Names | SpX-5 |
---|---|
Mission type | ISS resupply |
Operator | SpaceX / NASA |
COSPAR ID | 2015-001A |
SATCAT no. | 40370 |
Website | https://www.spacex.com/ |
Mission duration | 30 days (planned) 31 days, 14 hours, 56 minutes (achieved) |
Spacecraft properties | |
Spacecraft | Dragon C107 |
Spacecraft type | Dragon CRS |
Manufacturer | SpaceX |
Launch mass | 6,000 kg (13,000 lb) |
Dimensions | 8.1 m (27 ft) (height) 4 m (13 ft) (diameter) |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 10 January 2015, 09:47:10 UTC |
Rocket | Falcon 9 v1.1 |
Launch site | Cape Canaveral, SLC-40 |
Contractor | SpaceX |
End of mission | |
Disposal | Recovered (failure) |
Recovered by | Autonomous spaceport drone ship |
Landing date | 11 February 2015, 00:44 UTC [1] |
Landing site | Atlantic Ocean |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Geocentric orbit [2] |
Regime | Low Earth orbit |
Inclination | 51.65° |
Berthing at ISS | |
Berthing port | Harmony nadir |
RMS capture | 12 January 2015, 10:54 UTC [3] |
Berthing date | 12 January 2015, 13:54 UTC [4] |
Unberthing date | 10 February 2015, 17:11 UTC |
RMS release | 10 February 2015, 19:10 UTC |
Time berthed | 29 days, 3 hours, 17 minutes |
Cargo | |
Mass | 2,317 kg (5,108 lb) [5] |
Pressurised | 1,823 kg (4,019 lb) |
Unpressurised | 494 kg (1,089 lb) |
NASA SpX-5 mission patch |
SpaceX CRS-5, also known as SpX-5, was a Commercial Resupply Service mission to the International Space Station (ISS), conducted by SpaceX for NASA, and was launched on 10 January 2015 and ended on 11 February 2015. It was the seventh flight for SpaceX's uncrewed Dragon cargo spacecraft and the fifth SpaceX operational mission contracted to NASA under an ISS resupply services contract.
By July 2014, the launch was scheduled by NASA for December 2014, with docking to the station projected to occur two days after launch. [6] Originally scheduled for a 16 December 2014 launch, the mission was changed to 19 December 2014, in order to give SpaceX more preparation time for a successful launch. The launch was postponed again to 6 January 2015, in order to allow more tests before committing to a firm launch date. [7] [8]
On 6 January 2015, the launch attempt was placed on hold at 1 minute 21 seconds prior to scheduled lift-off after a member of the launch team noticed actuator drift on one of two thrust vector control systems of the Falcon 9 second stage engine. [9] As this launch had an instantaneous launch window, meaning no delays are possible in the launch sequence, the flight was postponed to 9 January 2015. [9] On 7 January 2015, the flight was rescheduled for 10 January 2015. [10]
The Falcon 9 launch vehicle carrying the CRS-5 Dragon spacecraft successfully launched on 10 January 2015 at 09:47:10 UTC. [11] Dragon reached the station on 12 January 2015. It was grappled by the Mobile Servicing System (Canadarm2) at 10:54 UTC and berthed to the Harmony module at 13:56 UTC. [12]
The Dragon spacecraft for CRS-5 carried 2,317 kg (5,108 lb) of cargo to the ISS. Included in this was 490 kg (1,080 lb) of provisions and equipment for the crew, 717 kg (1,581 lb) of station hardware, 577 kg (1,272 lb) of science equipment and experiments, and the 494 kg (1,089 lb) Cloud Aerosol Transport System (CATS). [11]
CATS is a LIDAR remote sensing instrument designed to measure the location, composition and distribution of pollution, dust, smoke, aerosols and other particulates in the atmosphere. CATS is to be installed on the Kibō module external facility and is expected to run for at least six months, and up to three years. [13] [14]
Upon completion of its stay, Dragon was loaded with 1,332 kg (2,937 lb) of outgoing cargo, returning it back to Earth. [5]
In an unprecedented [15] test flight, SpaceX attempted to return the first stage of the Falcon 9 through the atmosphere and land it on a 90 m × 50 m (300 ft × 160 ft) floating platform called the autonomous spaceport drone ship . [8] In October 2014, SpaceX had revealed that the ship was being built for SpaceX in Louisiana, [16] and by mid-December 2014, the ship was docked in Jacksonville, Florida, ready to go to sea to support the test flight landing attempt. [17]
SpaceX attempted a landing on the drone ship on 10 January 2015. Many of the test objectives were achieved, including precision control of the first stage's descent to land on the platform at a specific point in the south Atlantic Ocean and a large amount of test data was obtained from the first use of grid fin control surfaces used for more precise reentry positioning. However, the first stage was destroyed due to a hard landing. [15] Musk said that one of the possible problems was the grid fins running out of hydraulic fluid. [18]
The SpaceX webcast indicated that the boostback burn and re-entry burns for the descending first stage occurred, and that the descending then went "below the horizon", as expected, which eliminated the live telemetry signal. Shortly thereafter, SpaceX released information that the first stage did get to the drone spaceport ship as planned, but "landed hard ... Ship itself is fine. Some of the support equipment on the deck will need to be replaced". [15] [19] [20] [21] [22] SpaceX made a video of the landing attempt available on Vine. [23]
Falcon 9 is a rocket that can carry cargo and humans into Earth orbit, even reaching the International Space Station (ISS). It is produced by American aerospace company SpaceX. Technically, it is a partially reuseable, medium lift launch vehicle.
SpaceX is privately funding the development of orbital launch systems that can be reused many times, in a manner similar to the reusability of aircraft. SpaceX has been developing the technologies over several years to facilitate full and rapid reusability of space launch vehicles. The project's long-term objectives include returning a launch vehicle first stage to the launch site in minutes and to return a second stage to the launch pad following orbital realignment with the launch site and atmospheric reentry in up to 24 hours. SpaceX's long term goal is that both stages of their orbital launch vehicle will be designed to allow reuse a few hours after return.
SpaceX CRS-2, also known as SpX-2, was the fourth flight for SpaceX's uncrewed Dragon cargo spacecraft, the fifth and final flight for the company's two-stage Falcon 9 v1.0 launch vehicle, and the second SpaceX operational mission contracted to NASA under a Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-1) contract.
SpaceX CRS-8, also known as SpX-8, was a Commercial Resupply Service mission to the International Space Station (ISS) which was launched on April 8, 2016, at 20:43 UTC. It was the 23rd flight of a Falcon 9 rocket, the tenth flight of a Dragon cargo spacecraft and the eighth operational mission contracted to SpaceX by NASA under the Commercial Resupply Services program. The capsule carried over 3,100 kilograms (6,800 lb) of cargo to the ISS including the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM), a prototype inflatable space habitat delivered in the vehicle's trunk, which will be attached to the station for five more full years of in-orbit viability tests. [as of May 2022.]
SpaceX CRS-6, also known as SpX-6, was a Commercial Resupply Service mission to the International Space Station, contracted to NASA. It was the eighth flight for SpaceX's uncrewed Dragon cargo spacecraft and the sixth SpaceX operational mission contracted to NASA under a Commercial Resupply Services contract. It was docked to the International Space Station from 17 April to 21 May 2015.
Falcon 9 v1.1 was the second version of SpaceX's Falcon 9 orbital launch vehicle. The rocket was developed in 2011–2013, made its maiden launch in September 2013, and its final flight in January 2016. The Falcon 9 rocket was fully designed, manufactured, and operated by SpaceX. Following the second Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) launch, the initial version Falcon 9 v1.0 was retired from use and replaced by the v1.1 version.
SpaceX CRS-7, also known as SpX-7, was a private American Commercial Resupply Service mission to the International Space Station, contracted to NASA, which launched and failed on June 28, 2015. It disintegrated 139 seconds into the flight after launch from Cape Canaveral, just before the first stage was to separate from the second stage. It was the ninth flight for SpaceX's uncrewed Dragon cargo spacecraft and the seventh SpaceX operational mission contracted to NASA under a Commercial Resupply Services contract. The vehicle launched on a Falcon 9 v1.1 launch vehicle. It was the nineteenth overall flight for the Falcon 9 and the fourteenth flight for the substantially upgraded Falcon 9 v1.1.
The Falcon 9 first-stage landing tests were a series of controlled-descent flight tests conducted by SpaceX between 2013 and 2016. Since 2017, the first stage of Falcon 9 missions has been routinely landed if the rocket performance allowed it, and if SpaceX chose to recover the stage.
An autonomous spaceport drone ship (ASDS) is an ocean-going vessel derived from a deck barge, outfitted with station-keeping engines and a large landing platform and is autonomously controlled when on station for a landing. Construction of such ships was commissioned by aerospace company SpaceX to allow recovery of launch vehicle first stages at sea for missions that do not carry enough fuel to return to the launch site after boosting spacecraft onto an orbital or interplanetary trajectory.
SpaceX CRS-10, also known as SpX-10, was a Dragon Commercial Resupply Service mission to the International Space Station (ISS) which launched on 19 February 2017. The mission was contracted by NASA as part of its Commercial Resupply Services program and was launched by SpaceX aboard the 30th flight of the Falcon 9 rocket. The mission ended on 19 March 2017 when the Dragon spacecraft left the ISS and safely returned to Earth.
SpaceX CRS-12, also known as SpX-12, was a Commercial Resupply Services mission to the International Space Station launched on 14 August 2017. The mission was contracted by NASA and was flown by SpaceX using a new Dragon capsule. The Falcon 9 rocket's reusable first stage performed a controlled landing on Landing Zone 1 (LZ1) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. After delivering more than 2,900 kilograms (6,400 lb) of cargo, the Dragon spacecraft returned to Earth on 17 September 2017.
SpaceX CRS-13, also known as SpX-13, was a Commercial Resupply Service mission to the International Space Station launched on 15 December 2017. The mission was contracted by NASA and is flown by SpaceX. It was the second mission to successfully reuse a Dragon capsule, previously flown on CRS-6. The first stage of the Falcon 9 Full Thrust rocket was the previously flown, "flight-proven" core from CRS-11. The first stage returned to land at Cape Canaveral's Landing Zone 1 after separation of the first and second stage.
Falcon 9 Full Thrust is a partially reusable medium-lift launch vehicle, designed and manufactured by SpaceX. Designed in 2014–2015, Falcon 9 Full Thrust began launch operations in December 2015. As of 15 July 2022, Falcon 9 Full Thrust had performed 144 launches without any failures. Based on the Lewis point estimate of reliability, this rocket is the most reliable orbital launch vehicle currently in operation.
Landing Zone 1 and Landing Zone 2, also known as LZ-1 and LZ-2 respectively, are landing facilities on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station for recovering components of SpaceX's VTVL reusable launch vehicles. LZ-1 and LZ-2 were built on land leased in February 2015, on the site of the former Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 13. SpaceX built Landing Zone 2 at the facility to have a second landing pad, allowing two Falcon Heavy boosters to land simultaneously.
SpaceX CRS-16, also known as SpX-16, was a Commercial Resupply Service mission to the International Space Station launched on 5 December 2018 aboard a Falcon 9 launch vehicle. The mission was contracted by NASA and is flown by SpaceX.
The Falcon Heavy test flight was the first attempt by SpaceX to launch a Falcon Heavy rocket on February 6, 2018, at 20:45 UTC. The successful test introduced the Falcon Heavy as the most powerful rocket in operation, producing five million pounds-force (22 MN) of thrust and having more than twice the lift capacity of United Launch Alliance's Delta IV Heavy.
A floating launch vehicle operations platform is a marine vessel used for launch or landing operations of an orbital launch vehicle by a launch service provider: putting satellites into orbit around Earth or another celestial body, or recovering first-stage boosters from orbital-class flights by making a propulsive landing on the platform.
Rocket made it to drone spaceport ship, but landed hard. Close, but no cigar this time. Bodes well for the future tho.", "Ship itself is fine. Some of the support equipment on the deck will need to be replaced", "Didn't get good landing/impact video. Pitch dark and foggy. Will piece it together from telemetry and ... actual pieces.