SpaceX Recycled Dragon Resupply Ship Reaches Space Station with 3 Tons of NASA Gear

The SpaceX Dragon is pictured at the capture point about 10 meters from the International Space Station as it is about to captured moments later by the Canadian built robotic arm about 256 miles (412 km) over Quebec, Canada.  Credit: NASA TV

Ken Kremer  --   SpaceUpClose.com  --   2 July 2018


KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL –  Three days after a breathtaking predawn blastoff from the Florida Space Coast a recycled SpaceX Dragon resupply ship reached the International Space Station early this morning July 2 loaded with three tons of NASA science gear and supplies for the six person multinational crew serving aboard - from the United States, Russia and Germany. 

The stash includes 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, a new hand for the Canadian-built robotic arm, ice cream treats and super strong doses of ‘Death Wish’ Coffee.

The SpaceX Dragon CRS-15 cargo freighter reached the vicinity of the space station early Monday after a carefully choreographed series of thruster firing, carefully maneuvered into close proximity and was deftly captured by the NASA astronauts working the control of the Canadian-built robotic arm as the ship was appropriately flying over Canada.

The SpaceX Dragon cargo craft is pictured moments after being captured with the Canadarm2 (the 57.7-foot-long robotic arm designed and built by the Canadian Space Agency) controlled by NASA astronaut Ricky Arnold as the International Space Station orbited over Quebec, Canada.   Credit: NASA

As the ISS was speeding more than 256 miles (412 km) over Quebec, Canada, NASA astronauts Ricky Arnold and Drew Feustel, captured the Dragon spacecraft at 6:54 a.m. EDT using the 57

“Houston, station, capture complete,” radioed Arnold. “Go for post-capture reconfiguration. Looking forward to some really exciting weeks ahead as we unload the science and get started on some great experiments.”

Overall this was the 30^th visiting vehicle capture using Canadarm2. 

Ground controllers in Houston then sent commands to remotely carry out the robotic installation of the spacecraft onto the bottom of the station’s Harmony module. 

Berthing and joining to the Earth-facing side of the Harmony module was finished at 9:52 a.m. EDT after all 16 bolts and latches were driven to home to complete the installation with a hard mate and no pressure leaks. 

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

July 2, 2018: International Space Station Configuration. Five spaceships are attached to the space station including the SpaceX Dragon and Cygnus resupply ships from the United States; and from Roscosmos, the Progress 69 resupply ship and the Soyuz MS-08 and MS-09 crew ships.  Credit: NASA

The recycled SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket had blasted off from Florida’s Spaceport June 29 about 45 minutes before sunrise and put on an absolutely stunning sky show that was dubbed a ‘space jellyfish’ in the first minutes of its critical mission carrying nearly 6000 pounds of research instruments and gear aboard the Dragon spacecraft for NASA.  

With the successful arrival of Dragon, there are now 5 spaceships attached to the space station.

Besides Dragon, the Cygnus OA-9 resupply ships from the United States and the Progress 69 resupply ship from Roscosmos are attached as well as a pair of Russian Soyuz crew ship- MS-08 and MS-09 for the six resident crewmembers.

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.

The phenomena that created the ‘space jellyfish’ is known as the twilight phenomena.

Check out our Space UpClose CRS-15 articles and expanding gallery of photos from myself and space journalist colleagues.  Click back as the gallery grows.

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-15 cargo 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

After opening the hatches, the crew will now begin unloading all the critical cargo and science gear from Dragon to station starting Tuesday. 

In addition to Exedition 56 crew commander Drew Feustel and Ricky Arnold, the crew comprises  flight engineers Serena Auñón-Chancellor (NASA) and Alexander Gerst (ESA/Germany) and Russian cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev and Sergey Prokopyev.

 “The space residents will spend the Fourth of July holiday with light duty. Gerst and Auñón-Chancellor will begin transferring mice delivered aboard Dragon into their new habitats aboard the station on Wednesday”, said NASA.  “They also reviewed the experiment installation and research operations to help scientists learn how microgravity affects physics and biology.”

“The rodents will be observed to understand how microbes impact the gastrointestinal system in microgravity. Arnold and Feustel will be swapping frozen research samples from the Japanese Kibo lab module into the U.S. Destiny lab module.”

“Among the research arriving to the U.S. National Laboratory is the Space Algae investigation, will discuss research to select algae strains adapted to space and sequence their genomes to identify growth-related genes. Algae consume waste carbon dioxide, can provide basic nutrition and may perceive microgravity as a trigger to produce algae oils rich in antioxidants that may help mitigate the harmful effects of microgravity and cosmic radiation during spaceflight. The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), which manages the U.S. National Laboratory, is sponsoring the investigation.”

Up Close view of CIMON, a free flying robot.  The mobile astronauts assistant is being tested as technology demonstration experiment and is the first hardware imbued with AI Artificial Intelligence on the International Space Station. It was developed by AirBus and the German Aerospace Center (DLR). Launched on SpaceX Dragon CRS-15 cargo run.  Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

“A technology demonstration arriving is an observational pilot study with the Crew Interactive MObile companioN (CIMON) that 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.”

The Dragon will stay joined to the orbiting outpost for about a month. 

The total CRS-15 cargo is 5,946 pounds (2,697 kg). Of this the total unpressurized cargo is 3,774 pounds (1,712 kg).  

The two unpressurized payload in the Dragon truck is 2,172 pounds (985 kg). 

They are the ECOSTRESS experiment; 1,213 pounds (550 kg) and the LEE latching end effector for the robotic Canadian arm; 959 pounds (435 kg).

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

After departing the station in a month Dragon will return to Earth for a parachute assisted splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja California carrying gear and science samples totaling about 3,800 pounds. 

The returning cargo and research include “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.”

Spectacular ‘Space 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

CRS-15 marks the 12^th flight overall for SpaceX in 2018 and the 2^nd 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