Space UpClose: February 2019

Thursday, February 28, 2019

SpaceX Crew Dragon Raised at Sunset, Points to the Heavens for Critical Test Flight March 2: Photos

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon go vertical at sunset Feb. 28, 2019 preparing for critical maiden unpiloted test flight on Demo-1 mission scheduled to launch March 2 at 2:49 a.m. EST from NASA’s historic Launch Complex 39A in Florida, preparing to return human spaceflight capabilities to the United States Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

Ken Kremer -- SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM -- 28 February 2019

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL – The first flightworthy SpaceX Crew Dragon was raised vertical at sunset this evening, Thursday, Feb. 28, pointing gloriously to the heavens in anticipation of her critical maiden test flight slated for liftoff in the middle of the night Saturday morning, March 2.

If all goes well on this unpiloted Demo-1 mission a pair of NASA astronauts will climb aboard next time on the Demo-2 Crew Dragon mission that could take place as soon as July - from the Florida Space Coast bound for the International Space Station (ISS).

“The task ahead is historic,” said Hans Koenigsmann, vice president, Build and Flight Reliability, SpaceX, at todays prelaunch press briefing at the Kennedy Space Center.

"We will see a great mission. We are very excited.”

Thus the stakes are truly sky high as America seeks to restore its capability to launch humans to space from American rocket on American soil – a capability lost when NASA’s shuttles were forcibly retired in 2011.

SpaceX technicians erected the Falcon 9 rocket integrated with the Crew Dragon 90 degrees from horizontal to vertical starting after 6 p.m. around sunset this evening using the dedicated transporter-erector (TE) at NASA’s historic Launch Complex-39A at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC).

Check out our high resolution Space UpClose photos taken as the rocket went vertical -as I observed from the KSC Launch Complex 39A press site.

Launch of the inaugural Crew Dragon on the Demo-1 (DM-1) mission is scheduled for 2:49 a.m. EST (0749 GMT) Saturday, March 2 from historic Launch Complex-39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. That moment coincides with the time when Earth’s rotation carries the rocket into the plane of the space station’s to enable a successful rendezvous and docking with the fuel on board.

“Demo-1 is an extremely important mission. Its more important than anything else SpaceX does,” Koenigsmann elaborated.

“The core mission of SpaceX’s existence is for human spaceflight.”

The Falcon 9 lifting process took roughly about 20 minutes to complete, which is the approximate normal length and appeared to go well with no significant interruptions ot hiccups.

The Falcon 9/Crew Dragon stack standing some 215 feet tall (65 meter) looked spectacular this evening.

The stack was rolled up the ramp horizontally at pad 39A early this morning starting around 10 a.m. ESTunder heavy fog that obscured the view until noontime.

Wide view of the Kennedy Space Center press site and famous countdown clock showing SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon going vertical at sunset Feb. 28, 2019 preparing for critical maiden unpiloted test flight on Demo-1 mission scheduled to launch March 2 at 2:49 a.m. EST from NASA’s historic Launch Complex 39A in Florida. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon resting horizontal before going vertical at sunset Feb. 28, 2019 preparing for critical maiden unpiloted test flight on Demo-1 mission scheduled to launch March 2 at 2:49 a.m. EST from NASA’s historic Launch Complex 39A in Florida. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

The Falcon 9 is outfitted with four landing legs and four grid fins and will attempt to soft land on the “Of Course I Still Love You” drone ship (OCISLY) drone ship at sea in the Atlantic Ocean about 9.5 minutes after liftoff.

Crew Dragon will separate from Falcon 9 about 11.5 minutes after liftoff \The mission will be a full up test of all the Dragon systems including life support, guidance, navigation and control, avionics, computers, thrusters and docking.

The ship will fly completely autonomously.

About 27 hours after launch it will dock at the ISS at the forward docking port where shuttles used to dock.

But the port has been upgraded with a new International Docking Adapter or IDA.

The SpaceX Crew Dragon and Boeing Starliner CST-100 human spacecraft under currently development under NASA’s $6.8 Billion Commercial Crew Program (CCP) -with the goal to once again ferry American astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) from American soil on American rockets to end our sole reliance on the Russian Soyuz since the forced shutdown of NASA's space shuttles in 2011.

“It will be the first time a commercially built and operated American rocket and spacecraft designed for humans will launch to the space station,” said NASA.

The vessel will dock at the ISS about 24 hours after liftoff and remain attached about 5 days before undocking and carrying out a parachute assisted splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean offshore of Florida’s East Coast on March 8.

In case of a delay back up launch opportunities exist on March 5 and 9.

Thereafter they must wait until after the next Russian Soyuz crew launch on March 14 involving the crew of Nick that narrowly escaped disaster from a failed Soyuz launch last October.

NASA TV and the agency’s website will provide live coverage of the launch and prelaunch activities. Space UpClose will onsite at KSC covering all aspects of the mission.

The Crew Dragon is a significantly enhanced version of the SpaceX Cargo Dragon including life support systems for astronauts and upgraded composite overwrapped pressure vessels (COPV) filled with helium in the Block 5 version of the Falcon 9 rocket to minimize the potential for a friction ignition of carbon fibers as occurred during the AMOS-6 catastrophe.

Here’s a link to my Fox News 35 Orlando prelaunch interview about the do or die nature of the Demo-1 mission

http://www.fox35orlando.com/news/local-news/make-or-break-moment-for-spacex-crew-capsule

Watch for Ken’s ongoing onsite mission coverage at the Kennedy Space Center.

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

Dr. Kremer is a research scientist and journalist based in the KSC area, active in outreach and interviewed regularly on TV and radio about space topics.

Mar 1/2: “SpaceX Falcon 9 Demo-1 and Nusantara Satu launch, Dragon CRS-16 resupply launch to ISS, SpaceX Falcon GPS 3-01, SpaceX Falcon Heavy & Falcon 9 launches, upcoming SpaceX Falcon 9 USAF GP3 3-01, NRO & USAF Spysats, SLS, Orion, Boeing and SpaceX Commercial crew capsules, OSIRIS-Rex, Juno at Jupiter, InSight Mars lander, Curiosity and Opportunity explore Mars, NH at Pluto, Kuiper Belt and more,” Kennedy Space Center Quality Inn, Titusville, FL, evenings. Photos for sale

Ken’s upcoming talks:

Apr 3: “Exploring Mars; The Search for Life & A Journey in 3-D.” 7 PM, Lawton C Johnson Middle School, Summit, NJ. Open to the public. Details upcoming. Latest results from Mars & Ultima Thule

Wednesday, February 27, 2019

Israeli Lunar Lander Suffers Computer Reset Cancelling Thruster Maneuver

Israeli Beresheet moon lander mission timeline and trajectory. Credit: SpaceIL/IAI

Ken Kremer -- SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM -- 26 February 2019

CAPE CANAVERAL, FL – Isreal’s first moon mission ‘Beresheet’ suffered a computer glitch Monday evening Feb 25 forcing cancellation of its second planned orbit raising thruster firing maneuver as it continues on its current orbit to reach the Moon in about two months, according to the SpaceIL team leading the mission.

The thruster firing of the probes main engine had been scheduled for Tuesday 12 a.m. Israel local time or 5 p.m. Monday, Feb 25.

“Last night at around 12 a.m. Israel time, another maneuver was planned for Beresheet as it passed near Earth, in an area without communication,” SpaceIL and IAI’s engineering team said in a Feb. 26 statement.

“During the pre-maneuver phase the spacecraft computer reset unexpectedly, causing the maneuver to be automatically cancelled.”

The Beresheet lunar lander is a joint endeavor funded and built by Israeli nonprofit SpaceIL and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). It marks Israel’s first lunar mission and also counts as being the world’s first privately funded lunar mission.

The lunar landing had been expected on April 11 if all goes well.

Otherwise the probe remains healthy and in communication with Israeli ground controllers.

“Communication between the control center and the spacecraft remains as planned, and Beresheet continues its previous orbit until the next maneuver. We will continue to provide updates regularly.”

In the meantime engineers continue to analyze the telemetry and determine a way forward.

“The engineering teams of SpaceIL and IAI are examining the data and analyzing the situation. At this time, the spacecraft’s systems are working well, except for the known problem in the star tracker.”

Beresheet lunar lander provided by Israeli nonprofit SpaceIL and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) for launch on SpaceX Falcon 9 on Feb 21, 2019. Credit Space IL/IAI

Monday’s maneuver was to be the second of the mission since it launched successfully last Thursday evening Feb 21 on a recycled SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Florida Space Coast.

The first firing took place as planned Feb 24 when Beresheet's main engine was successfully ignited at 1:29 p.m. Israel time (6:29 a.m. EST).

“Beresheet's first maneuver was completed successfully by SpaceIL and IAI's engineering team. The planned maneuver took into account the problems that were identified in the star trackers after launch.”

“The 30-second maneuver was made at a distance of 69,400 km from Earth and will increase the spacecraft’s closest point of approach to Earth to a distance of 600 km.”

Long duration streak shot of SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on 1^st launch of 2019 from Florida Space Coast delivering Nusantara Satu communications satellite to Earth orbit for Indonesia and the privately funded Beresheet moon launder on lunar trajectory for Israel after Feb 21, 2019 nighttime liftoff at 8:45 PM EST from Space Launch Complex-40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL - as moon rises at right. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

Liftoff of the recycled SpaceX Falcon 9 carrying the Nusantara Satu communications satellite for Indonesia and the privately funded Beresheet moon launder for Israel took place right on time Thursday evening Feb. 21 at 8:45 p.m. EST (0145 GMT Friday) at the opening of the 32 minute long launch window from Space Launch Complex-40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL.

To date only three countries have successfully landed on the Moon- the US, Russia and China and those were all government run missions.

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off on 1^st launch of 2019 from Florida Space Coast delivering Nusantara Satu communications satellite to Earth orbit for Indonesia and privately funded Beresheet moon launder on lunar trajectory for Israel after Feb 21, 2019 nighttime liftoff at 8:45 PM EST from Space Launch Complex-40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

Beresheet was developed at a cost of almost $100 million and will be the world’s first privately funded and developed moon lander.

The Falcon 9 launch propelled Beresheet onto the proper trajectory to begin a series of 4 elongating long looping orbits to gradually reach the moon.

The four landing legs were deployed as planned soon after launch.

Beresheet, which in Hebrew means “genesis” or “in the beginning” was one of the competitors for the now defunct Google Lunar XPrize.

If successful it will be the smallest spacecraft to ever land on the Moon, at only 1,322 lbs, or 600 kgs, fueled. The probe has an unfueled mass of 180 kg.

Beresheet is traveling to the Moon using its own power and thruster after launching as a rideshae payload.

Artists concept of Israeli Beresheet lunar lander mission with sponsors. Credit: SpaceIL/IAI

The voyage will take about two months over several expanding elliptical orbits – for the longest ever trip to Earth’s nearest neighbor covering a total distance of 6.5 million km.

It was achieve orbit on April 4. If all goes well lunar touchdown was scheduled for April 11 at Mare Serenitatis (Sea of Serenity).

The impact of the cancelled thruster firing is not yet known.

It will transmit photos and video from the lunar surface and conduct scientific measurements with a magnetometer and laser retroreflector from NASA Goddard. Also onboard is aa Israeli flag, a time capsule, and a lunar library.

Beresheet has a lifetime of about 2 days. There is no thermal control. The team hopes to make it hop about 500 meters before it dies.

The moon probe measures 2 meters (6.6 ft) in diameter and 1.5 meters in height.

Watch my post launch interview on i24 Isreali TV News here:

https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/195751-190222-israel-makes-space-history-as-rocket-carrying-moon-bound-spacecraft-lifts-off

Dr. Ken Kremer/Space UpClose interviewed by i24 anchor Michelle Makori during Beresheet mission launch on SpaceX Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Feb 21, 2019

For more all on this Fox 35 Orlando interviewed me about the Nusantara Satu/Beresheet moon lander launch and Mr. Steven’s arrival and fairing recovery goals.

http://www.fox35orlando.com/news/local-news/spacex-plans-falcon-9-rocket-launch-for-thursday

http://www.fox35orlando.com/news/local-news/spacex-boat-hopes-to-revolutionize-how-we-launch-and-recycle-rockets

Meanwhile the Falcon 9 first stage that launched Beresheet and then safely touched down on the OCISLY droneship at sea arrived into Port Canaveral by tugboat Sunday morning, Feb 24, just 2.5 days after blastoff.

3 Roundtrips to Space and Back: This recovered SpaceX Falcon 9 booster soft landed atop OCISLY drone ship sailed into Port Canaveral past Jetty Park Pier Sunday morning, Feb 24 towed by Signet Warhorse tugboat just 2.5 days after launching privately funded Israeli Beresheet moon lander Feb 21, 2019 and Indonesian Nusantara Satu comsat from Space Launch Complex-40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

Watch for Ken’s continuing onsite coverage of NASA, SpaceX, ULA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman 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

Dr. Kremer is a research scientist and journalist based in the KSC area, active in outreach and interviewed regularly on TV and radio about space topics.

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Ken’s photos are for sale and he is available for lectures and outreach events

Learn more about the upcoming/recent SpaceX Demo-1, Falcon 9 Nusantara Satu launch, USAF GPS 3-01, SpaceX Falcon 9/CRS-16 launch to ISS, NASA missions, ULA Atlas & Delta launches, SpySats and more at Ken’s upcoming outreach events at Quality Inn Kennedy Space Center, Titusville, FL, evenings:

Feb 28/Mar 1/2: “SpaceX Falcon 9 Demo-1 and Nusantara Satu launch, Dragon CRS-16 resupply launch to ISS, SpaceX Falcon GPS 3-01, SpaceX Falcon Heavy & Falcon 9 launches, upcoming SpaceX Falcon 9 USAF GP3 3-01, NRO & USAF Spysats, SLS, Orion, Boeing and SpaceX Commercial crew capsules, OSIRIS-Rex, Juno at Jupiter, InSight Mars lander, Curiosity and Opportunity explore Mars, NH at Pluto, Kuiper Belt and more,” Kennedy Space Center Quality Inn, Titusville, FL, evenings. Photos for sale

Ken’s upcoming talks:

Tuesday, February 26, 2019

Scorched, Sooty, Thrice Flown/Landed SpaceX Booster Sails into Port Canaveral: Photos

Thrice flown/landed SpaceX Falcon 9 booster goes airborne again at 135 PM ET Feb 24 after craning off the OCISLY drone ship (at left) on which it soft landed – as oblivious tourists fling by in boat sailing in Port Canaveral, FL. The spent recovered booster had just floated into Port a few hours earlier towed by Signet Warhorse tugboat, just 2.5 days after launching Indonesian Nusantara Satu comsat and privately funded Israeli Beresheet moon lander Feb 21, 2019 from Space Launch Complex-40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

Ken Kremer -- SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM -- 25 February 2019

CAPE CANAVERAL, FL – Scorched and sooty from a challenging droneship landing, a thrice flown and landed SpaceX Falcon 9 first stage booster sailed into Port Canaveral, FL, Sunday morning (Feb. 24) just two and a half days after launching the Beresheet commercial lunar lander for Israel, a commercial telecommunications satellite for Indonesia and an experimental surveillance satellite for the U.S. Air Force on Thursday evening Feb. 21.

SpaceX hopes to launch the ‘used’ booster for a fourth and last time sometime this spring on a critical mission for NASA - involving the high altitude abort test with a mock Crew Dragon to ensure the astronauts spacecraft can be safely pulled away in case of an emergency from a failing rocket in a split second using the Super Draco abort thrusters.

The 15 story tall SpaceX Falcon 9 first stage sailed into the mouth of Port Canaveral passing by Jetty Park Pier at about 9 a.m. EST, Sunday, Feb 24 under partly cloudy skies and wavy seas to a crowd of waiting space enthusiasts and some tourists with no idea of what was happening – but pleased by the unexpected sight of a rocket floating by.

Check out our expanding gallery of eyewitness Space UpClose photos of the arrival, docking.

The triply launched, spent Falcon 9 first stage successfully touched down on the “Of Course I Still Love You” drone ship (OCISLY) some 8 minutes after launch - stationed about 400 miles (600 km) offshore in the Atlantic Ocean.

However this landing was the most challenging to date. The booster experienced the hottest re-entry temperatures by a Falcon 9 first stage to date, said SpaceX billionaire CEO and founder Elon Musk.

And burning metal sparks were visible as proof!

“Highest reentry heating to date. Burning metal sparks from base heat shield visible in landing video. Fourth relight scheduled for April,” SpaceX CEO Elon Musk tweeted soon after the safe and successful touchdown.

The booster had reached a maximum altitude of 42 miles (67 kilometers) traveling at maximum speed of 5,200 mph (8,500 kilometers per hour) after shutting down its nine Merlin 1D engines. It then relit between 1 to 3 of the Merlins to accomplish the pinpoint propulsive soft touchdown upright on OCISLY.

Thrice flown/landed SpaceX Falcon 9 booster goes airborne again at 135 PM ET Feb 24 after craning off the OCISLY drone ship (at left) on which it soft landed. Spent recovered booster had just floated into Port Canaveral, FL hours earlier towed by Signet Warhorse tugboat, just 2.5 days after launching Indonesian Nusantara Satu comsat and privately funded Israeli Beresheet moon lander Feb 21, 2019 from Space Launch Complex-40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

This booster designated as 1048.3 previously launched the Iridium-7 mission in July 2018 and the SAOCOM 1A mission in October 2018.

It now becomes the second SpaceX Block 5 Falcon to launch 3 times after the first ever thrice flown Falcon 9 launched from the US West Coast last December from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Ca.

The recovered booster was towed into Port by the Signet Warhorse tugboat. This recovery marked the first time this vessel served as tug. It has a slightly fatster speed compared to the Hawk tug used last time.

Time is of the essence because OCISLY must depart again as quick as possible because it is being deployed as the landing target for SpaceX’s next launch on March 2 for NASA on the Demo-1 mission – the inaugural uncrewed test flight of Crew Dragon spaceship that will ferry NASA astronauts to the ISS.

To accomplish that quick deploy of OCISLY it was also necessary to first quickly crane the recovered booster off the drone ship.

OCISLY docked at the ports normal north terminal by 10 a.m. EST.

Then the booster lifting cap was hoisted by the crane crew within 15 minutes of berthing. But it took another 30 minutes or so to move the cap and place it on top of the booster standing almost perfectly upright atop OCISLY.

The crew then worked to detach the gripper arms from the landing legs that held the booster upright and in place with the so called ‘octograbber device.”

Post drone ship landing the octograbber is maneuver on rollers under the base of the Falcon 9 booster to directly beneath the 9 Merlin 1 D engines. Gripper arms then deploy to latch onto the side of booster each of the four landing legs.

Finally all of octograbbers appendages were loosed from the side of the booster by the legs and with the hoisting cap firmly bolted atop the 156 foot tall booster was hoisted majestically off of OCISLY at about 1:35 p.m. EST.

See our photos detailing the process.

The booster was moved via crane roughly a few hundred to the mounting cradle platform that holds it in place for leg removal.

With the deck of OCISLY now cleared of the booster, the ship crew immediately set about to clean, refurbish, make any needed repairs and refuel the drone ship for the voyage back out to sea as soon as possible to get it in place for the landing of the Demo-1 booster on March 2.

The next launch follows quickly on NET March 2 involving the super critical inaugural test flight of the uncrewed SpaceX Crew Dragon on the Demo-1 mission to the International Space Station for NASA.

The Demo-1 flight is the precursor flight to missions with astronauts aboard starting on the Demo-2 Crew Dragon later in the summer- thus restoring America’s capability to launch Americans to space from American soil and end out sole reliance on the Russian Soyuz capsule since the shutdown of the shuttles.

Watch my post launch interview on I24 Isreali TV News here:

https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/195751-190222-israel-makes-space-history-as-rocket-carrying-moon-bound-spacecraft-lifts-off

http://www.fox35orlando.com/news/local-news/spacex-boat-hopes-to-revolutionize-how-we-launch-and-recycle-rockets