Keep the shuttle flying: Fwd: SpaceX Dragon successfully splashes down

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From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: May 12, 2016 at 9:02:22 AM CDT
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: SpaceX Dragon successfully splashes down

May 11, 2016
RELEASE 16-052
Critical NASA Science Returns to Earth aboard SpaceX Dragon Spacecraft
This series of images from NASA Television shows the SpaceX Dragon resupply craft moments after its release from the International Space Station's Canadarm2 robotic arm on May 11, 2016, as it steadily moves a safe distance before beginning the deorbit burn for its trip back to Earth.
Credits: NASA Television
A SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean at 2:51 p.m. EDT Wednesday, May 11, about 261 miles southwest of Long Beach, California, with more than 3,700 pounds of NASA cargo, science and technology demonstration samples from the International Space Station.
The Dragon spacecraft will be taken by ship to Long Beach where some cargo will be removed and returned to NASA, and then be prepared for shipment to SpaceX's test facility in McGregor, Texas, for processing.
A variety of technology and biology studies conducted in the unique microgravity environment of the space station returned aboard the commercial resupply spacecraft, including research in the burgeoning field of nanotechnology. The Microchannel Diffusion study, for example, examined how microparticles interact with each other and their delivery channel in the absence of gravitational forces. In this one-of-a-kind laboratory, researchers were able to observe nanoscale behaviors at slightly larger scales – knowledge which may have implications for advancements in particle filtration, space exploration and drug delivery technologies.
CASIS Protein Crystal Growth 4 also has applications in medicine – specifically, drug design and development. Growing protein crystals in microgravity can avoid some of the obstacles inherent to protein crystallization on Earth, such as sedimentation. One investigation explored the effect of microgravity on the co-crystallization of a membrane protein with a medically-relevant compound in order to determine its three-dimensional structure. This will enable scientists to use "designer" compounds to chemically target and inhibit an important human biological pathway thought to be responsible for several types of cancer.
The spacecraft also returned to Earth the final batch of human research samples from former NASA astronaut Scott Kelly's historic one-year mission. These samples will be analyzed for studies such as Biochemical Profile, Cardio Ox, Fluid Shifts, Microbiome, Salivary Markers and the Twins Study. Additional samples taken on the ground, as Kelly continues to support these studies, will provide insights relevant for NASA's Journey to Mars as the agency learns more about how the human body adjusts to weightlessness, isolation, radiation and the stress of long-duration spaceflight.
The spacesuit worn by NASA astronaut Tim Kopra during a January spacewalk also was returned for additional analysis by engineers on the ground, as NASA continues to investigate the source of water that caused and early end to the spacewalk after Kopra reported a small water bubble inside his helmet.
Dragon currently is the only station resupply spacecraft able to return a significant amount of cargo to Earth. The spacecraft lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida April 8, and arrived at the space station April 10, carrying almost 7,000 pounds of supplies and scientific cargo on the company's eighth NASA-contracted commercial resupply mission.
The International Space Station is a convergence of science, technology and human innovation that demonstrates new technologies and makes research breakthroughs not possible on Earth. The space station has been occupied continuously since November 2000. In that time, more than 200 people and a variety of international and commercial spacecraft have visited the orbiting laboratory. The space station remains the springboard to NASA's next great leap in exploration, including future missions to an asteroid and Mars.
Get more information about SpaceX's mission to the International Space Station at:
http://www.nasa.gov/spacex
Get more information about the International Space Station at:
http://www.nasa.gov/station
-end-
Cheryl Warner
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
cheryl.m.warner@nasa.gov
Dan Huot
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
daniel.g.huot@nasa.gov
Last Updated: May 11, 2016
Editor: Karen Northon

May 11, 2016 20:05
U.S. cargo spaceship Dragon undocks from ISS
MOSCOW. May 11 (Interfax-AVN) - The cargo spaceship Dragon has undocked from the International Space Station (ISS), the Mission Control Center said.
"In accordance with the flight program of the International Space Station, the automated cargo spacecraft Dragon (SpaceX CRS-8) undocked at 2:02 p.m. Moscow time on May 11, 2016, from the lower node of the Harmony module (Node 2) of the U.S. ISS segment," the statement said.
After the SSRMS robotic arm pulled the automated cargo spacecraft from the station it was released at 4:19 p.m. Moscow time from the robotic arm, and started fulfilling the final phase of its flight that envisages the undocking of the pressurized descent capsule from the spacecraft, its controllable descent, and a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, not far from the U.S. Californian coast.
The cargo spaceship Dragon (SpaceX CRS-8) delivered 3,136 kilograms of various cargoes to the station on April 10, 2016. The cargo included foodstuffs and clothes for crewmembers, equipment, consumable materials for the use onboard the station, as well as the experimental inflatable habitat BEAM (Bigelow Expandable Activity Module) weighing nearly 1,400 kilograms, which was retrieved from the unpressurized cargo container of the spacecraft by the robotic arm, and docked to the Tranquility node module. The module is due to be deployed in the last days of May 2016.
In the history of flights to the ISS, this has been the second case, when six Russian and U.S. cargo spaceships, namely manned spaceships Soyuz TMA-19M and Soyuz TMA-20M, cargo spacecraft Progress MS, Progress MS-02, Cygnus CRS OA-6 and Dragon (SpaceX CRS-8), have been simultaneously docked to the station.
sb ab iz

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SpaceX Dragon Cargo Ship Delivers Critical Science Samples to Earth - NASA
© Fotobank.ru/Getty Images/

02:10 12.05.2016
014400
The SpaceX Dragon cargo ship returned to Earth on Wednesday delivering critical samples from technology and biology studies conducted in space, the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said on Wednesday.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The delivered tests include research in the field of nanotechnology and a batch of human research samples, according to the press release.
© Flickr/ NASA Johnson
WATCH SpaceX Dragon Cargo Ship Departs From ISS, Returns Back to Earth
"A SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean… with more than 3,700 pounds of NASA cargo, science and technology demonstration samples from the International Space Station," NASA stated.
The cargo ship arrived at the International Space Station and docked at the Harmony utility hub on April 10 after a historic launch from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in the US state of Florida.
The next Dragon mission is expected to be launched in June and may reuse the Falcon 9 rocket, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has said.

© 2016 Sputnik All rights reserved.

SpaceX Dragon craft successfully splashes down after Int'l Space Station delivery
By Andrew V. Pestano and Doug G. Ware | Updated May 11, 2016 at 4:15 PM

WASHINGTON, May 11 (UPI) -- The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft successfully returned to Earth Wednesday after a month-long orbital journey to deliver 7,000 pounds of cargo to the International Space Station.
The Dragon began its departure procedure from the station around 9 a.m. EDT Wednesday and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean nearly six hours later.
After detaching from the station, the Dragon circled Earth multiple times before firing its thrusters around 2 p.m. to start its descent from orbit. The craft's un-pressurized "trunk" jettisoned before the capsule re-entered the atmosphere.
The Dragon deployed its parachutes and gently splashed down in the ocean, about 250 miles southwest of Long Beach, Calif., at 2:51 p.m. EDT, SpaceX said.
A recovery team retrieved the capsule and nearly 4,000 pounds of cargo, NASA said in a news release earlier Wednesday. The cargo included human, biology and biotechnology studies, as well as physical science investigations.
SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft detached from the International Space Station early Wednesday and returned to Earth at around 3 p.m. EDT. The cargo spaceship hauled the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, seen here being fitted into the ISS, which Robert Bigelow says he hopes will lead to rentable space in the near future. Photo courtesy NASA
"The Dragon spacecraft has served us well," British astronaut Tim Peake radioed to mission controllers in Houston after the Dragon first departed the space station. "It's good to see it departing full of science, and we wish it a safe recovery back to planet Earth."
Also among the cargo was more than 1,000 tubes of blood, urine and saliva collected from former American astronaut Scott Kelly before his yearlong mission in the ISS ended in March. NASA will analyze the biological materials to further study the effects of microgravity on humans over extended periods of time.
The Dragon launched aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on April 8.
Packed aboard the craft and now installed in the International Space Station is the the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, or BEAM -- an experimental living space designed by Bigelow Aerospace, which company owner Robert Bigelow says he hopes will lead to rentable space in the near future.
SpaceX and NASA will launch the next resupply mission from Cape Canaveral next month -- the ninth of as many as 20 planned missions.

© 2016 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

By William Harwood CBS News May 11, 2016, 4:18 PM
SpaceX capsule brings station science back to Earth
A SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule departed the International Space Station and plunged back to Earth Wednesday, bringing down more than 3,700 pounds of station cargo and research material, including urine, saliva and blood samples collected from Scott Kelly during his recent nearly one-year stay aboard the lab.
The automated Dragon capsule, which arrived at the International Space Station on April 10, was detached from the Earth-facing port of the forward Harmony module and released by the lab's robot arm at 9:19 a.m. EDT (GMT-4).
After moving a safe distance away, the Dragon's braking rockets fired at 2:01 p.m. and the ship plunged back into the discernible atmosphere about a half hour later. After a high-speed descent, three large braking parachutes deployed and the capsule splashed down on target, 261 miles southeast of Long Beach, Calif., at 2:51 p.m.
"Good splashdown of Dragon confirmed, carrying thousands of pounds of @NASA science and research cargo back from the @Space_Station," SpaceX tweeted.
The capsule was launched on April 9, loaded with more than 3.5 tons of cargo, supplies and other equipment, including an expandable module that later was attached to the aft port of the space station's Tranquility module. The Bigelow Expandable Crew Activity Module, or BEAM, will be inflated later this month for two years of tests to determine the viability of such expandable compartments.
After unloading the Dragon, the station crew re-packed it with trash, no-longer-needed gear and research equipment and samples, along with a spacesuit that will be examined by engineers to determine what might have caused a small water bubble that prompted an early end to a spacewalk earlier this year.
The Dragon is the only space station cargo ship capable of bringing significant amounts of cargo and science gear back to Earth.
Completing SpaceX's eighth operational station resupply mission, the Dragon brought back 53 pounds of computer gear, 377 pounds of crew supplies, 602 pounds of spacewalk equipment, 1,137 pounds of vehicle hardware and 1,292 pounds of science gear and samples, including the final batch of blood, urine, saliva and other samples collected during Kelly's stay in orbit.
The samples will be processed and compared with those collected before Kelly's launch last year, during his stay aboard the station and after his return March 1 to better understand the effects of weightlessness and space radiation on long-duration crew members.
SpaceX plans to haul the Dragon capsule back to Long Beach, where personnel were standing by to off-load high-priority items. From there, the spacecraft will be shipped to SpaceX's McGregor, Texas, facility for additional processing.

© 2016 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Cargo-carrying Dragon spaceship returns to Earth
May 11, 2016 Stephen Clark

The Dragon spacecraft descends to the Pacific Ocean on Wednesday. Credit: SpaceX
SpaceX's Dragon supply ship departed the International Space Station on Wednesday, fired rocket thrusters to brake out of orbit, and parachuted to a picture-perfect splashdown in the Pacific Ocean with approximately 3,461 pounds (1,570 kilograms) of experiment samples and equipment.
Concluding a 31-day stay at the outpost, the 12-foot-diameter (3.7-meter) spacecraft detached from the space station's Harmony module early Wednesday in the grasp of the research lab's Canadian-built robotic arm, which maneuvered the capsule to a release point about 30 feet, or 10 meters, beneath the complex.
European Space Agency flight engineer Tim Peake gave the command for the robotic arm to let go of Dragon at 9:19 a.m. EDT (1319 GMT) as the space station sailed 260 miles (418 kilometers) off the coast of Australia southwest of Adelaide.
"The Dragon spacecraft has served us well, and it's good to see it departing full of science, and we wish it a safe recovery back to planet Earth," Peake radioed mission control.
In quick succession, the Dragon spacecraft fired its Draco thrusters three times shortly after its release from the space station to depart the vicinity of the orbiting research outpost.
A few hours later, SpaceX engineers at the company's headquarters in Hawthorne, California, commanded Dragon's guidance, navigation and control bay door to close, sealing the spaceship for the fiery trip back to Earth.
Dragon ignited its Draco engines at 2:01 p.m. EDT (1801 GMT) for about 10 minutes to nudge the craft out of orbit. Minutes later, the spacecraft's disposable unpressurized trunk section jettisoned to burn up in the atmosphere.
Protected by an ablative carbon-based heat shield, the gumdrop-shaped capsule plunged into the atmosphere as it soared on a northwest-to-southeast trajectory over the Pacific Ocean, withstanding temperatures of more than 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit before deploying a series of parachutes to slow down for final descent.
Three orange and white main chutes, each measuring 116 feet (35 meters) in diameter, unfurled for the final descent toward the Pacific about 261 miles (420 kilometers) southwest of Long Beach, California.
The spaceship reached the Pacific Ocean for an on-target splashdown at 2:55 p.m. EDT (1855 GMT).
SpaceX did not provide live video of the splashdown, but the company released periodic updates during the landing sequence on Twitter.
SpaceX tweeted that company personnel aboard recovery vessels arrived at the splashdown zone soon after the capsule's return: "Dragon recovery team on site after nominal splashdown in Pacific."
The recovery crew will hoist the capsule aboard a ship and set course for Long Beach, with arrival due as soon as Thursday to remove time-sensitive experiment samples carried aboard the spacecraft. The Dragon capsule itself will be transported to SpaceX's rocket test facility in McGregor, Texas, to offload toxic substances from the spaceship and finish unpacking the rest of the mission's cargo.
The Dragon spacecraft launched April 8 aboard a Falcon 9 rocket and reached the space station two days later, taking more than 7,000 pounds of provisions and experiments for the space station and its six-man crew.
An inflatable experimental module made by Bigelow Aerospace was among the payloads delivered by Dragon. It was attached to the space station's Tranquility module and will be expanded later this month to test concepts for future space habitats.
Astronauts stowed 3,461 pounds (1,570 kilograms) of cargo into Dragon's pressurized compartment in the last few weeks. With packaging, the total returned mass comes to more than 3,700 pounds.
The Dragon returned about 1,292 pounds (586 kilograms) of science gear, including more than 1,000 tubes of blood, urine and saliva samples from astronaut Scott Kelly's nearly one-year expedition on the space station, which ended March 1.
Researchers are eager to analyze the specimens to study how Kelly weathered the long-duration mission. They will compare the results to Scott's twin brother Mark Kelly, a retired space shuttle commander who contributed similar fluid samples to study the health of two genetically identical individuals over the course of the year.
Dragon also brought home a balky spacesuit that sprung a water leak during a January spacewalk. Astronaut Tim Kopra safely returned to the space station after he reported a small water bubble in his helmet, but the problem prompted a premature end to the excursion.
Engineers will investigate the cause of the water leak in the spacesuit, and potentially repair it to be re-launched to the space station.
It is the same spacesuit that leaked a more significant amount of water into the helmet of astronaut Luca Parmitano in 2013, a frightening episode that threatened to drown the Italian spacewalker.
A failed sequential shunt unit, or SSU, was also aboard SpaceX's Dragon spaceship for the journey home Wednesday. Astronauts replaced the failed voltage regulator during the January spacewalk before Kopra's spacesuit began leaking water.
The SSU failed last year, knocking out one of the space station's eight power channels until it could be replaced.
The Dragon spacecraft is the only vehicle capable of returning large items from the space station for refurbishment and repairs.
Engineers used to bring back tons of equipment when the space shuttle regularly visited the space station, but officials are more selective in what to return to Earth aboard Dragon, according to Mark Mulqueen, the space station program manager at Boeing, NASA's prime engineering contractor for the complex.
"Shuttle gave us the ability, with so much down-mass, to do everything," Mulqueen said in a recent interview with Spaceflight Now. "We don't do everything now, but we do what's smart. NASA and Boeing look at the price to replace something, start from zero or start from a known failure and (see) how much it costs to repair, and we decide.
"Some things are too big to get inside Dragon," Mulqueen said. "An ammonia tank, for example, you don't bring it inside the modules. You could have saved it with shuttle because it's out in the cargo bay, but you don't want to bring it into the pressurized modules. There are limits now, but we're still doing, just smartly."
Wednesday's splashdown marks the end of SpaceX's eighth operational cargo flight to the space station.
Led by Elon Musk, the billionaire tech mogul, SpaceX has a multibillion-dollar contract with NASA to deliver supplies to the outpost and bring some items home. The company has 26 resupply missions contracted with NASA — including the eight already in the books — under two separate cargo delivery deals.
NASA also has contracts with Orbital ATK and Sierra Nevada Corp. for space station logistics flights.
SpaceX's next cargo mission is set for launch in late June from Cape Canaveral.

© 2016 Spaceflight Now Inc.

SpaceX Dragon Cargo Ship Headed Home from Space Station
By Mike Wall, Space.com Senior Writer | May 11, 2016 09:30am ET

SpaceX's uncrewed Dragon spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station May 11, 2016 at 9:19 a.m. EDT (1319 GMT) after a monthlong orbital stay attached to the station.
Credit: NASA TV
SpaceX's robotic Dragon cargo capsule has left the International Space Station and is headed back to Earth.
The uncrewed Dragon spacecraft undocked at 9:19 a.m. EDT (1319 GMT) today (May 11), ending a monthlong orbital stay attached to the space station. Dragon is scheduled to make a parachute-aided splashdown today at 2:55 p.m. EDT (1855 GMT) in the Pacific Ocean west of Baja California, where it will be retrieved via boat by SpaceX personnel.
"Dragon spacecraft has served us well, and it's good to see it departing full of science, and we wish it a safe recovery back to planet Earth," British astronaut Tim Peake said from aboard the space station.
Unlike the undocking, Dragon's splashdown and its recovery will not be broadcast by NASA TV, agency officials said.
Dragon launched atop SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on April 8 and reached the International Space Station (ISS) two days later. The capsule delivered nearly 7,000 lbs. (3,175 kilograms) of supplies, scientific experiments and other gear to the ISS, including an experimental inflatable habitat called the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM).
Dragon is the only robotic cargo vessel currently servicing the orbiting lab that's able to bring cargo back down to Earth. The others — Orbital ATK's Cygnus spacecraft, Russia's Progress freighter and Japan's H-II Transfer Vehicle — are designed to burn up in Earth's atmosphere, so astronauts typically simply pack them with garbage.
Dragon, by contrast, is hauling about 3,700 lbs. (1,678 kg) of gear on its return trip from the ISS, including biological samples gathered during the unprecedented one-year mission of NASA's Scott Kelly and cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko, which wrapped up in March, NASA officials said.
Scientists will study the one-year mission samples to learn more about the physiological and psychological effects of long-duration spaceflight, in an effort to help pave the way for crewed missions to Mars and other distant destinations.
The April 8 launch kicked off SpaceX's eighth robotic cargo mission to the space station for NASA. About 10 minutes after liftoff, the first stage of the Falcon 9 successfully landed on "Of Course I Still Love You," a robotic ship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean several hundred miles off the Florida coast.
The milestone marked the first-ever landing of a rocket on a ship at sea. SpaceX repeated the achievement on May 6, during the launch of the Japanese communications satellite JCSAT-14 from Cape Canaveral.
SpaceX's next Dragon cargo launch is currently scheduled for late June.

SpaceX Dragon Space Capsule Splashes Down in Pacific Ocean
By Mike Wall, Space.com Senior Writer | May 11, 2016 05:50pm ET
SpaceX's robotic Dragon cargo capsule splashes down in the Pacific Ocean west of Baja California on May 11, 2016.
Credit: SpaceX
SpaceX's robotic Dragon capsule has come back down to Earth, wrapping up the company's latest cargo mission to the International Space Station (ISS) for NASA.
The uncrewed Dragon spacecraft splashed down today (May 11) in the Pacific Ocean 261 miles (420 kilometers) southwest of Long Beach, California, at 2:51 p.m. EDT (1851 GMT), about 5.5 hours after undocking from the ISS, NASA officials said.
The capsule came down with more than 3,700 lbs. (1,680 kilograms) of NASA cargo and scientific samples, including material from the one-year ISS mission recently completed by NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko, agency officials said.
SpaceX personnel will recover Dragon by ship and then haul the spacecraft to Long Beach for processing.
Dragon is the only robotic cargo vessel currently flying that's capable of bringing material safely from the ISS down to the ground. The other freighters — Orbital ATK's Cygnus spacecraft, Russia's Progress vessel and Japan's H-II Transfer Vehicle — are all designed to burn up in Earth's atmosphere and therefore are packed with garbage, not cargo, when they depart the orbiting lab.
Dragon launched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on April 8, loaded up with nearly 7,000 lbs. (3,175 kg) of supplies, hardware, scientific experiments and other gear. During this launch, the first stage of the Falcon 9 succeeded in landing softly on a robotic ship in the Atlantic Ocean, marking the first time a booster had ever touched down on a ship at sea.
Dragon reached the ISS on April 10.
SpaceX has now flown a total of eight cargo missions for NASA (though the seventh, which launched in June 2015, ended less than 3 minutes after liftoff when the Falcon 9 broke apart). The next Dragon/Falcon 9 flight is scheduled to blast off from Cape Canaveral in late June.

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