Wikipedia

SpaceX Dragon 2

reusable spacecraft by SpaceX

SpaceX Dragon 2 is a class of reusable spacecraft created by American aerospace manufacturer SpaceX as the replacement to the Dragon 1 cargo spacecraft.

The Crew Dragon spacecraft is a space capsule. In the picture it is approaching the ISS in 2019
A mock-up in 2018, of a Crew Dragon (spacecraft), behind four astronauts. (A mock-up is a model, used for teaching.)

The spacecraft launches atop a Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket and returns to Earth via an ocean splashdown. The spacecraft can dock itself to the International Space Station (ISS) instead of being berthed.

It has two versions; Crew Dragon, a human-rated capsule capable of carrying up to seven astronauts, and Cargo Dragon, an updated replacement for the original Dragon spacecraft.[1]

Crew Dragon is equipped with an integrated launch escape system in a set of four side thruster pods with two SuperDraco engines each. The spacecraft features redesigned solar arrays.

SpaceX plans to replace Dragon 2 with Starship.

The Cargo Dragon (spacecraft) is a space capsule. In the picture it is leaving the ISS, in 2021

List of flights

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Launch dates are listed in UTC.

Crew Dragon flights

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Mission Space capsule[2] Launch date Landing date Description Crew Outcome
Test flights
Pad Abort Test DragonFly (prototype) 6 May 2015 6 May 2015 The test showed that the space capsule can escape quickly (from the rocket) if the rocket has a problem while it is still on the ground. The test was at Cape Canaveral, Florida.[3] No crew Success
Demo-1 C204 2 March 2019[4] 8 March 2019 Test flight of the capsule - without people in the capsule. No crew Success
In-Flight Abort Test C205 19 January 2020[5] 19 January 2020 [6] No crew Success
Demo-2 Endeavour 30 May 2020[7][8] 2 August 2020
Success

Later flights

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8 April 2022 to 25 April 2022: Axiom-1 mission used space capsule Resilience. The crew was

The mission was Crew-5.


  • No earlier than July 2023,[35] the Polaris Dawn flight is supposed to start. The flight is supposed to be part of the three flights of the Polaris program; The two first flights are supposed to use Crew Dragons.

Cargo Dragon flights

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  • During 6 December 2020 and 14 January 2021, the first flight of Cargo Dragon 2, to ISS happened. The Nanoracks Bishop Airlock module was taken to the ISS along with 6,400 lb (2,900 kg) of cargo. The successful mission (CRS-21) used space capsule C208.
  • 3 June 2021 to 10 July 2021, had a flight to the ISS: CRS-22. The solar arrays iROSA 1 and iROSA 2, were taken there. The successful mission used space capsule C209.
  • 29 August 2021 to 1 October 2021, was a flight to the ISS. The successful mission (CRS-23) used space capsule C208.[36]
  • 21 December 2021 to 24 January 2022, was a flight to the ISS. The successful mission (CRS-24) used space capsule C209.[36]
  • 15 July 2022 to 20 August 2022, the fifth Cargo Dragon 2 flight to the ISS: CRS-25. The successful mission used space capsule C208.
  • On November 26, 2022 the sixth Cargo Dragon 2 flight to the ISS, started: CRS-26. It is docked to the ISS, as of 2022's fourth quarter.

Design

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Crew Dragon has eight SuperDraco engines, with each engine able to produce 71 kN (16,000 lbf) of thrust to be used for launch aborts (or giving up a a launch - after it has already started).[37] Each pod also contains four Draco thrusters that can be used for attitude control and orbital maneuvers (or using engines while already in an orbit). The SuperDraco engine combustion chamber is printed of Inconel, an alloy of nickel and iron, using a process of direct metal laser sintering.

References

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  1. ↑ Audit of Commercial Resupply Services to the International Space Station. NASA. April 26, 2018. Report No. IG-18-016. Quote: "For SpaceX, certification of the company's unproven cargo version of its Dragon 2 spacecraft for CRS-2 missions carries risk while the company works to resolve ongoing concerns related to software traceability and systems engineering processes".
  2. ↑ "Crew Dragon". Gunter's Space Page. Archived from the original on 16 July 2019. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  3. ↑ Clark, Stephen (6 May 2015). "SpaceX crew capsule completes dramatic abort test". Spaceflight Now. Archived from the original on 10 June 2015. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
  4. ↑ "NASA, Partners Update Commercial Crew Launch Dates". NASA Commercial Crew Program Blog. 6 February 2019. Archived from the original on 2 March 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2019.   This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  5. ↑ Cooper, Ben (2 November 2019). "Rocket Launch Viewing Guide for Cape Canaveral". launchphotography.com. Archived from the original on 9 February 2016. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  6. ↑ "NASA Provides Update on SpaceX Crew Dragon Static Fire Investigation – Commercial Crew Program". nasa.gov. NASA. Archived from the original on 28 May 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2019.   This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  7. ↑ Clark, Stephen (17 April 2020). "NASA, SpaceX set May 27 as target date for first crew launch". Spaceflight Now. Archived from the original on 21 April 2020. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  8. ↑ "Crew Dragon SpX-DM2". Spacefacts. Archived from the original on 3 July 2020. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  9. ↑ Northon, Karen (2020-10-26). "NASA, SpaceX Invite Media to Crew-1 Mission Update, Target New Date". NASA. Archived from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 2020-10-27.   This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  10. ↑ "NASA, SpaceX Crew-1 Launch Update". NASA. Archived from the original on 10 October 2020. Retrieved 10 October 2020.   This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  11. ↑ @jeff_foust (23 July 2020). "McErlean: NASA's plans call for reusing the Falcon 9 booster from the Crew-1 mission on the Crew-2 mission, and to reuse the Demo-2 capsule for Crew-2 as well" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  12. ↑ Potter, Sean (5 March 2021). "NASA, SpaceX Invite Media to Next Commercial Crew Launch". NASA. Archived from the original on 10 March 2021. Retrieved 5 March 2021.   This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  13. ↑ Sempsrott, Danielle (14 June 2021). "NASA, SpaceX Update Crew Launch and Return Dates". NASA. Archived from the original on 14 June 2021. Retrieved 14 June 2021.   This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  14. ↑ Ralph, Eric (9 November 2021). "SpaceX Dragon returns astronauts to Earth after record-breaking spaceflight". Teslarati. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  15. ↑ "Megan to reuse Bob's demo-2 seat in crew-2 mission". aljazeera.com. 20 April 2020. Archived from the original on 23 April 2021. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 "Thomas Pesquet first ESA astronaut to ride a Dragon to space". ESA Science and Exploration. 28 July 2020. Archived from the original on 28 July 2020. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  17. ↑ Berger, Eric [@SciGuySpace] (1 February 2021). "Takeaways from call on Inspiration4: • Jared Isaacman seems super-likable, a real space cadet • Musk emphasizing this is a step toward lower cost spaceflight • Musk says he will go to space one day, but not on this mission • Mission will use Resilience, help fund Starship" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 1 February 2021. Retrieved 11 June 2021 – via Twitter.
  18. ↑ Davenport, Christian (1 February 2021). "Elon Musk's SpaceX announces a spaceflight intended to raise money for St. Jude hospital". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2 February 2021. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  19. ↑ Sheetz, Michael (2021-09-18). "SpaceX's private Inspiration4 mission splashes down safely in Atlantic Ocean". CNBC. Archived from the original on 18 September 2021. Retrieved 2021-09-18.
  20. ↑ "Second phasing burn complete". Twitter. Archived from the original on 16 September 2021. Retrieved 2021-09-16.
  21. ↑ "Launch Schedule". Spaceflight Now. 10 September 2021. Archived from the original on 24 December 2016. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  22. ↑ "Kayla Barron". NASA. 8 June 2017. Archived from the original on 27 April 2021. Retrieved 4 May 2021.   This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  23. ↑ Sempsrott, Danielle (30 October 2021). "NASA, SpaceX Adjust Next Space Station Crew Rotation Launch Date". NASA. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
  24. ↑ "Israel names second Israeli to go to space: A millionaire who will fund the trip himself". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 18 November 2020. Retrieved 2020-11-17.
  25. ↑ Howell, Elizabeth (23 February 2021). "These 2 NASA astronauts will fly on SpaceX's Crew-4 mission to the International Space Station in 2022". Space.com. Archived from the original on 23 April 2021. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
  26. ↑ Finch, Joshua (12 February 2020). "NASA Assigns Astronauts to Agency's SpaceX Crew-4 Mission to Space Station". nasa.gov. NASA. Archived from the original on 8 March 2021. Retrieved 12 February 2021.   This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  27. ↑ NASA Commercial Crew [@Commercial_Crew] (12 February 2021). "NASA astronauts @astro_kjell and Bob Hines have been assigned to launch on the agency's @SpaceX Crew-4 mission to the @Space_Station. The mission is expected to launch in 2022 from @NASAKennedy. Get to know more about the Crew-4 @NASA_Astronauts: t.co/p83i4IwpfQ t.co/a2Es9a8e3c" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 23 March 2021. Retrieved 11 June 2021 – via Twitter.
  28. ↑ ESA [@esa] (28 May 2021). "ESA astronaut @AstroSamantha Cristoforetti is named to serve as @Space_Station commander on Expedition 68, following an in-principle agreement by international partners on 19 May 2021. As part of #Crew4, Samantha will fly on a @SpaceX #CrewDragon in 2022 👉t.co/XWin3BnInK t.co/kMtXswUvUD" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 9 June 2021. Retrieved 11 June 2021 – via Twitter.
  29. ↑ "Commanding role for ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti". ESA. 28 May 2021. Archived from the original on 28 May 2021. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  30. ↑ "NASA Assigns Astronaut Jessica Watkins to NASA's SpaceX Crew-4 Mission". 16 November 2021.
  31. ↑ "anna".
  32. ↑ "Распоряжение Правительства Российской Федерации от 10.06.2022 № 1532-р ∙ Официальное опубликование правовых актов ∙ Официальный интернет-портал правовой информации". publication.pravo.gov.ru. Retrieved 2022-06-11.
  33. ↑ "Премьер-министр РФ Михаил Мишустин подписал распоряжение, позволяющее Роскосмосу провести переговоры с NASA об исполнении соглашения по «перекрёстным полётам»".
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 34.2 34.3 Heidler, Scott. "Ax-2 mission set to launch four private astronauts from Cape Canaveral". WESH2. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  35. ↑ Baylor, Michael. "Falcon 9 Block 5 - Polaris Dawn". Next Spaceflight. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 Clark, Stephen (4 December 2021). "Launch Schedule". Spaceflight Now. Archived from the original on 25 November 2021. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  37. ↑ Norris, Guy (30 May 2014). "SpaceX Unveils 'Step Change' Dragon 'V2'". Aviation Week. Archived from the original on 31 May 2014. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
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