Private Dragon to go to Space Station

William Atkins
Sunday, 11 December 2011 00:55

Science - Space

NASA announced on December 9, 2011, that SpaceX will launch its Dragon spacecraft on February 7, 2012, for the very first flight of a private spacecraft to the International Space Station.

The event will usher in a new era of space travel -- one that is being spurred on by private industry (of course, still backed by federal government money).

 

Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) will perform its second demonstration flight on February 7, 2012, as part of NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) contract.

The unmanned SpaceX Dragon spacecraft will be launched from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station with the use of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

It will initially check out its systems during the early part of its mission in space. Once an "AOK" is received by ground controllers, the operational part of the mission will proceed.

The Dragon capsule will then conduct a fly-by of the International Space Station (ISS), at a distance of about two miles (3.2 kilometers), to make sure its sensors and flight systems are ready for its rendezvous phase with the International Space Station.

If all is 'Go' for the rendezvous phase of its mission, the Dragon spacecraft will then approach the Space Station -- close enough to the ISS so its crew can grapple onto the vehicle with the station's robotic arm.

The blunt-cone ballistic Dragon capsule will be berthed to the U.S. Harmony node during its stay at the Station using the ISS Common Berthing Mechanism (CBM) on the Station.

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