches of the atmosphere - a point known as entry interface - over the Pacific Ocean. Officials expect a communications blackout in the next few minutes, followed by deployment of the capsule's parachutes beginning at 10:46 a.m. EDT (1446 GMT).

03/19/2017 17:18

SpaceX confirms the completion of Dragon's deorbit burn, and the spacecraft has jettisoned its disposable unpressurized trunk segment. The capsule will dip into the atmosphere on a trajectory flying from northwest to southeast over the Pacific Ocean, heading for splashdown at 10:54 a.m. EDT (1454 GMT).

03/19/2017 17:06
Flying high above the Indian Ocean, the Dragon spacecraft should have fired its Draco thrusters for the deorbit burn by now, committing the capsule for return to Earth. The burn was expected to last approximately 10 minutes.
Dragon is carrying more than 3,600 pounds of cargo from the space station in its pressurized cabin. The capsule is the only robotic cargo freighter able to retrieve equipment from the space station and return it to Earth for analysis or repairs.

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Thomas Pesquet‏Подлинная учетная запись @Thom_astro 35 мин. назад

#Dragon and #Soyuz facing each other on the @Space_Station. Different technology, different language, same goal – return to Earth!
 

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SpaceX‏Подлинная учетная запись @SpaceX 29 мин. назад
 
Good splashdown of Dragon confirmed, carrying @NASA science and research cargo back from the @Space_Station.

  SpaceX‏Подлинная учетная запись @SpaceX 32 мин. назад
 
Dragon's three main parachutes have been deployed. Splashdown in ~5 minutes.

  SpaceX‏Подлинная учетная запись @SpaceX 33 мин. назад
 
Dragon's drogue chutes have been deployed nominally.
 
  SpaceX‏Подлинная учетная запись @SpaceX 1 ч. назад
 
Dragon's deorbit burn is complete and trunk has been jettisoned. Pacific Ocean splashdown with critical @NASA cargo in ~30 minutes.
 

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Район приводнения
https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=42559.msg1655764#msg1655764
 

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Timelapse of SpaceX Dragon CRS-10 Departing ISS (2:12)

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NASA TV : Release of SpaceX Dragon Capsule From The ISS (49:35)

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https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/03/crs-10-dragon-returning-home-iss-mission/

CRS-10 Dragon completes homecoming to conclude successful ISS mission
March 19, 2017 by Chris Bergin

 

The latest SpaceX Dragon spacecraft concluded her mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Unberthing of the CRS-10 Dragon from the orbital outpost on Sunday began the critical End Of Mission (EOM) milestones, which was marked with a successful splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.
 

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CRS-10:

The CRS-10 Dragon was launched by SpaceX's Falcon 9 carrier rocket on a hugely historic and important mission, marking the company's Return To Flight following the loss of the Falcon 9 that was set to loft the AMOS-6 satellite. The rocket and payload were destroyed during a Static Fire anomaly.



The explosion also resulted in severe damage to the SLC-40 pad. As such, SpaceX pressed forward with their conversion of the historic LC-39A at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), with the CRS-10 Dragon mission marking the debut SpaceX launch from the former Apollo and Shuttle pad.

It was the first launch from the pad since Shuttle Atlantis concluded the Space Shuttle Program in 2011.

The launch was a success, with Dragon pushed towards a Low Earth Orbit destination. At the same time, the Falcon 9 booster returned home for a landing at Cape Canaveral's LZ-1.

Dragon completed her chase of the Station a few days after launch, berthed via a collaboration of robotics and humans, as  ISS Commander Shame Kimbrough and Flight Engineer Thomas Pesquet – working in the Robotic Work Station in the Cupola lab – grabbed the Dragon via the use of the End Effector on the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS).



The successful berthing marked the delivery of 2,490 kilograms, or 5,490 pounds, of cargo. This included 1,530 kilograms (3,373 lb) of pressurized cargo and 960 kg (2,116 lb) of unpressurized cargo in the Trunk.

The pressurised cargo included 732 kilograms (1,614 lb) of scientific hardware and experiments, 296 kilograms (653 lb) of provisions for the crew, 382 kilograms (842 lb) of hardware for the US segment of the station and 22 kilograms (49 lb) for the Russian segment, 11 kilograms (24 lb) of computer equipment and 10 kilograms of hardware to support extravehicular activity (EVA) at the station.

The unpressurized cargo included NASA's Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment III, or SAGE III-ISS. SAGE III-ISS will monitor ozone, aerosol and trace gas levels in Earth's stratosphere, by observing the refraction of sunlight and moonlight through the atmosphere.

It, along with the Lightning Image Sensor (LIS), or STP-H5 – were mounted externally to the space station during the berthed phase on the mission.



Aided by the Canadian robot, Dextre, the installations were followed by the reloading of numerous items for return and disposal. Dextre's task was to install packages such as MISSE and the RRM payloads into the trunk of Dragon, which will be destroyed when the trunk is seperated during Dragon's return to Earth.

Thousands of pounds of return items were also installed into the pressurized section of Dragon, including a long list of experiments that will be removed from Dragon once she is back on Earth.

To kick off the homecoming, the long sequence of events – that ultimately leads to Dragon safely bobbing the Pacific Ocean – start with the unberthing of Dragon from the Node 2 Nadir CBM came via the release of 16 bolts around the CBM berthing collar on the ISS side, performed in four sets of four bolts to ensure even unloading on the CBM interface.

Dragon was then pulled away from the ISS via the use of the SSRMS.
 
Dragon was maneuvered to the release position approximately 30 feet below the ISS. She was left in this position for the night – known as the parking position.

Sunday's ops began with Dragon in the release position, ahead of the time for Dragon and the ISS to part ways.

Via a squeeze of the trigger on the Rotational Hand Controller (RHC) on the RWS to release the snares holding the SSRMS Latching End Effector (LEE) to the Dragon Flight Releasable Grapple Fixture (FRGF), the operation effectively "let go" of Dragon.

Click here for more Dragon Articles: https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/tag/dragon/

This occurred at 05:11 Eastern – although the timing was subject to variation, based on communications and lighting conditions.



With the SSRMS retracted safely clear, Dragon conducted three departure burn to depart to the vicinity of the ISS, edging away from the orbital outpost, with small thruster firings to push down the R-Bar.

The larger of the three burns was conducted to send Dragon outside of the approach ellipsoid, at which point SpaceX controllers in MCC-X took full control of the mission.

Following the completion of departure burns, Dragon conducted a free-flying phase on-orbit for just under five hours, during which time she will completed a critical action – the closure of the GNC bay door, to which the FRGF is mounted – before conducting a de-orbit burn at around 10 am Eastern.

The 10 minute deorbit burn was carried out by the spacecraft's Draco thrusters.

The umbilical between Dragon and its Trunk was disengaged, prior to the Trunk separating from the Dragon capsule. The trunk was destroyed by Entry Interface (EI), along with the payloads set for disposal.



As the spacecraft entered EI she was protected by her PICA-X heat shield – a Thermal Protection System (TPS) based on a proprietary variant of NASA's phenolic impregnated carbon ablator (PICA) material – designed to protect the capsule during Earth atmospheric re-entry, and is even robust to protect Dragon from the high return velocities from Lunar and Martian destinations.

Once at the required velocity and altitude, Dragon's drogue parachutes were deployed, followed by Dragon's main parachutes, easing the vehicle to a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California at around 10:46 am Eastern.

Three main recovery boats will soon arrive on station, with fast boats racing to meet the Dragon shortly after she hits the water, allowing for the recovery procedures to begin. The vehicle will be powered down and then hooked up to the recover assets.

Dragon will be transported to the port of Los Angeles, prior to a trip to Texas for cargo removal.

The cargo return – otherwise known as the downmass capability – is one of Dragon's star roles following the retirement of the Shuttle fleet. No other Visiting Vehicle to the ISS is capable of the downmass provided by Dragon.

(Images: NASA, SpaceX, and L2 artist Nathan Koga – The full gallery of Nathan's (SpaceX Dragon to MCT, SLS, Commercial Crew and more) L2 images can be *found here*)

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[zandr]

https://ria.ru/science/20170319/1490358504.html

Космический грузовик Dragon сел в океане после месячного пребывания на МКС

© NASA
ВАШИНГТОН, 19 мар – РИА Новости. Космический грузовой корабль Dragon успешно приводнился в Тихом океане после месячного пребывания на МКС, сообщила компания-владелец корабля SpaceX.
Dragon прибыл на МКС в феврале с грузом для экипажа и материалами для научных экспериментов. На Землю космический корабль вернулся с 2,5 тоннами отработанных материалов и результатами научной деятельности экипажа.
"Получено подтверждение хорошего приводнения Dragon", — сообщила компания в своем Twitter.
В США подчеркивают, что корабль Dragon является на сегодня единственным грузовым космическим кораблем, который способен доставлять грузы с орбитальной станции на Землю.

[А.Фарафонов]

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https://spaceflightnow.com/2017/03/19/spacexs-dragon-supply-carrier-wraps-up-10th-mission-to-space-station/

SpaceX's Dragon supply carrier wraps up 10th mission to space station
 March 19, 2017     Stephen Clark

 
File photo of a SpaceX Dragon supply ship splashing down in the Pacific Ocean at the end of a previous mission. Credit: SpaceX

SpaceX's Dragon cargo craft ended a four-week mission Sunday with a parachute-assisted splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, returning fr om the International Space Station with more than 3,600 pounds of cargo, blood and urine samples, and specimens from a rodent research experiment aimed at helping patients with catastrophic bone injuries and osteoporosis.

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Flying northwest to southeast over the Pacific Ocean, the 12-foot-wide (3.7-meter) automated spaceship streaked through the upper atmosphere, its carbon ablative heat shield weathering temperatures up to 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit (1,650 degrees Celsius).

Two drogue parachutes deployed to stabilize the descending ship, then three orange and white main parachutes, each stretching 116 feet (35 meters) in diameter, unfurled to slow the spacecraft to a gentle splashdown speed.

The capsule was scheduled to reach the Pacific Ocean a few hundred miles west of Baja California shortly before 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT; 8 a.m. PDT), wh ere a small SpaceX recovery crew was on standby to hoist the spacecraft on a vessel for the trip back to the Port of Los Angeles.

SpaceX tweeted to confirm the splashdown at 10:48 a.m. EDT (1448 GMT; 7:48 a.m. PDT), but the company did not immediately confirm a splashdown time.

Once Dragon is back in California, SpaceX will hand over time-sensitive samples to NASA for delivery to science teams around the world.

The items inside Dragon's pressurized compartment include tissue from mice euthanized in orbit. Researchers sent 40 mice into space on Dragon to examine how bone fractures heal in the absence of gravity, and search for the biological reasons why most animals, including humans, cannot regrow lost limbs.

"We're trying to understand what happens in the body as the bones start healing," said Rasha Hammamieh, the rodent research project's chief scientist from the U.S. Army Center for Environmental Health Research.

The military is co-sponsoring the bone health experiment, with an eye toward learning lessons that could be applied to helping injured soldiers recover from catastrophic bone injuries.

There are also implications for civilians, such as elderly patients with osteoporosis.

"Up in space, you lose bone," said Melissa Kacena, co-investigator for the bone experiment and an associate professor of orthopedic surgery, anatomy and cell biology, and biomedical engineering at Indiana University. "In fact, astronauts lose about 1 to 3 percent of their bone density in a month. Someone with advanced osteoporosis loses closer to 1 percent per year."

Kacena added that scientists want to test drugs on rodents that might be able to "rebuild your bone systematically, so it could have applications not only for bone healing, but also for osteoporosis."

Bacterial and stem cell researchers also had a stake in Dragon's nearly month-long mission.

"We are excited to put MRSA, which is a superbug, on the International Space Station and investigate the effects of microgravity on the growth and mutation patterns of these bugs," said Anita Goel, chairman and science director of Nanobiosym, which developed the experiment with the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space.

"I have this hypothesis that microgravity will accelerate the mutation patterns," Goel said before Dragon's Feb. 19 launch. "If we can use microgravity as an accelerator to fast forward and get a sneak preview of what these mutations will look like, then we can esssentially build smarter drugs back on Earth."

A science team led by a Mayo Clinic biologist sent human adult stem cells to the space station, pursuing research that could help transplant patients and stroke victims. Materials from the stem cell experiment, which will also help researchers learn how human cancers start and spread, also came back to Earth.

SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft is the only vehicle currently capable of returning large amounts of cargo from the space station to Earth intact.

 
The Dragon supply ship is seen just before release Sunday from the International Space Station's robotic arm. Credit: NASA/ESA/Thomas Pesquet

The station crew packed 3,642 pounds (1,652 kilograms) of cargo and research samples inside Dragon's internal cabin for re-entry, according to a NASA spokesperson.

The items included 2,034.9 pounds (923 kilograms) of science equipment, 825.2 pounds (374.3 kilograms) of vehicle hardware, 279.5 pounds (126.8 kilograms) of crew supplies, 228.6 pounds (103.7 kilograms) of miscellaneous spacewalking gear, and 9 pounds (4.1 kilograms) of computer resources.

Several items were loaded into the Dragon capsule's trunk for disposal during its destructure re-entry, including disused hardware from NASA's Robotic Refueling Mission, an experiment that tested technologies and techniques for future satellite servicing missions.

Other gear tagged for disposal include OPALS, an external payload developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which arrived at the station in April 2014 and tested a high-speed laser communications link between the space station and ground stations on Earth.

Another package that was fixed outside the space station to be discarded Sunday is one in a series of Materials on International Space Station Experiments, or MISSE payloads, that tested the radiation tolerance of a new computer system built for long-duration spaceflight.

The unpressurized cargo complement that burned up inside Dragon's trunk on re-entry accounted for around 1,788 pounds (811 kilograms).

Dragon's total cargo load at departure was approximately 5,430 pounds (2,463 kilograms).

The Dragon capsule will go to SpaceX's test facility in Central Texas for inspections, decommissioning and potential refurbishment for another flight.

Sunday's splashdown concluded the 10th visit of a SpaceX Dragon capsule to the space station since May 2012, and the first Dragon flight of the year. The mission launched Feb. 19 atop a Falcon 9 rocket from pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and reached the space station four days later.

Astronauts Thomas Pesquet and Shane Kimbrough oversaw the ship's departure from the complex earlier Sunday, sending the command to release Dragon from the station's robotic arm at 5:11 a.m. EDT (0911 GMT).

Ground controllers at mission control in Houston took control of the Canadian-built robotic arm Saturday to detach Dragon from its temporary berthing port on the research lab's Harmony module, taking the opportunity to use the cargo craft's laser navigation sensor and thermal camera to inspect and test a docking adapter installed last year that will eventually be the parking spot for commercial crew carriers in development by Boeing and SpaceX.

 
The SpaceX Dragon cargo craft is pictured during a night pass, with its navigation and strobe lights switched on, just before departing the space station Sunday. Credit: NASA/ESA/Thomas Pesquet

Once Dragon was released from the robot arm, the spacecraft conducted three firings of its Draco thrusters to depart the vicinity of the space station.

"Houston, it looks like it's time to say goodbye to Dragon," Pesquet said. "There's a part of us that will come back to down to Earth with her, and I mean that literally because it carries lots of important scientific samples, and some obtained directly from the crew.

"I know scientists can't wait to get their hands on their results, and thanks to return vehicles like Dragon, the ISS is able to fulfill its mission of science and discovery," Pesquet said. "From all the crew of Expedition 50, many thanks and congratulations to all the teams involved in this CRS-10 mission."

Michael Hopkins, an astronaut servicing as spacecraft communicator in mission control in Houston, replied: "Thanks for those words, Thomas, and congratulations to the crew as well. You guys did a fantastic job, as well, always staying ahead of the timeline, and it's going to be great to get Dragon back on Earth."

Dragon's Draco thrusters fired again around 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT) to slow its velocity for re-entry, and the spacecraft jettisoned its disposable unpressurized trunk section minutes later, discarding the three external payloads at the ends of their missions.

The next Dragon resupply mission under SpaceX's multibillion-dollar contract with NASA is expected to launch no earlier than May, flying with a previously-used pressure shell for the first time. SpaceX's two cargo contracts with the space agency cover at least 26 logistics deliveries through 2024.

Meanwhile, NASA's other commercial resupply contractor, Orbital ATK, is set to launch its next Cygnus cargo craft to the space station Thursday or Friday from Cape Canaveral aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 booster.

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SpaceX‏Подлинная учетная запись @SpaceX 3 мин. назад
 
Recovery teams en route to Dragon.
 

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William Harwood‏ @cbs_spacenews 50 мин. назад
 
F9/CRS10: Splashdown came at 10:46:22am EDT, about 230 statute miles southwest of Long Beach, California

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https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2017/03/19/dragon-splashes-down-in-pacific-ocean/

Dragon Splashes Down in Pacific Ocean
Posted on March 19, 2017 at 12:11 pm by Mark Garcia.


The SpaceX Dragon is pictured seconds before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean. Credit: SpaceX

 SpaceX's Dragon cargo craft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean at 10:46 a.m. EDT, about 200 miles southwest of Long Beach, California, marking the end of the company's tenth contracted cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station for NASA.

Expedition 50 astronauts Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency) and Shane Kimbrough of NASA released the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft from the International Space Station's robotic arm right on schedule, at 5:11 a.m.

A variety of technological and biological studies are returning in Dragon. The Microgravity Expanded Stem Cells investigation had crew members observe cell growth and other characteristics in microgravity. This information will provide insight into how human cancers start and spread, which aids in the development of prevention and treatment plans. Results from this investigation could lead to the treatment of disease and injury in space, as well as provide a way to improve stem cell production for human therapy on Earth.

Samples from the Tissue Regeneration-Bone Defect study, a U.S. National Laboratory investigation sponsored by the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) and the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, studied what prevents vertebrates such as rodents and humans from re-growing lost bone and tissue, and how microgravity conditions affect the process. Results will provide a new understanding of the biological reasons behind a human's inability to grow a lost limb at the wound site, and could lead to new treatment options for the more than 30 percent of the patient population who do not respond to current options for chronic non-healing wounds.

The Dragon spacecraft launched Feb. 19 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and arrived at the station Feb. 23.

Keep up with the International Space Station, and its research and crew members, at:

www.nasa.gov/station

Get breaking news, images, videos and features from the station on social media at:

https://www.facebook.com/ISS

http://instagram.com/iss

http://www.twitter.com/Space_Station

                
 This entry was posted in Expedition 50 and tagged dragon, European Space Agency, Expedition 50, International Space Station, NASA, Roscosmos, spacex on March 19, 2017 by Mark Garcia.

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Американский корабль Dragon доставил на Землю груз с МКС
 
 Космос    19 марта, 17:53 дата обновления: 19 марта, 18:43 UTC+3
 
В частности, Dragon доставил на Землю образцы биологических и биотехнологических опытов, результаты научных исследований и познавательных программ

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 © EPA/ESA/NASA, архив

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НЬЮ-ЙОРК, 19 марта. /Корр. ТАСС Алексей Качалин/. Американский корабль Dragon компании SpaceX доставил на Землю груз с Международной космической станции (МКС).

Грузовой аппарат на парашютах приводнился в Тихом океане близ северной части полуострова Калифорния. Об этом объявила SpaceX.

 Успешное приводнение

"Подтверждаем успешное приводнение Dragon. Корабль доставил со станции научный и исследовательский груз NASA", - написала компания на своей странице в сети микроблогов Twitter.

В SpaceX уточнили, что корабль в автоматическом режиме выпустил парашюты за пять минут до приводнения.

Грузовой корабль отстыковался от МКС в 05:11 по времени Восточного побережья США (12:11 мск). Эту операцию помогали осуществить с помощью руки-манипулятора "Канадарм" астронавт NASA Роберт Шейн Кимброу и француз Тома Песке, представляющий Европейское космическое агентство.

Затем, повинуясь команде из центра управления полетом SpaceX, расположенного в штате Калифорния, Dragon совершил сход с орбиты. Погодные условия в Тихом океане были благоприятными, иначе возвращение грузовика на Землю пришлось бы отложить до 22 марта.

Как пояснило NASA, Dragon доставил на Землю, в частности, образцы биологических и биотехнологических опытов, результаты научных исследований и познавательных программ.

Космическому ведомству США и некоммерческому научному Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (Центру содействия науке в космосе) важно получить ряд образцов в свое распоряжение не позднее чем через 48 часов после возвращения корабля на Землю.

Поэтому около расчетной зоны приводнения дежурили сотрудники компании, которым теперь предстоит оперативно поднять на борт судна капсулу с грузом общим весом 2,5 т. Сам Dragon планируется позже доставить на полигон SpaceX в местечке Макгрегор (штат Техас).

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Стыковка со второй попытки

Грузовой корабль был запущен к МКС 19 февраля. Ракета-носитель Falcon 9 с Dragon стартовала с космодрома на мысе Канаверал (штат Флорида). Это был первый пуск с комплекса 39А с момента завершения эксплуатации кораблей многоразового использования шаттл в 2011 году.

Dragon доставил на МКС около 2,5 т грузов: продовольствие, материалы для проведения научных экспериментов, в том числе устойчивые к воздействию антибиотиков бактерии.

Специалистам компании также удалось в очередной раз осуществить управляемый спуск нижней ступени ракеты на специально оборудованный посадочный комплекс.

Состыковать корабль с модулем "Гармония" удалось только со второго раза. Первая попытка 22 февраля закончилась неудачей, так как бортовые компьютеры дали команду об отмене операции из-за некорректных показателей о местоположении станции.

 Следующий груз - 24 марта

В настоящий момент вахту на МКС несут американцы Кимброу и Пегги Уитсон, россияне Андрей Борисенко, Сергей Рыжиков и Олег Новицкий, а также француз Песке.

Следующая доставка груза на орбитальный комплекс запланирована на 24 марта. Эта задача возложена на американский консорциум United Launch Alliance (ULA), которому предстоит запустить ракету-носитель Atlas V с кораблем Cygnus. Помимо запасов воды, продовольствия и приборов, Cygnus доставит на МКС экспериментальный мини-спутник IceCube, разработанный специалистами Центра космических полетов им. Годдарда в Гринбелте (штат Мэриленд).

IceCube весит чуть больше 4,5 кг и достигает 10 см в ширину, столько же в длину и 30 см в высоту. Несмотря на небольшой размер, спутник представляет собой полноценный космический аппарат с системой определения пространственного положения относительно трех осей координат, разворачивающимися панелями солнечных батарей и антенной связи.

Главный рабочий инструмент аппарата - радиометр с диапазоном 883 ГГц, предназначенный для измерения уровня содержания воды в твердой форме (лед) в атмосфере на высотах от 5 до 15 км от Земли. Уровень технологической готовности таких приборов в данном сегменте измерений составляет шесть условных единиц, IceCube рассчитан на доведение этого параметра до девяти.

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SpaceX‏Подлинная учетная запись @SpaceX 40 мин. назад
 
Dragon is headed to port for a cargo handover to @NASA. https://instagram.com/p/BR1Vh9oFtDD/