Friday, June 29, 2018

Stunning SpaceX Falcon 9/Dragon PreDawn Resupply Launch to ISS Mesmerizers Skywatchers with Moving Jellyfish-like Figure: Photos


Long exposure streak shot of spectacularly beautiful and successful launch of SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket before dawn at 5:42 a.m. on June 29, 2018 from Space Launch Complex-40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force.  It is carrying the Dragon CRS-15cargo ship loaded with 3 tons of science for NASA  to the ISS  - captured from roof of NASA’s iconic VAB at the Kennedy Space Center.  Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
Ken Kremer  --   SpaceUpClose.com  --   29 June 2018


KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL –  Shortly before dawn Friday a recycled SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from the Florida Space Coast and put on an absolutely stunning sky show in the first minutes of its critical mission carrying nearly 6000 pounds of research and gear aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft for NASA to the International Space Station (ISS) - including the AI artificial intelligence imbued free flying robot named CIMON provided by the German Aerospace Center (DLR), the ECOSTRESS water monitoring platform from JPL, cancer and human health research experiments and a new hand for the Canadian built robotic arm.


CIMON was created and developed in record breaking time by DLR and Airbus especially to work with Germany’s astronaut Alexander Gerst as a mobile astronauts assistant in the first test of AI hardware on the space station.  Gerst recently arrived at the ISS after launching to space in early June aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule for his second long term station stay as a flight engineer for the European Space Agency (ESA).  


The reused SpaceX Falcon 9 and recycled Dragon CRS-15 commercial cargo freighter lifted off into nearly cloudy free pristine twilight skies precisely on time Friday June 29 at 5:42 a.m. EDT (0942 GMT) from seaside Space Launch Complex-40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.


This was the 15th SpaceX resupply mission launched to the International Space Station under the original Commercial Resupply Services contract (CRS-1) with NASA. 



Spectacular Jellyfish like exhaust plume from the June 29, 2018 predawn launch of SpaceX Falcon 9 in the first minutes after liftoff Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 5:42 a.m. EDT on Dragon CRS-15 cargo delivery run for NASA to the ISS.  Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

As the 2 stage rocket rose to the heavens sunlight glistened on the expanding exhaust plume creating a giant moving jellyfish-like figure bathed in a mesmerizing and spectacularly wide range of pastel colors painting the heavens above NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida as it moved through the skies in the first minutes after liftoff, arcing over on a northeasterly trajectory as it accelerated skywards delivering the Dragon CRS-15 cargo freighter to low Earth orbit. 



The sun is illuminating the exhaust plume from the rocket rising to space in this case creating a ‘space jellyfish.’ 


"These pre-sunrise or post-sunset launches give for a spectacular show in the sky," Jessica Jensen, director of Dragon mission management for SpaceX, said at the CRS-15 briefing for reporters at the Kennedy Space Center. 

"Basically, what's happening is, it's still dark outside, but you have the sun illuminating the plume as it's in space. I like to refer to it as the ‘space jellyfish’ that's coming down after us." 



Falcon 9 flies past 98.5% illuminated Moon after launching Dragon cargo craft from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 5:42 a.m. EDT June 29, 2018.  Dragon dazzles with CRS-15 cargo ship delivering 3 tons of science & CIMON AI astronaut assistant to International Space Station by SpaceX for NASA.  Eerie LOX cloud spreads out and envelopes pad surface. From my remote camera at pad 40. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

Many observers including myself felt this was one of the most beautiful and psychedelic looking launches ever from the Cape.
Check out the Space UpClose gallery of photos herein from myself and space journalist colleagues.
My long exposure streak shot shows the stunning scene with the growing jellyfish including the first and second stage firings.
My up close remote camera photos show the initial moments of the Falcon 9 liftoff  backdropped by a nearly full moon, illuminated 98.5% as it soars off pad 40 on its way to the massive million pound orbiting outpost.
The two stage Falcon 9/Dragon rocket stands about 213-feet (65-meters) tall.
The liquid oxygen/RP-1 fueled Falcon 9 first stage launch launched with 1.7 million pounds of liftoff thrust powered by nine Merlin 1D engine mounted in an octoweb arrangement.

The first and second stage separated  2 minutes and 48 seconds after liftoff.
The Dragon successfully unfurled its solar arrays 11 minutes after liftoff.
Both the Falcon 9 and Dragon cargo ship are recycled from earlier missions. The Falcon 9 booster recently launched NASA’s TESS exoplanet hunter – barely 2 months ago - and the Dragon flew on the CRS-9 cargo delivery mission, 2 years ago.
Falcon 9 flies past 98.5% illuminated Moon after launching Dragon cargo craft from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 5:42 a.m. EDT June 29, 2018.  Dragon dazzles with CRS-15 cargo ship delivering 3 tons of science & CIMON AI astronaut assistant to International Space Station by SpaceX for NASA.  Eerie LOX cloud spreads out and envelopes pad surface. From my remote camera at pad 40. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

Dragon CRS-15 is loaded with nearly 3 tons of science and supplies for the six person Expedition 56 crew aboard the ISS.
The 20-foot high, 12-foot-diameter Dragon CRS-15 vessel is jam packed with more than 5,900 pounds (about 2,700 kilograms) of science experiments, research hardware, space parts, food water, clothing and more supplies for the six person Expedition 56 crew.
One of the key technology demonstration experiments involves artificial intelligence and is known as CIMON, which stands for Crew Interactive Mobile CompanioN. 
CIMON is the size of a medicine ball sized and functions as a free flying mobile and autonomous assistance system designed to aid astronauts with their everyday tasks on the ISS by using Watson AI technology from the IBM cloud.


Up Close views of CIMON, a free flying robot.  The mobile astronauts assistant is being tested as technology demonstration expweriment and is the first hardware imbued with AI Artificial Intelligence on the International Space Station. Launching on SpaceX Dragon CRS-15  cargo run.  Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst from Germany will work with CIMON to test its capabilities on the ISS.
CIMON is significant in being the first form of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on the space station.  It was developed by prime contractor Airbus (Friedrichshafen/Bremen, Germany) in cooperation with DLR, the German Aerospace Center.

“AI-based technology is about constantly understanding, reasoning and learning, so CIMON is designed to assist and to create a feeling of talking to a crew mate”, says DLR.
CIMON has the ability to learn and offer solutions to problems. It it equipped with a face and voice uses artificial intelligence to becomes a genuine ‘colleague’ on board, says DLR. 


Up Close views of CIMON, a free flying robot.  The mobile astronauts assistant is being tested as technology demonstration expweriment and is the first hardware imbued with AI Artificial Intelligence on the International Space Station. Launching on SpaceX Dragon CRS-15  cargo run.  Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com



The CRS-15 manifest includes:
§  2,718 pounds (1,233 kilograms) of scientific investigations
§  452 pounds (205 kilograms) of crew supplies
§  392 pounds (178 kilograms) of vehicle hardware
§  139 pounds (63 kilograms) of spacewalk equipment
§  46 pounds (21 kilograms) of computer resources
§  27 pounds (12 kilograms) of Russian hardware

Dragon will reach the ISS on July 2 after a three day orbital chase and a series of carefully choreographed thruster firings.
“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.
For more than 17 years, humans have lived and worked continuously aboard the International Space Station, advancing scientific knowledge and demonstrating new technologies, making research breakthroughs not possible on Earth that will enable long-duration human and robotic exploration into deep space. A global endeavor, 230 people from 18 countries have visited the unique microgravity laboratory that has hosted more than 2,400 research investigations from researchers in 103 countries.

SpaceX did not attempt to recover this older Block 4 version of the Falcon 9 booster which is being discontinued in favor of the Block 5. The firm is rapidly switching over to the new Block 5 version first launched in May.  
This launch also counted as the final Block 4 version launch of the Falcon 9.  All future ones will be Block 5 starting in mid July.
The Block 5 Falcon 9 will be cheaper to produce and much easier to turnaround with minimal maintenance, says SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. His goal is to relaunch a recovered Block 5 a second time within 24 hours by sometime next year.
If all goes well Dragon will arrive at the orbiting outpost on July 2 for a month long stay.
The prior CRS-14 resupply flight successfully flew in April from pad 40.
CRS-15 marks the 12th flight overall for SpaceX in 2018 and the 2nd ISS resupply mission for NASA in 2018.
Watch for Ken’s continuing onsite coverage of NASA, SpaceX, ULA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Orbital ATK and more space and mission reports direct from the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida and Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia.

Stay tuned here for Ken's continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news: www.kenkremer.com –www.spaceupclose.com – twitter @ken_kremer – email: ken at kenkremer.com






Under gloomy skies this up close view shows the reused SpaceX Dragon CRS-15 spacecraft joined to the reused Falcon 9 first stage resting horizontal at Space Launch Complex-40 on June 28 prior to resupply mission to the ISS targeted for launch June 29, 2018 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.  Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com




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