posted 06-28-2018 10:49 PM               

SpaceX CRS-15 Mission Overview

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the CRS-15 Dragon spacecraft to low-Earth orbit to deliver cargo to and from the International Space Station for NASA.

The 15th flight under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services contract with SpaceX, the Dragon will deliver more than 5,900 pounds (2,700 kg) of research, logistics and spare hardware for the Expedition 56/57 crew including:

• The German Aerospace Center's (DLR) Crew Interactive Mobile companion (CIMON) to study crew acceptance of artificial intelligence (AI) support for future long-duration missions;

• NASA's ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS), to answer key science questions related to water stress in plants and how selected regions may respond to future changes in climate;

• A spare Canadarm2 Latching End Effector (LEE) for the Canadian Space Agency;

• A toy dog representing the Newfoundland that accompanied Lewis and Clark on their historic expedition in the 1800s to help the National Park Service and NASA celebrate the space agency's 60th anniversary and the National Trail System's 50th anniversary.

Both the Falcon 9's first stage and Dragon spacecraft for the mission are flight-proven. The Falcon stage previously supported the TESS mission in April 2018 and Dragon launched on the CRS-9 mission in July 2016.

SpaceX will not attempt to recover Falcon 9's first stage after launch.

The CRS-15 Dragon will return to Earth with more than 4,000 pounds (1,800 kg) of cargo after spending one month at the space station.

posted 06-28-2018 10:56 PM               

SpaceX is targeting Friday, June 29, 2018 for an instantaneous launch of its fifteenth Commercial Resupply Services mission (CRS-15) at 5:42 a.m. EDT, or 9:42 UTC, from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.

Dragon will separate from Falcon 9's second stage about nine minutes and thirty seconds after liftoff and attach to the space station on Monday, July 2.

posted 06-29-2018 04:57 AM               

Dragon is on its way to the International Space Station. Capture by space station crew set for Monday morning.

posted 06-29-2018 05:36 AM               

New NASA Research, Hardware Heading to Space Station on 15th SpaceX Resupply Mission

Experiments investigating cellular biology, Earth science and artificial intelligence are among the research heading to the International Space Station following Friday's launch of a NASA-contracted SpaceX Dragon spacecraft at 5:42 a.m. EDT.

Dragon lifted off on a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida with more than 5,900 pounds of research, equipment, cargo and supplies that will support dozens of investigations aboard the space station.

NASA astronauts Ricky Arnold and Drew Feustel will use the space station's Canadarm2 robotic arm to capture Dragon when it arrives at the station. Live coverage of the rendezvous and capture will air on NASA Television and the agency's website beginning at 5:30 a.m. Monday, July 2. Installation coverage is set to begin at 9 a.m.

Research materials flying inside Dragon's pressurized cargo area include a cellular biology investigation (Micro-12) to understand how microgravity affects the growth, gene expression and ability of a model bacterium to transfer electrons through its cell membrane along the bacterial nanowires it produces. Such bacteria could be used in microbial fuel cells to make electricity from waste organic material.

An Earth science instrument called the ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS) will provide a new space-based measurement of how plants respond to changes in water availability. This data can help society better manage agricultural water use.

An observational pilot study with the Crew Interactive MObile companioN (CIMON) aims to provide first insights into the effects of crew support from an artificial intelligence (AI) in terms of efficiency and acceptance during long-term missions in space.

Among the hundreds of pounds of hardware flying to the space station is a spare Canadian-built Latching End Effector (LEE). Each end of the Canadarm2 robotic arm has an identical LEE, and they are used as the "hands" that grapple payloads and visiting cargo spaceships. They also enable Canadarm2 to "walk" to different locations on the orbiting outpost.

This is SpaceX's 15th cargo flight to the space station under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services contract. Dragon is scheduled to depart the station in August and return to Earth with more than 3,800 pounds of research, hardware and crew supplies.

posted 07-02-2018 09:19 AM               

Dragon captured, installed on space station

Three days after its launch from Florida, SpaceX's Dragon cargo spacecraft was installed on the Earth-facing side of the International Space Station's Harmony module at 9:52 a.m. EDT (1352 GMT) on Monday (July 2).

The berthing was preceded by NASA astronauts Ricky Arnold and Drew Feustel using the space station's Canadarm2 robotic arm to capture the Dragon at 6:54 a.m. EDT (1054 GMT).

The Dragon delivers more than 5,900 pounds of research, crew supplies and hardware to the orbiting laboratory.

After Dragon spends approximately one month attached to the space station, the spacecraft will return to Earth with about 3,800 pounds of cargo and research, including an investigation to advance DNA sequencing in space and the Angiex cancer therapy investigation to improve understanding of endothelial cells that line the walls of blood vessels.

posted 08-04-2018 04:47 PM               

Robotic flight controllers released the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft from the International Space Station's robotic arm at 12:38 p.m. EDT (1638 GMT) on Friday (Aug. 3).

Dragon returned home after its second month-long stay at the space station. It's now headed to port for a cargo handover to NASA.