SpaceX Crew Dragon Successfully Docks at International Space Station, Hatches Opened

The SpaceX Crew Dragon is docked to the station’s international docking adapter (IDA) on March 3, 2019 which is attached to the forward end of the Harmony module on the International Space Station (ISS). Credit: NASA TV

Ken Kremer -- SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM – 3 March 2019

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL –  Barely 24 hours after blastoff from the Florida Space Coast SpaceX’s maiden Crew Dragon spacecraft successfully docked at the International Space station (ISS) – blazing a new trail to orbit and opening a new train for astronauts to reach the Earth orbiting research complex by privately built vessels lifting off from American soil on American rocket seated inside an American capsule.

The day long rendezvous and docking procedure for the Demo-1 mission came off with out a hitch as the commercially built SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule closed in on the ISS on its maiden unpiloted mission.  

And just three hours later the multinational station crew of three astronauts and cosmonauts opened the hatch and ‘Entered the Dragon.’


Everything went flawlessly. 

Crew Dragon is the first commercially built American spacecraft designed to carry humans to the orbiting laboratory that has actually docked.

If all continues to go well two NASA astronauts will climb aboard next time for the first test flight with humans on the Demo-2 mission tentatively targeted for launch to the ISS later this summer from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. 

The Demo-1 Crew Dragon successfully attached to the forward facing port on the  International Space Station’s Harmony module for a “soft capture” Sunday, March 3, at 5:51 a.m. EST while the station was traveling more than 250 miles over the Pacific Ocean, just north of New Zealand. 

The SpaceX Crew Dragon approaches the station’s international docking adapter (IDA) with nose cone opened on March 3, 2019 for attachment to the forward end of the Harmony module on the International Space Station (ISS). Credit: NASA TV

The gumdrop shaped vessel operated in a fully autonomous mode after completing 18 orbits of Earth since launching in the middle of the night Saturday morning.  

“As the spacecraft approached the space station, it demonstrated its automated control and maneuvering capabilities by arriving in place at about 492 feet (150 meters) away from the orbital laboratory then reversing course and backing away from the station to 590 feet (180 meters) before the final docking sequence from about 65 feet (20 meters) away,” NASA said in a statement.

Some 10 minutes later Dragon completed its ‘hard dock’ to the station at 6:02 a.m. EST – “thus accomplishing the first autonomous docking of any U.S. spacecraft to the International Space Station.”

The forward port on Harmony is the same port previously utilized by NASA’s visiting Space Shuttle orbiters that were retired following the final flight in July 2011 on the STS-135 mission.

But the Harmony port has been upgraded with a new International Docking Adapter or IDA hauled to orbit in the trunk of the prior SpaceX CRS-9 Cargo Dragon resupply mission and installed using the station’s Canadian built Canadarm-2 and a spacewalk by station astronauts in August 2016. 

Anne McClain and the Earth plush toy inside Crew Dragon. Credit: NASA

Some three hours later following standard leak checks and pressurization the Expedition 58 crew members opened the hatch to the Crew Dragon.

The Expedition 58 trio crew  currently aboard station comprises NASA astronaut Anne McClain, David Saint-Jacques of the Canadian Space Agency, and Russian cosmonaut and Expedition 58 commander Oleg Kononenko.

They opened the hatch between the Crew Dragon and the orbital laboratory at 8:07 a.m. EST.

Earth plush toy floating inside the Cupola. Credit: NASA

Loaded on board was Ripley, seated inside Dragon as a simulated astronaut as what NASA dubs “an anthropomorphic test device” named after the protagonist in the movie ‘Alien.”

Ripley is outfitted with sensors to provide data about potential effects on future astronauts who will travel in the Crew Dragon. 

The cargo included more than “400 pounds of crew supplies and equipment to the space station, including bulk overwrap bags containing more than 1,000 food and drink packages for the crew.” 

Also aboard was an Earth plush toy that became instantly famous when shown off by Anne McClain. 

Expedition 58 crew members Anne McClain, David Saint-Jacques and Oleg Konenenko welcome the SpaceX Crew Dragon to the International Space Station after a successful docking on March 3, 2019, ushering in the era of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. Image Credit: NASA TV

Under normal circumstances Dragon can launch with a crew of four and up to 220 pounds of supplies thus “enabling the expansion of the inhabitants of the space station, increasing the time dedicated to research in the unique microgravity environment, and returning more science back to Earth."

SpaceX’s Crew Dragon lifted off on its maiden test flight dubbed Demo-1 atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 2:49 a.m. EST (0749 GMT) Saturday from historic Launch Complex-39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Water reflection launch view as SpaceX Falcon 9 soars off Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 2:49 a.m. EST Saturday, March 2, 2019 carrying the company’s first commercially-built and operated Crew Dragon spacecraft to orbit for docking with the International Space Station (ISS) - as seen from VAB roof.  Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

That moment coincides with the time when Earth’s rotation carries the rocket into the plane of the space station to enable a successful rendezvous and docking with the fuel on board.

Crew Dragon thus began a six day orbital mission on a ferry flight bound for the International Space Station (ISS) and back. 

The Crew Dragon is scheduled to undock Friday, March 8 at 2:31 a.m. EST from the IDA. 

It will end with a parachute assisted splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean around 8:45 a.m. EST.

NASA TV will cover all the activities live.

On future missions Dragon can remain docked for up to 210 days.

The launch event was transformational because for the first time in the Space Age private companies – not NASA – are responsible for designing, testing, manufacturing and launching human rated space ships.  

Boeing is building a competing capsule dubbed Starliner also under contract to and with funding from NASA to ferry American and partner astronauts to Low Earth Orbit (LEO and the ISS and safely back home.  

Watch for Ken’s ongoing onsite mission coverage of SpaceX Demo-1 mission at the Kennedy Space Center. 

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.

………….

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

Learn more about the upcoming/recent ULA Delta 4 WGS-10, 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: 

Mar 9/12: “ULA Delta 4 WGS-10 launch, 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