Dragon - Endeavour
Meet the first privately developed spacecraft to carry humans into Earth orbit.
The Dragon Endeavour first flew Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the International Space Station on the Demo-2 mission for NASA in May of 2020. The capsule returned human launch capability to NASA as part of the Commercial Crew Program, which will serve U.S., Canadian, Japanese, and European astronauts as well as Russian cosmonauts.
During Demo-2, Bob and Doug named this Dragon in recognition of the Space Shuttle Endeavour - the ship that flew them both to space for the first time.
Once refurbished, Endeavour launched Crew-2, the second operational Commercial Crew flight which launched crew to the ISS for a six-month mission.
Now, Endevour will carry the first-ever all-private astronaut crew to the International Space Station.
Axiom-1 crew will spend 8 days on station working with the current ISS astronauts to conduct 25 planned experiments including self-assembling technology for satellites and future space habitats, cancer stem cell study, and air purification.
“As the first step on a path to building a diverse, thriving economy in low-Earth orbit, Axiom has partnered with leaders in academia and industry to bring new users and new investigations in research to the space station,” said Christian Maender, director of In-space Manufacturing and Research for Axiom Space.
Some of the investiagtions and experiments Ax-1 plans to complete include:
TESSERAE (Tessellated Electromagnetic Space Structures for the Exploration of Reconfigurable, Adaptive Environments) is a multi-year research program exploring self-assembly methods for in-space construction.
The JAMSS photocatalyst air purification device will launch on Ax-1 for a technical demonstration to verify the performance of the improved filter. This experiment also will deploy a control device without photocatalytic LEDs, to evaluate the JAMSS photocatalytic filter.
Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH) is conducting biomedical research on each of the crewmembers both before the launch and after their return to Earth. A variety of data will be collected, including physiological data, a battery of cognitive tests, balance and perception tests, and visual acuity tests.
Axiom Space was founded in 2016 with the goal of creating the world's first commercial space station.
Dragon for crew (general)
This SpaceX capsule is designed to carry a crew of four to the International Space Station or other Earth orbit destinations after being launched atop a reusable Falcon 9 rocket.
The capsule includes a launch abort system, an advanced environmental control and life support system that keeps the crew safe during flight, and state-of-the art touchscreen interfaces.
Crew Dragon is designed to operate autonomously but can be manually controlled by SpaceX teams in Hawthorne, California, and the astronauts on board.
Under the contracted crew rotation missions to the Space Station for NASA, Dragon will carry a regular crew of 4 international astronauts.
Crew Dragon is also available for private missions to Earth orbit for paying customers.
For missions to the Station, Crew Dragon can remain in orbit for up to 6 months.
Falcon 9 is a reusable, two-stage rocket designed and manufactured by SpaceX for the reliable and safe transport of people and payloads into Earth orbit and beyond.
Falcon 9 is the world’s first orbital-class reusable rocket.
Stats
Total launches: 311
Total landings: 269
Total reflights: 242
The Falcon 9 has launched 49 humans into orbit since May 2020
Specs
Height: 70 m / 229.6 ft
Diameter: 3.7 m / 12 ft
Mass: 549,054 kg / 1,207,920 lb
Payload to LEO: 22,800 kg / 50,265 lb
Payload to GTO: 8,300 kg / 18,300 lb
Payload to Mars: 4,020 kg / 8,860 lb
On January 24, 2021, Falcon 9 launched the first ride-share mission to Sun Synchronous Orbit. It was delivering a record-setting 143 satellites to space. And while this was an important mission for SpaceX in itself, it was also the moment Falcon 9 overtook United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V for the total number of consecutive successful launches.
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 had become America’s workhorse rocket, launching 31 times in 2021. It has already beaten that record this year, launching almost an average of once a week. While most of the launches deliver Starlink satellites to orbit, the company is still launching the most commercial payloads to orbit, too.
Falcon 9 is a medium-lift launch vehicle, with the capability to launch over 22.8 metric tonnes to low earth orbit. Unlike any other rocket, its first stage lands back on Earth after separating from its second stage. In part, this allows SpaceX to offer the cheapest option for most customers with payloads that need to reach orbit.
Under its ride-share program, a kilogram can be placed in a sun-synchronous orbit for a mere 1.1 million dollars, far cheaper than all other currently operating small satellite launch vehicles.
The reusability and fast booster turnaround times have made Falcon 9 the preferred choice for private companies and government agencies. This has allowed SpaceX to capture a huge portion of the launch market.
Protecting the Crew
On the launch pad, the crew will board Dragon prior to fueling of the rocket.
Dragon's abort system will be armed and ready to pull the crew away from Falcon 9 in the event a critical issue develops during fueling.
The launch to a 200 x 200 km orbit will take just under 9 minutes.
Dragon and its crew will then separate from the Falcon 9 second stage 11 minutes after liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center.
Photo by Erik Kuna for Supercluster
NASA's historic Kennedy Space Center is located on Cape Canaveral, Florida, and has hosted decades of historic space missions since the early days of the Apollo program.
Today, Kennedy Space Center is a multi-user spaceport and hosts private companies like Boeing, Lockheed Martin, SpaceX, and others.
SpaceX leases Launch Complex 39A at NASA's flagship facility and uses the pad to launch its Falcon Heavy and Falcon 9 rockets. The pad is also used to launch missions for the Commercial Crew Program for which SpaceX launches astronauts to the Space Station for NASA aboard their Crew Dragon capsule.
Launch Complex 39A was previously used by NASA to launch the Apollo 11 mission to land the first humans on the moon and Space Shuttle missions to assemble the International Space Station and upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope.
Image: Erik Kuna for Supercluster
The Harmony module, also known within NASA as Node-2, was launched to the International Space Station (ISS) in October 2007 on the STS-120 mission of Shuttle Discovery.
Harmony serves as the gateway between the US scientific and living modules and the European Space Agency's Columbus laboratory and Japan's Kibo complex.
The module is equipped with two docking ports for US crew (Dragon and Starliner) and cargo (Dragon) spacecraft and also has one berthing port that can be used for either Northrop Grumman's Cygnus or Japan's HTV cargo ships.
Picture: A cargo Dragon docked to Harmony's zenith, or space-facing docking port. Part of Japan's Kibo complex can been seen to the left of Dragon. Credit: NASA
A Shortfall of Gravitas (ASOG) is a SpaceX autonomous spaceport droneship (ASDS), operating out of Port Canaveral, Florida. The droneship had been teased by Elon Musk frequently since it was first announced in 2018 and made its debut mission during CRS-23.
Image Credit: Jenny Hautmann for Supercluster
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