In the home of nearly half a year at the International Space Station, four astronauts customized and with their SpaceX-owned Crew Dragon ‘Resilience’ spacecraft orbited to a new port of call outside the research laboratory, a first friendly maneuver for the new generation commercial crew spaceships.
The maneuver paves the way for the arrival of the next SpaceX Crew Dragon mission later this month at the space station, and prepares for the docking of a Dragon cargo ship in June carrying a new pair of solar power plants around the outpost’s power system to upgrade.
Commander Mike Hopkins, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialists Soichi Noguchi and Shannon Walker fitted into their SpaceX-made print clothes and boarded their Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft early. All four astronauts were on board the Crew Dragon, which also serves as their lifeboat, for the relocation maneuver in case problems prevented the spacecraft from reconnecting with the space station, which had to force an early return to Earth.
After closing the spaces between their capsule and the space station, the astronauts set up their cabin displays as ground crews gave one last time for the relocation maneuver.
The capsule was detached from the front landing port on the Harmony module of the space station at 06:30 EDT (1030 GMT) and fired the Draco propeller screws to return to a distance of more than 200 feet, or 60 meters.
Disconnection confirmed. The Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft – with four astronauts on board – is now withdrawing from the International Space Station to begin the maneuver to move to another port.
Watch live: https://t.co/reM7dZtvvc pic.twitter.com/gy8uf5uY0u
– Space Fly Now (@SpaceflightNow) 5 April 2021
After the dragon’s laser navigation system had a good lock on the space station, Mission Control gave Hopkins the go-ahead to send a command for the spacecraft to reposition itself from the station’s front coupling axis to an approach above the complex.
The Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft performed the fly-around maneuver in autopilot mode. After the capsule was aligned with Harmony’s top, or highest point, landing port, Hopkins issued another order for the Crew Dragon to begin an autonomous final approach to the station.
The spacecraft again ran aground at the station at 07:08 a.m. EDT (1108 GMT) and completed a 38-minute relocation maneuver that was the first of its kind for a commercial crew vehicle.
Russian Soyuz crew capsules have moved to different port ports 19 times in the history of the International Space Station program. Unlike the crew dragon, the Soyuz spacecraft is manually displaced by hand input from Russian astronauts.
“SpaceX, Houston, of Resilience, congratulations on the successful relocation of the port,” said Hopkins of the Crew Dragon spacecraft. “There are still leaks, but an excellent ability that will really improve the options here for the International Space Station, so congratulations.”
Space shifts are useful for mission planners to open port gates for different types of visiting crew and trucks.
Docking confirmed.
The Crew Dragon Resilience and its four astronauts docked at a port at the top of the space station’s Harmony module, which paved the way for the arrival of new crew and cargo capsules, and a new set of solar power plants. Https: // t.co/reM7dZtvvc pic.twitter.com/QMGbUiOwCw
– Space Fly Now (@SpaceflightNow) 5 April 2021
The astronauts planned to re-enter the space station later Monday morning to resume normal work.
Hopkins’ crew launched Nov. 15 aboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft, which they named Resilience, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, which launched the first full flight of a SpaceX crew capsule. Their mission, known as Crew-1, arrived at the International Space Station the next day.
NASA astronaut Kate Rubins, who was aboard the Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft when it swapped last month’s harbor, said last week the relocation was “not just a pleasure trip.”
“It’s all the fun and work of the day of disconnecting, plus all the fun and work of docking,” Rubins said from recent experience. “It’s a lot of activity. But it’s pretty cool, and it’s a great view to separate from your vehicle that’s been your home for months, and to be able to look at it from 60 feet away. “
The relocation Monday opens the way for the next SpaceX crew mission to continue with the forward position on the Harmony module. SpaceX’s Crew-2 mission, launched from the Kennedy Space Center on April 22, will transport Commander Shane Kimbrough, pilot Megan McArthur, Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, and European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet. .
Hopkins and his crew plan to end their mission on April 28 with the departure from the space station and a fiery return to Earth’s atmosphere, culminating in a parachute-assisted splash off the coast of Florida.
With their unlocking on April 28, the upper harbor on the Harmony module will be available for the arrival of the next SpaceX Dragon cargo mission to be launched on June 3rd. Canadian robot arm, which will remove a new pair of solar power plants from the dragon’s dragon to upgrade the orbital power system.
“There are some big milestones coming up, so let’s not get our feet wet and make sure we’re watching the ball,” Hopkins said Friday.
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