BREAKING NEWS
Cloud Server Hosting For Online Businesses
Inexpensive SEO Services
Benefits of Wanting to play Free Online Slot machines
SpaceX Crew-2

Summary

SpaceX Crew-2
The SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour approaches the International Space Station (iss065e002665) (cropped).jpg
Endeavour (left) approaches IDA-2 (right) during docking with the ISS
NamesUSCV-2 (2012–2019)
Mission typeISS crew transport
OperatorSpaceX
COSPAR ID2021-030A
SATCAT no.48209
Mission duration
  • 180 days (planned)
  • 103 days (in progress)
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftCrew Dragon Endeavour
ManufacturerSpaceX
Launch mass12,519 kg (27,600 lb)
Landing mass9,616 kg (21,200 lb)
Crew
Members
ExpeditionExpedition 65 / 66
Start of mission
Launch date23 April 2021, 09:49:02 UTC[1]
RocketFalcon 9 Block 5 (B1061.2)
Launch siteKennedy Space Center LC-39A
ContractorSpaceX
End of mission
Landing dateNovember 2021 (planned) [2]
Landing siteAtlantic Ocean
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric orbit
RegimeLow Earth orbit
Inclination51.66°
Docking with the International Space Station
Docking portHarmony forward
Docking date24 April 2021, 09:08 UTC
Undocking date21 July 2021, 10:45 UTC
Time docked88 days
Docking with the International Space Station (relocation)[3] [a]
Docking portHarmony zenith
Docking date21 July 2021, 11:36 UTC
Undocking dateNovember 2021 (planned)
Time docked13 days (in progress)
~93 days (planned)
SpaceX Crew-2 logo.png
NASA insignia by Gregory Manchess[5]
SpaceX Crew-2 crew.jpg
(L-R) McArthur, Pesquet, Hoshide and Kimbrough 

SpaceX Crew-2 is the second crewed operational flight of a Crew Dragon spacecraft, and its third overall crewed orbital flight. The mission was launched on 23 April 2021 at 09:49:02 UTC.[1] The Crew-2 mission transported four members of the crew to the International Space Station (ISS).[6] Crew-2 also used the same capsule as Crew Dragon Demo-2 (Crew Dragon Endeavour) and used the same booster as SpaceX Crew-1 (B1061.2). Endeavour docked with the International Space Station on 24 April 2021 at 09:08 UTC.[7]

Crew

On 28 July 2020, JAXA, ESA and NASA confirmed their astronaut assignments aboard this mission.[8][9]

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 was the backup for Pesquet, while Japanese astronaut Satoshi Furukawa trained as backup to Hoshide.[9][10]

Backup crew
Position Astronaut
Spacecraft commander Not assigned
Pilot Not assigned
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 launched on 23 April 2021.[11][12] The Crew Dragon Endeavour (C206), will dock to the International Docking Adapter (IDA) on the Harmony module at its forward port. This mission is the first with astronauts on board with a previously used booster rocket.[13][14]

All crew are veteran astronauts, though this is Megan McArthur's first visit to the ISS (as her first spaceflight was a shuttle mission to the Hubble Space Telescope). Alongside the three other crew members, Megan McArthur is using the same seat of the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour in this mission which her husband, Bob Behnken, used in SpaceX Demo-2 mission, the first mission of the Endeavour capsule.[15] Akihiko Hoshide will serve as the second Japanese ISS commander during his stay.[8] It 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.[9]

Prior to its launch of Starliner, the Crew Dragon Endeavour docked to ISS at Harmony forward port for its Crew-2 mission was undocked at 10:45 UTC and relocated to Harmony zenith port on 21 July 2021, at 11:36 UTC.[a]

Timeline

MET Time Date
(UTC) 		Event [16]
EDT UTC
−6:40:00 11:09:00 PM 03:09:00 23 April
2021 		Crew wake
−05:30:00 0:19:02 AM 04:19:02 CE launch readiness briefing
−05:00:00 0:49:02 AM 04:49:02 Launch shift on console
−04:59:59 0:49:03 AM 04:49:03 Dragon IMU align and configure for launch.
−04:30:00 1:19:02 AM 04:19:02 Dragon propellant pressurization
−04:20:00 1:29:02 AM 04:29:02 Crew weather brief
−04:10:00 1:39:02 AM 05:39:02 Crew handoff
−04:00:00 1:49:02 AM 05:49:02 Suit donning and checkouts
−03:20:00 2:29:02 AM 05:29:02 Crew walk out of Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building
−03:15:00 2:34:02 AM 05:34:02 Crew transportation to Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) by Tesla Model X with "RECYCLE" license plate
−02:55:00 2:54:02 AM 06:54:02 Crew arrives at pad
−02:35:00 3:14:02 AM 07:14:02 Crew ingress
−02:20:00 3:29:02 AM 07:29:02 Communication check
−02:15:00 3:34:02 AM 07:34:02 Verify ready for seat rotation
−02:14:00 3:35:02 AM 07:35:02 Suit leak checks
−01:55:00 3:54:02 AM 07:54:02 Hatch close
−01:10:00 4:39:02 AM 08:39:02 ISS state upload to Dragon
−00:45:00 5:04:02 AM 09:04:02 SpaceX launch director verifies go for propellant load
−00:42:00 5:07:02 AM 09:07:02 Crew access arm retracts
−00:38:00 5:11:02 AM 09:11:02 Dragon launch escape system is armed.
−00:35:00 5:14:02 AM 09:14:02 RP-1 (rocket grade kerosene) loading begins; 1st stage LOX (liquid oxygen) loading begins.
−00:16:00 5:33:02 AM 09:33:02 2nd stage LOX loading begins.
−00:07:00 5:42:02 AM 09:42:02 Falcon 9 begins engine chill prior to launch.
−00:05:00 5:44:02 AM 09:44:02 Dragon transitions to internal power
−00:01:00 5:48:02 AM 09:48:02 Command flight computer to begin final prelaunch checks; propellant tank pressurization to flight pressure begins.
−00:00:45 5:48:17 AM 09:48:17 SpaceX launch director verifies go for launch.
−00:00:03 5:48:59 AM 09:48:59 Engine controller commands engine ignition sequence to start.
00:00:00 5:49:02 AM 09:49:02 Liftoff
+00:01:02 5:50:04 AM 09:50:04 Max Q (moment of peak mechanical stress on the rocket)
+00:02:36 5:51:38 AM 09:51:38 1st stage main engine cutoff (MECO)
+00:02:39 5:51:41 AM 09:51:41 1st and 2nd stages separate
+00:02:47 5:51:49 AM 09:51:49 2nd stage engine starts
+00:07:27 5:56:29 AM 09:56:29 1st stage entry burn
+00:08:47 5:57:49 AM 09:57:49 2nd stage engine cutoff (SECO-1)
+00:09:03 5:58:05 AM 09:58:05 1st stage landing burn
+00:09:30 5:58:32 AM 09:58:32 1st stage landing
+00:11:58 6:01:00 AM 10:01:00 Crew Dragon separates from 2nd stage
+00:13:02 6:02:04 AM 10:02:04 Dragon nosecone open sequence begins
+1/ 3:31 AM 07:31 24 April
2021 		Dragon starts the final phase of the approach to the ISS.[17]
+1/03:33 05:08 AM 09:08 Soft Capture to the ISS.[18]
+1/03:33 05:20 AM 09:20 Dragon docked to the ISS.[19]
+1/05:34 7:15 AM 11:15 Hatch opened.[20]

Wake-up calls

NASA began a tradition of playing music to astronauts during the Gemini program, and first used music to wake up a flight crew during Apollo 15. Each track is specially chosen, often by the astronauts' families, and usually has a special meaning to an individual member of the crew, or is applicable to their daily activities.[21]

Flight Day Song Artist Played for Links
Day 2 An off-key, all flute comedic cover of A-Ha's "Take On Me", made by YouTube artist "Shittyflute".[22] A-ha (original)
Shittyflute (Cover) 		Thomas Pesquet [1]

See also

Notelist

  1. ^ a b From an orbital dynamics perspective, the forward port is easier to approach, and therefore new vehicles use this approach for their first live docking. The Boeing Starliner is scheduled to make its first docking on OFT-2 at the end of July 2021; therefore, Crew-2 will relocate to the zenith port to clear the forward port for OFT-2.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b "SpaceX's Crew-2 launch lights up the predawn sky with a spectacular show (photos)". 23 April 2021.
  2. ^ Sempsrott, Danielle (14 June 2021). "NASA, SpaceX Update Crew Launch and Return Dates". NASA. Retrieved 14 June 2021. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  3. ^ "Starliner capsule fueled for unpiloted test flight to International Space Station". Spaceflight Now. 22 June 2021. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  4. ^ "NASA TV to Air Crew Dragon Crew-2 Port Relocation on Space Station". NASA. 14 June 2021. Retrieved 14 June 2021. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  5. ^ "Dragon Crew Two Launch". 2 December 2020. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  6. ^ Kanayama, Lee (1 April 2021). "SpaceX and NASA entering final preparations for Crew-2 launch". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  7. ^ "SpaceX's first reused Crew Dragon docks at space station with four Crew-2 astronauts". SPACE.com. 24 April 2021.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ 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.
  10. ^ Powell, Joel [@ShuttleAlmanac] (19 November 2020). "JAXA has announced long stay visits to the ISS for 2022 and 2023" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  11. ^ Potter, Sean (5 March 2021). "NASA, SpaceX Invite Media to Next Commercial Crew Launch". NASA. Retrieved 5 March 2021. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  12. ^ Clark, Stephen (5 March 2021). "Next Crew Dragon launch set for April 22". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  13. ^ Drake, Nadia (23 April 2021). "SpaceX launches first astronauts on a reused rocket". National Geographic. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  14. ^ Thompson, Amy (23 April 2021). "SpaceX launches 4 astronauts to space station, nails rocket landing". SPACE.com. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  15. ^ "Megan to reuse Bob's demo-2 seat in crew-2 mission". aljazeera.com. 20 April 2020.
  16. ^ "Mission Timeline for Launch Thursday, April 23 at 5:49:02 EST". Spaceflight Now.
  17. ^ Garcia, Mark (24 April 2021). "NASA TV Covers SpaceX Crew-2 Docking to Station Today". blogs.nasa. Retrieved 24 April 2021. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  18. ^ "SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour docks with ISS: NASA TV". france24.com. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
  19. ^ Cawley, James (24 April 2021). "Crew Dragon Docks to Station, Hatches Open Soon". blogs.nasa. Retrieved 13 December 2020. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  20. ^ Cawley, James (17 November 2020). "Hatches Open, Crew Dragon Astronauts Join Expedition 64". blogs.nasa. Retrieved 13 December 2020. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  21. ^ "Chronology of Wakeup Calls". NASA. 2 August 2005. Retrieved 5 April 2010.
  22. ^ https://twitter.com/chasg76/status/1419262730100432898