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SpaceX Crew-2

Summary

SpaceX Crew-2
upright=300px
Endeavour and B1061.2 at LC-39A ahead of launch
NamesSpX-2
Mission typeISS crew transport
OperatorSpaceX
Mission duration180 days (planned)
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftCrew Dragon C206 Endeavour
ManufacturerSpaceX
Launch mass6,000 kg (13,000 lb)
Landing mass3,000 kg (6,600 lb)
Crew
Crew size4
Members
Start of mission
Launch date23 April 2021, 09:49:00 UTC (planned)[1][2]
RocketFalcon 9 Block 5, B1061.2
Launch siteKennedy Space Center, LC-39A
ContractorSpaceX
End of mission
Landing dateOctober 2021 (planned)
Landing siteAtlantic Ocean
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric orbit
RegimeLow Earth orbit
Inclination51.66°
Docking with ISS
Docking portHarmony forward
Docking date24 April 2021, 09:10 UTC
Undocking dateMay 2021
Time docked30 days (planned)
Docking with ISS
(Relocation)
Docking portHarmony zenith
Docking dateMay 2021 (planned)
Undocking date2021 (planned)
Time docked160 days (planned)
SpaceX Crew-2 logo.png
SpaceX Crew-2 mission patch
SpaceX Crew-2 crew.jpg
(l-r) McArthur, Pesquet, Hoshide and Kimbrough 

SpaceX Crew-2 will be the second crewed operational flight of a Crew Dragon spacecraft, and the third overall crewed orbital flight. The mission is planned to launch on 23 April 2021 at 09:49:00 UTC (5:49:00 AM EDT).[1][2] The Crew-2 mission will transport four members of the crew to the International Space Station (ISS).[3] Crew-2 is also planned to use the same capsule as Demo-2 and same booster as Crew-1.

Crew

On 28 July 2020, JAXA, ESA and NASA confirmed their astronaut assignments aboard this mission.[4][5] Alongside the 3 other crew members, Megan McArthur will use the same seat of the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavor in this mission which her husband, Bob Behnken, used in SpaceX Demo-2 mission, the first mission of the Endeavor capsule.[6]

Prime crew
Position Astronaut
Spacecraft commander United States Shane Kimbrough, NASA
Expedition 65/66
Third spaceflight
Pilot United States K. Megan McArthur, NASA
Expedition 65/66
Second spaceflight
Mission Specialist 1 Japan Akihiko Hoshide, JAXA
Expedition 65/66
Third spaceflight
Mission Specialist 2 France Thomas Pesquet, ESA
Expedition 65/66
Second spaceflight

German astronaut Matthias Maurer is the backup for Pesquet, while Japanese astronaut Satoshi Furukawa trained as backup to Hoshide.[5][7]

Backup crew
Position Astronaut
Spacecraft commander TBA
Pilot TBA
Mission Specialist 1 Japan Satoshi Furukawa, JAXA
Mission Specialist 2 Germany Matthias Maurer, ESA

Mission

The second SpaceX operational mission in the Commercial Crew Program is currently scheduled to launch on 23 April 2021.[1][2] The Crew Dragon Endeavour (C206), will dock to the International Docking Adapter (IDA) on the Harmony module. All crew are veteran astronauts, though this will be Megan McArthur's first visit to the ISS (as her first spaceflight was a shuttle mission to the Hubble Space Telescope). Akihiko Hoshide will serve as the second Japanese ISS commander during his stay.[4]

This is the second mission by Thomas Pesquet to the International Space Station and will be called Alpha, after Alpha Centauri, the closest star system to Earth, following the French tradition to name space missions after stars or constellations.[5] This mission will be the first one with a used booster and astronauts onboard.

Anticipated timeline

MET Time (EST) Time (UTC) Date (UTC) Event [8]
−8:11:00 10:00:00 PM 2:00:00 23 April
2021 		Crew wake
−05:30:00 12:41:35 AM 4:41:35 CE launch readiness briefing
−05:00:00 1:11:35 AM 5:11:35 Launch shift on console
−04:59:59 1:11:36 AM 5:11:36 Dragon IMU align and configure for launch.
−04:30:00 1:41:35 AM 5:41:35 Dragon propellant pressurization
−04:20:00 1:51:35 AM 5:51:35 Crew weather brief
−04:05:00 2:06:35 AM 6:06:35 Crew handoff
−04:00:00 2:11:35 AM 6:11:35 Suit donning and checkouts
−03:20:00 2:51:35 AM 6:51:35 Crew walk out of Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building
−03:15:00 2:56:35 AM 6:56:35 Crew transportation to Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A)
−02:55:00 3:16:35 AM 7:16:35 Crew arrives at pad
−02:35:00 3:36:35 AM 7:36:35 Crew ingress
−02:20:00 3:51:35 AM 7:51:35 Communication check
−02:15:00 3:56:35 AM 7:56:35 Verify ready seat rotation
−02:14:00 3:57:35 AM 7:57:35 Suit leak checks
−01:55:00 4:16:35 AM 8:16:35 Hatch close
−01:10:00 5:01:35 AM 9:01:35 ISS state upload to Dragon
−00:45:00 5:26:35 AM 9:26:35 SpaceX launch director verifies go for propellant load
−00:42:00 5:29:35 AM 9:29:35 Crew access arm retracts
−00:37:00 5:34:35 AM 9:34:35 Dragon launch escape system is armed.
−00:35:00 5:36:35 AM 9:36:35 RP-1 (rocket grade kerosene) loading begins; 1st stage LOX (liquid oxygen) loading begins.
−00:16:00 5:55:35 AM 9:55:35 2nd stage LOX loading begins.
−00:07:00 6:04:35 AM 10:04:35 Falcon 9 begins engine chill prior to launch.
−00:05:00 6:06:35 AM 10:06:35 Dragon transitions to internal power
−00:01:00 6:10:35 AM 10:10:35 Command flight computer to begin final prelaunch checks; propellant tank pressurization to flight pressure begins.
−00:00:45 6:10:50 AM 10:10:50 SpaceX launch director verifies go for launch.
−00:00:03 6:11:32 AM 10:11:32 Engine controller commands engine ignition sequence to start.
+00:00:00 6:11:35 AM 10:11:35 Liftoff
+00:01:02 6:12:37 AM 10:12:37 Max Q (moment of peak mechanical stress on the rocket)
+00:02:36 6:14:11 AM 10:14:11 1st stage main engine cutoff (MECO)
+00:02:39 6:14:14 AM 10:14:14 1st and 2nd stages separate
+00:02:47 6:14:22 AM 10:14:22 2nd stage engine starts
+00:07:27 6:19:02 AM 10:19:02 1st stage entry burn
+00:08:47 6:20:22 AM 10:20:22 2nd stage engine cutoff (SECO-1)
+00:09:03 6:20:38 AM 10:20:38 1st stage landing burn
+00:09:30 6:21:05 AM 10:21:05 1st stage landing
+00:11:58 6:23:33 AM 10:23:33 Crew Dragon separates from 2nd stage
+00:13:02 6:24:37 AM 10:24:37 Dragon nosecone open sequence begins

Addition of European Robotic Arm to ISS

The European Robotic arm is shown on the left attached to the Nauka module, the spare elbow joint with two limbs is shown on the right, attached to the Rassvet module

The SpaceX Crew-2 is scheduled to arrive at the ISS on 24 April 2021, well ahead of the launch and docking to the Nauka module of a Proton-M rocket on 15 July 2021 that will carry a portion of the European Robotic Arm (the other portion arrived aboard the STS-132 Space Shuttle mission on 16 May, 2010, and is attached to the Rassvet module).[9]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Potter, Sean (5 March 2021). "NASA, SpaceX Invite Media to Next Commercial Crew Launch". NASA. Retrieved 5 March 2021. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  2. ^ a b c Clark, Stephen (5 March 2021). "Next Crew Dragon launch set for April 22". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  3. ^ Kanayama, Lee (1 April 2021). "SpaceX and NASA entering final preparations for Crew-2 launch". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  4. ^ a b "JAXA星出彰彦宇宙飛行士の国際宇宙ステーション（ISS）長期滞在 搭乗機決定について". jaxa.jp (in Japanese). 28 July 2020. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  5. ^ a b c "Thomas Pesquet first ESA astronaut to ride a Dragon to space". ESA Science and Exploration. 28 July 2020. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  6. ^ "Megan to reuse Bob's demo-2 seat in crew-2 mission". aljazeera.com. 20 April 2020.
  7. ^ Powell, Joel [@ShuttleAlmanac] (19 November 2020). "JAXA has announced long stay visits to the ISS for 2022 and 2023" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  8. ^ "Mission Timeline for Launch Thursday, April 23 at 6:11:35 EST" (PDF). NASA. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference rsw20210209 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).