posted 05-02-2019 09:52 AM               

SpaceX CRS-17 Mission Overview

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the CRS-17 Dragon spacecraft to low-Earth orbit to deliver cargo to and from the International Space Station for NASA.

The 17th flight under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services contract with SpaceX, the Dragon will deliver more than 5,500 pounds (2,495 kg) of research, logistics and spare hardware for the Expedition 59/60 crew including:

• NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-3 (OCO-3), which will be installed robotically on the exterior of the space station's Japanese Experiment Module Exposed Facility Unit, where it will measure and map carbon dioxide from space to increase our understanding of the relationship between carbon and climate.

• NASA's Space Test Program-Houston 6 (STP-H6), an X-ray communication investigation that will be used to perform a space-based demonstration of a new technology for generating beams of modulated X-rays. This technology may be useful for providing efficient communication to deep space probes, or communicating with hypersonic vehicles where plasma sheaths prevent traditional radio communications.

• Biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca is launching the first of multiple experiments to advance a drug delivery technology that uses nanoparticles as drug carriers to provide targeted and controlled-release therapies. Characteristics such as particle size distribution and morphology are key to effective nanoparticle drug delivery systems, and microgravity allows researchers to study these properties in a new way.

• The National Cancer Institute's protein crystal growth investigation to grow high-quality crystals of the Taspase1 enzyme. Results could help researchers develop drugs to treat cancers such as leukemia, certain types of breast cancer, and glioblastoma (an aggressive brain cancer).

• Four tissue chip investigations, including studies aimed at better understanding the blood-brain barrier, which could help reveal the mechanisms behind neurological disorders like Alzheimer's disease, and exploring pathways that could lead to new treatments for osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis, which affects millions of people.

The Dragon spacecraft that will support the CRS-17 mission previously supported the CRS-12 mission in August 2017.

Following stage separation, SpaceX will attempt to recover the Falcon 9's first stage on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship, stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

The CRS-17 Dragon will return to Earth with more than 4,200 pounds (1,905 kg) of cargo after spending about four weeks at the space station.

posted 05-04-2019 01:50 AM               

SpaceX Dragon Heads to Space Station After Successful Launch

More than 5,500 pounds of cargo is on its way to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. The company's 17th commercial cargo mission to resupply the space station began at 2:48 a.m. EDT on May 4, 2019, with liftoff aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

Kenny Todd, International Space Station Operations and Integration manager at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, explained during the post-launch press conference that launch success far overshadowed fatigue with the early morning launch.

"If you have to be up, I can't think of a better reason than to see one of these launches — it was absolutely spectacular," Todd said. "We're really excited to get Dragon on board in a couple of days."

After a successful climb into space, the Dragon spacecraft now is in orbit with its solar arrays deployed and drawing power.

"We had a beautiful launch today; it was really great," said Hans Koenigsmann, SpaceX's vice president, Build and Flight Reliability. "Dragon is on the way, the orbiter is great — it's right on the money."

Capture is scheduled for Monday, May 6 at 7 a.m.; installation coverage is set to begin at 9 a.m. Astronauts aboard the station will capture the Dragon using the space station's robotic arm and then install it on the station's Harmony module.

posted 05-06-2019 08:48 AM               

Dragon arrives at space station

Expedition 59 flight engineers David Saint-Jacques of the Canadian Space Agency and Nick Hague of NASA grappled SpaceX's CRS-17 Dragon cargo spacecraft on Monday (May 6) at 7:01 a.m. EDT (1101 GMT) using the space station’s robotic arm Canadarm2.

Ground controllers in Houston will next send the commands to begin the robotic berthing of the Dragon on Earth-facing side of the station's Harmony module.

posted 06-03-2019 01:36 PM               

Dragon leaves station, heads for Pacific splashdown

The SpaceX [CRS-17] Dragon cargo spacecraft was released from the International Space Station at 12:01 p.m. EDT [1601 GMT] after flight controllers in Houston delivered remote commands to the station's Canadarm2 robotic arm. Expedition 59 Flight Engineer David Saint-Jacques of the Canadian Space Agency monitored Dragon's systems as it departed the microgravity laboratory.

Next up, Dragon will fire its thrusters to move a safe distance from the station and execute a deorbit burn around 4:56 p.m. EDT [2056 GMT] to leave orbit. Splashdown down is targeted for approximately 5:55 p.m. EDT (2:55 p.m. PDT or 2155 GMT).

posted 06-03-2019 05:56 PM               

Good splashdown of Dragon confirmed, completing SpaceX's seventeenth resupply mission to and from the International Space Station!