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Science

SpaceX to launch last new cargo Dragon spacecraft

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WASHINGTON — A SpaceX Dragon launching soon to the International Space Station is the last cargo version of the spacecraft the company expects to build, with one more crewed spacecraft under construction.

At an Nov. 18 briefing about the upcoming SpaceX CRS-26 cargo mission to the station, NASA and SpaceX announced the launch, previously scheduled for Nov. 21 from the Kennedy Space Center, had slipped a day to Nov. 22 at 3:54 p.m. Eastern. A launch that day would allow the Dragon to dock with the station Nov. 23 at 5:57 a.m. Eastern.

Sarah Walker, director of Dragon mission management at SpaceX, said the delay stemmed from repairs to the spacecraft required after detecting a leak in the spacecraft’s thermal control system during pre-launch processing. The leak was tracked down to a single flange whose rubber seal was damaged, which has since been repaired.

Those repairs “put us about a shift behind” the schedule for a Nov. 21 launch, she said, leading to the decision at the mission’s launch readiness review to instead attempt a launch Nov. 22. Weather forecasts project only a 30% chance of acceptable conditions that day, however.

The launch will be the first flight of this spacecraft, designated C211, the third cargo version of the Dragon 2 spacecraft built by SpaceX. Since starting its Commercial Resupply Services 2 contract with the CRS-21 mission in late 2020, SpaceX has been alternating between two other cargo Dragon spacecraft, designated C208 and C209.

In addition to the three cargo Dragon spacecraft, SpaceX has four Crew Dragon spacecraft, and Walker revealed at the briefing SpaceX plans to build a fifth and likely final Crew Dragon. “This is the last new cargo Dragon spacecraft we plan to build,” she said. “We recently decided to build one more crewed spacecraft as well.”

Previously, SpaceX executives said four Crew Dragon spacecraft would be enough to meet its future needs. At an October 2021 NASA briefing, Walker said the four Crew Dragon vehicles the company planned then “seem sufficient to meet our manifest, which is thriving right now.”

At the Nov. 18 briefing, she attributed the decision for a fifth Crew Dragon to further growth of that manifest. That included NASA’s decision to add eight ISS missions to SpaceX’s existing commercial crew contract as well as an “exciting commercial human spaceflight manifest.” The new Crew Dragon, she said later in the call, should be ready for a first flight “in the 2024 timeframe.”

While each Crew Dragon or cargo Dragon mission requires a new trunk section, which is jettisoned prior to reentry, the capsule itself is designed for multiple flights. “About 15 flights is what we’re targeting right now,” she said. Some components are not likely to fly as many times, but overall each spacecraft should be capable of that many missions, she added. “The vast majority of the capsule should be at 15 flights.”

If the CRS-26 mission does not launch Nov. 22, Walker said the next launch opportunities are Nov. 26 and 27. The gap, she said, was in part due to airspace restrictions during the Thanksgiving holiday period, as well as orbital mechanics and the need to refresh some of the cargo on board.

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Science

Cygnus cargo ship makes it to ISS with blanketed solar panel • The Register

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An Cygnus cargo ship has successfully made it to the International Space Station despite the failure of half its solar panel array.

The Cygnus vehicle, built by Northrop Grumman and named S.S. Sally Ride – after the late physicist and first American woman to fly to space in 1983 – was launched atop the company’s Antares 230+ rocket from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in Virginia on Monday. 

Mission Control later discovered one of its two solar panels did not deploy properly. Engineers gave up trying to correct the issue and said the spacecraft had enough power to reach the ISS in its less than ideal state. Thankfully they were right, and as it got closer astronaut Nicole Mann brought it in using the space station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm on Wednesday at 0520 ET (1020 UTC).

“During a rocket stage separation event, debris from an Antares acoustic blanket became lodged in one of the Cygnus solar array mechanisms, preventing it from opening,” Cyrus Dhalla, vice president and general manager, Tactical Space Systems at Northrop Grumman, said in a statement. “Successful berthing was achieved thanks to Cygnus’s robust design and the resilience and ingenuity of the NASA and Northrop Grumman teams.”

The Cygnus cargo ship carries 3719.5kg (8,200 pounds) of cargo and science experiments The experiments include: human heart cells and a partial human knee meniscus (astronauts will be using a 3D bioprinter to help scientists compare differences between human tissues printed in microgravity and on Earth); bovine ovarian cells (which could one day improve fertility treatments in space); mudflow samples (which will be studied to understand how mudflows after wildfires can knock heavy boulders and debris downhill and destroy buildings); and three cubesats.

The cubesats will be launched to observe Earth and agricultural growth. Cygnus also brought a mounting bracket, which astronauts will attach to the starboard side of the station’s truss assembly during a spacewalk scheduled next week. The instrument will also be used to install a new set of solar arrays later in the year.

The vehicle will remain attached to the ISS until January and be filled with garbage before it is sent back towards Earth to be destroyed upon reentry into the atmosphere. ®



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Science

Cargo spacecraft docks with ISS despite operating on one solar panel

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CNN
 — 

A cargo spacecraft successfully docked with the International Space Station Wednesday morning, despite making its two-day trek through space with only one functioning solar panel.

US defense contractor Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft, which was carrying 8,200 pounds of science experiments and supplies for the astronauts on board the ISS, lifted off from NASA’s launch site in Wallops Island, Virginia, atop an Antares rocket on Monday.

A few hours after Cygnus reached orbit and separated from the rocket, one of the spacecraft’s two solar arrays failed to deploy, NASA announced.

Teams on the ground initially attempted to troubleshoot the issue, hoping to coax the solar panel open, but they were unsuccessful, according to a NASA statement released Tuesday. NASA and Northrop Grumman, which designed and built the Cygnus capsule, opted to abandon those efforts in order to focus on carrying out a safe rendezvous with the ISS, noting that the spacecraft already had sufficient power to finish its journey. Northrop Grumman did not immediately respond to a request for additional information Tuesday evening.

“The Cygnus team is gathering information on why the second array did not deploy as planned,” NASA’s Tuesday statement noted.

The docking took place at 5.20 a.m. ET Wednesday morning as the ISS flew over the Indian Ocean.

As the Cygnus capsule approached the ISS, NASA astronaut Nicole Mann used the space station’s robotic arm to latch on to the vehicle and drag it toward its docking port.

Orbital ATK, an aerospace and defense company acquired by Northrop Grumman in 2017, was selected in 2014 alongside Elon Musk’s SpaceX to develop vehicles capable of taking cargo to the ISS. The Cygnus spacecraft has been flying routine cargo missions to the ISS for years and has 18 successful missions under its belt.

It has also notched one failure. In 2014, the Antares rocket, which was also developed by Orbital ATK, exploded shortly after taking off, destroying the spacecraft and grounding the Cygnus program for more than a year.

The Cygnus capsule used for this week’s mission was named the S.S. Sally Ride, a nod to the first American woman to fly to space. NASA said the resupply capsule “will remain at the space station until January before it departs for a destructive re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere.”

The cargo aboard this mission includes supplies that will support more than 250 science experiments and other research efforts, according to NASA. It’s also carrying fresh fruit and vegetables for the crew, as well as holiday treats.

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Science

Cygnus cargo ship arrives at space station with only one working solar panel

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The private Cygnus cargo craft has arrived at the International Space Station early Wednesday morning (Nov. 9) despite one of its solar panels failing to deploy after launch. 

NASA astronaut Nicole Mann assisted by fellow NASA crewmate Josh Cassada captured the uncrewed Cygnus spacecraft full of supplies and scientific experiments with the space station’s robotic arm at 5:20 a.m. EST (1020 GMT) as the two ships sailed high over the Indian Ocean. The robotic arm will now move the capsule to the Unity module on the International Space Station (ISS), where it will be berthed to the module’s Earth-facing port later today. 

“A huge congratulations to the NG-18 team for their tireless efforts in getting Sally Ride to the ISS for a successful capture today,” said Mann, who plucked the cargo ship from space with the station’s robotic arm, radioed to Mission Control after the successful capture. The spacecraft is dubbed the SS Sally Ride after astronaut Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, who died in 2012.Mann quoted Ride’s thoughts on the view from space after the capture. “We certainly agree with her, back from [low Earth orbit], the stars do not look bigger but they certainly look brighter.”

Related: Antares rocket launches ovarian cells and wild experiments to ISS

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The Cygnus cargo craft is pictured moments after being captured with the Canadarm2 robotic arm controlled by NASA astronaut Nicole Mann. (Image credit: NASA)

The Northrop Grumman-built Cygnus robotic freighter after the famous NASA astronaut, launched toward the ISS on Monday (Nov. 7) from Virginia. Carrying a record-breaking 4.1 tons (3.7 metric tons) of scientific experiments and supplies, the spacecraft experienced technical problems shortly after launch.

The freighter managed to deploy just one of its two solar panels after liftoff. Its handlers say it can make the journey to the ISS safely regardless, but mission teams  kept an eye out for any signs of trouble as it approaches the orbiting lab.

“Northrop Grumman is working closely with NASA to monitor and assess the spacecraft ahead of tomorrow’s planned arrival, capture and installation at the space station,” NASA officials said in an update (opens in new tab) on Tuesday evening (Nov. 8). “Mission teams also are planning additional inspections of the cargo spacecraft during approach and after capture.”

A head-on view of Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus NG-18 cargo ship as it approaches the International Space Station with only one solar panel deployed on Nov. 9, 2022.  (Image credit: NASA TV)

Three different robotic spacecraft ferry cargo to the ISS these days: Cygnus, SpaceX’s Dragon capsule and Russia’s Progress vehicle. 

Cygnus and Progress burn up in Earth’s atmosphere after completing their delivery missions, but Dragon comes back for safe ocean splashdowns and future reuse.

Mike Wall is the author of “Out There (opens in new tab)” (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall (opens in new tab). Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) or Facebook (opens in new tab).



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Science

Cygnus cargo ship trying to reach ISS with only 1 solar array deployed

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A private cargo ship’s trip to the International Space Station (ISS) isn’t going as planned.

Northop Grumman’s robotic Cygnus cargo ship launched toward the ISS this morning (Nov. 7) from Virginia, packed with more than 4.1 tons (3.7 metric tons) of food and other supplies for the astronauts aboard the orbiting lab. 

The launch went smoothly, but Cygnus encountered some trouble after separating from its Antares rocket ride: The freighter has managed to unfurl just one of its two solar arrays. 

Mission team members are working to troubleshoot the glitch, but Cygnus may still be able to power its way to the space station for a scheduled Wednesday (Nov. 9) meetup even if a fix isn’t found.

“Northrop Grumman has reported to NASA that Cygnus has sufficient power to rendezvous with the International Space Station on Wednesday, Nov. 9, to complete its primary mission, and NASA is assessing this and the configuration required for capture and berthing,” NASA officials wrote in a brief update today (opens in new tab).

Related: Facts about the International Space Station

This Cygnus vehicle, named the SS Sally Ride after the first American woman to reach space, will deliver more payload by mass to the ISS than any previous Northop Grumman freighter, if all goes as planned.

SS Sally Ride’s cargo manifest includes 3,608 pounds (1,637 kilograms) of crew supplies, 2,375 pounds (1,077 kg) of vehicle hardware, 1,873 pounds (850 kg) of science gear, 145 pounds (66 kg) of spacewalk equipment and 172 pounds (78 kg) of computer resources, NASA officials said.

Among the many science experiments flying on the cargo ship is a 3D printer known as the BioFabrication Facility (opens in new tab), which is designed to print organ-like tissues in microgravity, and a study that will assess how the space environment affects ovarian cells.

Cygnus is one of three robotic spacecraft that currently ferry cargo to the ISS, along with Russia’s Progress vehicle and SpaceX’s Dragon capsule.

Cygnus and Progress are expendable craft that burn up in Earth’s atmosphere when their time in orbit is up. Dragon, by contrast, returns to Earth in one piece for future reuse.

Mike Wall is the author of “Out There (opens in new tab)” (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall (opens in new tab). Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) or Facebook (opens in new tab).



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Science

Fire alarm on Earth delays Northrop Grumman cargo launch to space station

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A Northrop Grumman rocket carrying more than 4 tons of supplies for the International Space Station will have to wait at least one more day to launch after a fire alarm at its mission control center thwarted a liftoff early Sunday (Nov. 6). 

The Antares rocket was about 10 minutes away from a planned liftoff at 5:50 a.m. EST (1050 GMT) from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia, when Northrop Grumman called off the flight. A fire alarm at the company’s control center in nearby Dulles, Virginia, forced a building evacuation, preventing launch controllers from going through with the launch. 

“Our thoughts are with their team their their safety is at the top most important, so we are going to try it again tomorrow,” NASA spokesperson Chelsey Ballarte said during live commentary. Liftoff is now set for Monday, Nov. 6, at 5:27 a.m. EST (1027 GMT).  You can watch the Cygnus cargo launch live on Space.com, courtesy of NASA TV, beginning at 5 a.m. EST (1000 GMT). 

Northrop Grumman will use its Antares rocket to launch the uncrewed NG-18 Cygnus spacecraft to the International Space Station on a mission to deliver more than 8,200 pounds (3,720 kilograms) of supplies to the lab’s astronaut crew. It is the 18th cargo mission for NASA by Northrop Grumman. 

Related: Northrop Grumman’s Private Antares Rocket: 5 Surprising Facts

The upcoming launch is also Northrop Grumman’s heaviest delivery yet, with the company squeezing in about 44 pounds (20 kg) of additional supplies due to refinements to the launch system. Among its precious cargo are a bioprinter that will attempt to print human knee cartilage in space and cow ovarian cells to study how weightlessness affects the growth of cells. 

If all goes well, the NG-18 Cygnus cargo ship — which has been named the SS Sally Ride in honor of astronaut Sally Ride, the first American woman in space who died in 2012  — should arrive at the space station on Wednesday (Nov. 10).
Email Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com (opens in new tab) or follow him @tariqjmalik (opens in new tab). Follow us @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab), Facebook (opens in new tab) and Instagram (opens in new tab).



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Science

Space Freighter with Three Tons of Cargo Docks to Station – Space Station

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The ISS Progress 82 cargo craft approaches the space station nearing the Poisk module for a docking two days after launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Credit: NASA TV

An uncrewed Roscosmos Progress 82 spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station’s space-facing side of the Poisk module at 10:49 p.m. EDT today. Progress delivered almost three tons of food, fuel and supplies to the International Space Station for the Expedition 68 crew.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

Get weekly video highlights at: http://jscfeatures.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

Get the latest from NASA delivered every week. Subscribe here: www.nasa.gov/subscribe



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World

Gibraltar races to stop oil leak from beached cargo ship after collision with gas tanker

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A “major incident” was declared in Gibraltar on Wednesday after the OS 35 cargo ship collided with a liquefied natural gas carrier the day before, according to the government.

The cargo ship, which is carrying 215 tonnes of heavy fuel oil, 250 tonnes of diesel fuel and 27 tonnes of lube oil, was beached to prevent it from sinking in the bay of Gibraltar. All 30 people on board, including 24 crew members and 6 surveyors, were evacuated.

The Gibraltar Port Authority (GPA) confirmed Thursday that there had been a leak of oil, a small amount of which escaped the perimeter of a boom set up in the wake of the accident.

“The salvage team onboard have identified the source of this leak to two tank vents from the vessel’s bunker tanks. All vents had previously been sealed, but the seal of two vents became loose on the crumpling of the vessel,” the GPA said in a statement.

The statement said divers on scene have been able to re-establish the seals and the GPA was in the process of stopping the release of oil from the vents. Authorities were collecting the free floating oil that has already vented, while sorbent booms to absorb the oil were being deployed.

On Wednesday night, the government said there were indications that the cargo ship had “not broken apart as such, but has crumpled,” and that the “first concern” was the offloading of the low sulfur heavy fuel oil onboard as soon as possible, followed by diesel and lube oil.

The government added that there “has been no way to remove the fuels in question from the vessel any sooner in a manner that was not a risk to the environment.”

Greenpeace told CNN it is worried as the area of the incident is a heavily polluted area due to the volume of ships passing by.

Greenpeace campaigner Francisco del Pozo, who is monitoring the situation, told CNN that “as it is, there is no major oil spillage.”

According to the Gibraltar authorities, it will take around 50 hours of pumping with the operation carried out “under the strictest supervision to seek to avoid any spillage.”

Additional oil spill equipment is expected to arrive in Gibraltar from the UK on Sunday, the statement said.

Gibraltar’s government said the timeframe for salvaging the hull of the OS 35 cargo ship is likely to extend longer than the previous expectation of a few weeks.

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Science

SpaceX Dragon Splashes Down With Scientific Cargo for Analysis

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By NASA
August 21, 2022

The SpaceX Dragon resupply ship carrying over 5,800 pounds of new science experiments and crew supplies, pictured from a window on the SpaceX Dragon Freedom crew ship, approaches the International Space Station above the south Atlantic Ocean. Credit: NASA

This view of the International Space Station from a window on the orbiting lab’s Russian segment shows portions of the Rassvet module’s docking port, the U.S. Destiny laboratory module, the Harmony module, Columbus laboratory module, and the Kibo laboratory module. Docked to Harmony at top, is the SpaceX Dragon resupply ship. Credit: NASA

Some of the scientific investigations returned by Dragon include:

  • Space’s impact on materials: The Materials International Space Station Experiment-15-NASA (MISSE-15-NASA) experiment tests, qualifies, and quantifies the impact of the low-Earth orbit environment on new materials and components, such as spacecraft materials and wearable radiation protection. Successful experiment results could have applications both in the harsh environments of space and on Earth.
  • Spacesuit cooling: Spacesuit Evaporation Rejection Flight Experiment (SERFE) demonstrates a new technology using water evaporation to remove heat from spacesuits and maintain appropriate temperatures for crew members and equipment during spacewalks. The investigation determines whether microgravity affects performance and evaluates the technology’s effect on contamination and corrosion of spacesuit material.
  • Cell signaling in microgravity: The ESA (European Space Agency) sponsored investigation Bioprint FirstAid Handheld Bioprinter (Bioprint FirstAid) enables the rapid use of formerly prepared bio-inks, containing the patient’s own cells, to form a band-aid patch in the case of injury.

August 19, 2022: International Space Station Configuration. Four spaceships are docked at the space station including the SpaceX Crew Dragon Freedom and Russia’s Soyuz MS-21 crew ship and the Progress 80 and 81 resupply ships. Credit: NASA



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Science

SpaceX Dragon cargo ship returns to Earth from space station

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A SpaceX Dragon cargo ship returned to Earth with an ocean splashdown on Saturday (Aug. 20) carrying tons of science gear from the International Space Station. 

The uncrewed Dragon space capsule splashed down off the coast of Florida on time at 2:53 p.m. EDT (1953 GMT) after just over a month at the space station.

“Splashdown of Dragon confirmed, completing SpaceX’s 25th cargo resupply mission to the space station,” SpaceX wrote in a mission update on Twitter (opens in new tab) today. The company did not provide live views or images of the spacecraft’s splashdown.

“Once Dragon has been retrieved by SpaceX’s recovery team, the critical science aboard the spacecraft will be transported via helicopter to [NASA’s Kennedy Space Center] and provided to researchers,” the company added (opens in new tab) in a second Twitter post.

SpaceX launched the Dragon’s SpaceX-25 mission from KSC on July 14, with the spacecraft arriving at the station two days later. It delivered 5,800 pounds (2,630 kilograms) of science experiments, crew supplies and other critical cargo to the station. 

On Friday, the Dragon spacecraft undocked from the space station, setting up its return to Earth on Saturday with about 4,000 pounds (1,815 kg) of science gear. That cargo included the results of a myriad of experiments on the station that will be delivered to eager scientists. 

SpaceX’s Cargo Dragon capsules are uncrewed versions of the company’s Crew Dragon spacecraft and designed to ferry supplies to and from the International Space Station under a multi-billion-dollar contract with NASA. SpaceX is one of two U.S. companies currently flying resupply missions to the station (Northrop Grumman is the other with the Cygnus spacecraft) with Sierra Nevada Space Systems also tapped to provide similar services for NASA with its planned Dream Chaser space plane. 

Russia’s robotic Progress spacecraft also make regular cargo delivery missions, with the European Space Agency and Japan also flying their own cargo ships in the past. 

The space station is currently home to seven astronauts that make up the Expedition 67 crew. The crew includes three Americans, three Russians and one European. SpaceX launched four of those astronauts on a Crew Dragon as part of its Crew-4 mission for NASA.

SpaceX will launch NASA’s next crew to the space station, called Crew-5, in September.

Email Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com or follow him @tariqjmalik. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Instagram.



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