SpaceX CRS-5

SpaceX CRS-5, also known as SpX-5, was a Commercial Resupply Service mission to the International Space Station, conducted by SpaceX for NASA, and was launched on 10 January 2015 and ended on 11 February 2015. It was the seventh flight for SpaceX's uncrewed Dragon cargo spacecraft and the fifth SpaceX operational mission contracted to NASA under an ISS resupply services contract.

SpaceX CRS-5
CRS-5 Dragon on approach to the ISS
Mission typeISS resupply
OperatorNASA
COSPAR ID2015-001A
SATCAT no.40370
Mission durationPlanned: 1 month
Final: 31 days, 14 hours, 56 minutes
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftDragon C107
Spacecraft typeDragon CRS
ManufacturerSpaceX
Start of mission
Launch date10 January 2015, 09:47:10 (2015-01-10UTC09:47:10) UTC
RocketFalcon 9 v1.1
Launch siteCape Canaveral SLC-40
ContractorSpaceX
End of mission
DisposalRecovered
Landing date11 February 2015, 00:44 UTC (2015-02-11UTC00:45Z)[1]
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric
RegimeLow Earth
Perigee altitude410 km (250 mi)[2]
Apogee altitude418 km (260 mi)[2]
Inclination51.65 degrees[2]
Period92.71 minutes[2]
Epoch12 January 2015, 09:01:38 UTC[2]
Berthing at ISS
Berthing portHarmony nadir
RMS capture12 January 2015, 10:54 UTC[3]
Berthing date12 January 2015, 13:54 UTC[4]
Unberthing date10 February 2015, 17:11 UTC
RMS release10 February 2015, 19:10 UTC
Time berthed29 days, 3 hours, 17 minutes
Cargo
Mass2,317 kg (5,108 lb)[5]
Pressurised1,823 kg (4,019 lb)
Unpressurised494 kg (1,089 lb)

NASA SpX-5 mission patch
 

Launch history
Launch of the Falcon 9 rocket carrying CRS-5

By July 2014, the launch was scheduled by NASA for "no earlier than" December 2014, with docking to the station projected to occur two days after launch.[6] Originally scheduled for a 16 December 2014, launch, the mission was changed to 19 December 2014, in order to give SpaceX more preparation time for a successful launch. The launch was postponed again to NET 6 January 2015, in order to allow more tests before committing to a firm launch date.[7][8]

On 6 January 2015, the launch attempt was placed on hold at 1 minute 21 seconds prior to scheduled lift-off after a member of the launch team noticed actuator drift on one of two thrust vector control systems of the Falcon 9 second stage engine.[9] As this launch had an instantaneous launch window, meaning no delays are possible in the launch sequence, the flight was postponed to 9 January 2015.[9] On 7 January, the flight was rescheduled for 10 January 2015.[10]

The Falcon 9 rocket carrying the CRS-5 Dragon spacecraft successfully launched on 10 January 2015 at 9:47 UTC.[11] Dragon reached the station on 12 January. It was grappled by the Space Station Remote Manipulator System at 10:54 UTC and berthed to the Harmony module at 13:56 UTC.[12]

Primary payload

The Dragon spacecraft for CRS-5 carried 2,317 kilograms (5,108 lb) of cargo to the ISS. Included in this was 490 kg (1,080 lb) of provisions and equipment for the crew, 717 kg (1,581 lb) of station hardware, 577 kg (1,272 lb) of science equipment and experiments, and the 494 kg (1,089 lb) Cloud Aerosol Transport System (CATS).[11]

CATS is a LIDAR remote sensing instrument designed to measure the location, composition and distribution of pollution, dust, smoke, aerosols and other particulates in the atmosphere. CATS is to be installed on the Kibo external facility and is expected to run for at least six months, and up to three years.[13][14]

Upon completion of its stay, Dragon was loaded with 1,332 kg (2,937 lb) of outgoing cargo, returning it back to Earth.[5]

Post-launch flight test
Main article: SpaceX reusable launch system development program
CRS-5 Dragon aboard recovery ship

In an unprecedented[15] test flight, SpaceX attempted to return the nearly-empty first stage of the Falcon 9 through the atmosphere and land it on a 90-by-50-meter (300 ft × 160 ft) floating platform called the autonomous spaceport drone ship.[8] In October 2014, SpaceX had revealed that the ship was being built for SpaceX in Louisiana,[16] and by mid-December, the ship was docked in Jacksonville, Florida, ready to go to sea to support the test flight landing attempt.[17]

Results of first landing attempt

SpaceX attempted a landing on the drone ship on 10 January. Many of the test objectives were achieved, including precision control of the rocket's descent to land on the platform at a specific point in the south Atlantic Ocean and a large amount of test data was obtained from the first use of grid fin control surfaces used for more precise reentry positioning. However, the rocket was destroyed due to a hard landing.[15] Musk said that one of the possible problems was the grid fins running out of hydraulic fluid.[18]

The SpaceX webcast indicated that the boostback burn and re-entry burns for the descending first stage occurred, and that the descending rocket then went "below the horizon," as expected, which eliminated the live telemetry signal. Shortly thereafter, SpaceX released information that the rocket did get to the drone spaceport ship as planned, but "landed hard ... Ship itself is fine. Some of the support equipment on the deck will need to be replaced."[15][19][20][21][22] SpaceX made a video of the landing attempt available on Vine.[23]

See also
  • List of Falcon 9 launches

References
  1. Bergin, Chris (9 February 2015). "SpaceX CRS-5 Dragon returns home via Pacific splashdown". NASA Spaceflight. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  2. "DRAGON CRS-5 Satellite details 2015-001A NORAD 40370". N2YO. 12 January 2015. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  3. Garcia, Mark (12 January 2015). "Dragon Arrives, Successfully Captured at Station". NASA. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  4. Garcia, Mark (12 January 2015). "Dragon Attached to Harmony Module". NASA. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  5. "SpaceX CRS-5 factsheet" (PDF). NASA. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
  6. "Spaceflight Now – Tracking Station – Worldwide launch schedule". Spaceflightnow.com. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  7. "NASA, SpaceX Update Launch of Resupply Mission to the Space Station". NASA. 11 December 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  8. Bergin, Chris (17 December 2014). "SpaceX confirms CRS-5 launch slip to January 6". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
  9. Harwood, William (6 January 2015). "SpaceX launch scrubbed by steering system problem". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  10. "Next SpaceX Launch Attempt Saturday, Jan. 10". NASA. 7 January 2015. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  11. Graham, William (10 January 2015). "CRS-5 Dragon successfully launched – Core ASDS landing attempted". NASA Spaceflight. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  12. Bergin, Chris (12 January 2015). "ISS berths SpaceX's Dragon following speedy arrival". NASA Spaceflight. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  13. "Cloud-Aerosol Transport System (CATS)". Cats.gsfc.nasa.gov. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  14. "NASA – Cloud-Aerosol Transport System". Nasa.gov. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  15. Clark, Stephen (10 January 2015). "Dragon successfully launched, rocket recovery demo crash lands". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  16. Foust, Jeff (25 October 2014). "Next Falcon 9 Launch Could See First-stage Platform Landing". Space News. Retrieved 25 October 2014.
  17. Clark, Stephen (16 December 2014). "Photos: SpaceX's autonomous spaceport drone ship". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
  18. Kramer, Miriam (12 January 2015). "SpaceX's Elon Musk Says Rocket Landing Test Ran Out of Hydraulic Fluid". Space.com. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
  19. Musk, Elon. "Post-launch Twitter news releases". SpaceX. Retrieved 10 January 2015. Rocket made it to drone spaceport ship, but landed hard. Close, but no cigar this time. Bodes well for the future tho.", "Ship itself is fine. Some of the support equipment on the deck will need to be replaced.", "Didn't get good landing/impact video. Pitch dark and foggy. Will piece it together from telemetry and ... actual pieces.
  20. Elon Musk [@elonmusk] (10 January 2015). "Rocket made it to drone spaceport ship, but landed hard. Close, but no cigar this time. Bodes well for the future tho" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  21. Elon Musk [@elonmusk] (10 January 2015). "Ship itself is fine. Some of the support equipment on the deck will need to be replaced..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  22. Elon Musk [@elonmusk] (10 January 2015). "Didn't get good landing/impact video. Pitch dark and foggy. Will piece it together from telemetry and ... actual pieces" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  23. "Close, but no cigar. This time". SpaceX. Vine. 16 January 2015. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
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