Crew Dragon Resilience

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Crew Dragon Resilience
SpaceX Crew-1 Rollout to Pad (KSC-20201109-PH-SPX01 0002).jpg
Crew Dragon Resilience in the horizontal integration facility shortly before being rolled out to pad 39A in November 2020
Type Space capsule
Class Dragon 2
Serial no.C207
Owner SpaceX
ManufacturerSpaceX
Specifications
Dimensions4.4 m × 3.7 m (14 ft × 12 ft)
Power Solar panel
Rocket Falcon 9 Block 5
History
LocationIn Low Earth orbit
First flight
Last flight
Flights3
Flight time170 days, 5 hours, 32 minutes (mission in progress)
Dragon 2s
←  Endeavour
C208  →

Crew Dragon Resilience (serial number C207) is the second operational Crew Dragon reusable spacecraft manufactured and operated by SpaceX. It first launched on 16 November 2020 to the International Space Station (ISS) on the SpaceX Crew-1 mission, the first operational flight of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. It was subsequently used for Inspiration4, the first private spaceflight mission with an all-civilian crew. It is currently operating the Polaris Dawn mission, which launched on 10 September 2024.

Contents

History

Originally planned to fly the mission after Crew-1, Crew Dragon C207 was reassigned to fly Crew-1 after an anomaly during a static fire test destroyed capsule C204 intended to be re-flown on the Crew Dragon In-Flight Abort Test. [1] The spacecraft C205 intended to be used on the Demo-2 mission replaced the destroyed spacecraft for the in-flight abort test. C206 intended for use with the Crew-1 mission, was reassigned to the Demo-2 mission.

On 1 May 2020, SpaceX said that spacecraft C207 was in production and astronaut training underway. [2] Crew Dragon C207 arrived at SpaceX processing facilities in Florida on 18 August 2020. [3] [4]

At a NASA press conference on 29 September 2020, commander Michael Hopkins revealed that C207 had been named Resilience. [5] The trunk was attached and secured to the capsule on 2 October 2020 at Cape Canaveral. [6]

Resilience was first launched on 16 November 2020 (UTC) on a Falcon 9 from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), LC-39A, carrying NASA astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, and Shannon Walker, and JAXA astronaut Soichi Noguchi on a six-month mission to the International Space Station. [7]

The docking adapter, normally used to dock with the International Space Station, was replaced by a domed glass window for the Inspiration4 mission. This allows for 360-degree views of space and the Earth, similar to those provided by the Cupola Module on the ISS. [8]

For Polaris Dawn mission, as Crew Dragon capsules lack an airlock, several modifications have been made to the interior of Resilience. Extra nitrogen and oxygen tanks have been installed, a hatch with a ladder called the "skywalker" has replaced the docking port, and the forward hatch has been motorized. To validate their procedures, Resilience underwent multiple cycles of venting and repressurization in a large vacuum chamber. The crew also spent two days in a chamber validating their pre-breathing protocol and wearing their EVA suits in a vacuum.The mission will also be the first crewed operational test of Dragon laser interlink communication via Starlink. If successful, it would potentially decrease communication latency and increase data bandwidth for human spaceflight. [9]

Flights

List includes only completed or currently manifested missions. Dates are listed in UTC, and for future events, they are the earliest possible opportunities (also known as NET dates) and may change.

See also

Notes

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    References

    1. ↑ Gebhardt, Christ (29 May 2019). "NASA briefly updates status of Crew Dragon anomaly, SpaceX test schedule". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
    2. ↑ @SpaceX (1 May 2020). "Once Demo-2 is complete, and the SpaceX and NASA teams have reviewed all the data for certification, SpaceX will launch Crew Dragon's first six-month operational mission (Crew-1) later this year. The Crew-1 spacecraft is in production and astronaut training is well underway" (Tweet). Retrieved 11 June 2020– via Twitter.
    3. ↑ Groh, Jamie (23 August 2020). "SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule arrives in Florida for next NASA astronaut launch". teslarati.com. Teslarati. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
    4. ↑ Sempsrott, Danielle (21 August 2020). "Preparations Continue for SpaceX First Operational Flight with Astronauts". blogs.nasa.gov. NASA. Retrieved 24 August 2020.PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
    5. ↑ @ChrisG_NSF (29 September 2020). "Crew-1 has named their Dragon..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
    6. ↑ "NASA, SpaceX Crew-1 Launch Update". blogs.nasa.gov. NASA. 10 October 2020. Retrieved 10 October 2020.PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
    7. ↑ Corbett, Tobias; Barker, Nathan (15 November 2020). "With Resilience, NASA and SpaceX begin operational Commercial Crew flights". NASASpaceFlight.com.
    8. ↑ Howell, Elizabeth (30 March 2021). "SpaceX's Dragon spaceship is getting the ultimate window for private Inspiration4 spaceflight". space.com. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
    9. ↑ "Starlink expanding, coming to Dragon capsule on Polaris Dawn, but NASA has concerns about the constellation". Space Explored. 17 February 2022. Archived from the original on 17 February 2022. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
    10. ↑ "Second phasing burn complete". Twitter. Archived from the original on 16 September 2021. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
    11. ↑ Rosenstein, Sawyer (10 September 2024). "SpaceX launches historic Polaris Dawn mission". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
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