SpaceX has been working for several years to create private spacecraft that will help NASA send people and cargo into space. And the other day she presented a new space shuttle
– Dragon V2, passenger
In December 2010, SpaceX conducted the first successful flight of the automatic cargo space shuttle Dragon, which rose to a certain altitude on a Falcon 9 rocket, then separated from it, reached space heights, and then returned safely to Earth. This was a great achievement that in the future could significantly affect the exploration of space by the United States of America. And on May 30, 2014, SpaceX presented the passenger version of this shuttle - Dragon V2.
SpaceX's Dragon V2 shuttle has already been dubbed " space taxi" After all, this ship is designed to carry up to seven astronauts to orbit and back. It can dock with orbital stations And artificial satellites Earth, which will significantly facilitate the work of the ISS. Moreover, due to latest events further space cooperation between Russia and the United States is a big question mark.
SpaceX's Dragon V2 is a significantly upgraded version of the first private space shuttle. It is more powerful than its predecessor, and can even operate in fully automatic mode, including docking with the ISS without any outside assistance. However, in case emergency situations It is also possible to switch to manual control.
The space shuttle Dragon V2, as its creators claim, can land on Earth with the precision of a helicopter. However, he still has to launch into the sky using a Falcon 9 rocket.
The first flight into space is expected Dragon ship V2 SpaceX will be completed no earlier than in a year and a half.
By the way, you shouldn’t think that SpaceX will compete with the projects. The latter launch shuttles only to suborbital altitudes. And their main task is entertainment flights, not serious work within space program NASA.
TASS DOSSIER. August 14, 2017 American company SpaceX launched from Space Center them. John F. Kennedy (Florida) Falcon 9 launch vehicle. The Dragon spacecraft was launched into orbit with the 12th working mission to the International space station(ISS). There are 2.91 tons of various cargo on board the ship.
Dragon - American private spacecraft reusable. Currently, a cargo version of the ship is in operation, which is used to supply the ISS.
Project history
The developer and manufacturer of Dragon is SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies, Hawthorne, California), which was founded in 2002 by Canadian-American engineer, billionaire Elon Musk.
From the very beginning, the project involved the creation of a ship to deliver crews into low-Earth orbit and return them to Earth. On June 2, 2005, SpaceX announced it had signed an agreement with National Directorate US Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on the development of a vehicle for manned flights. To test the technology, a cargo version of the Dragon was created.
In August 2006, the company was selected by NASA for demonstration flights to the ISS for the delivery and return of cargo. According to the agreement, SpaceX was to carry out three Dragon launches using its Falcon 9 launch vehicle (planned for 2008-2009). And in December 2008, NASA signed a contract with the company for 12 Dragon flights with cargo for the ISS in the amount of $1.6 billion (if additional flights were ordered, an increase total amount contract up to $3.1 billion). Subsequently, an agreement was reached to increase flights from 12 to 20.
On May 30, 2014, the company introduced the manned version of the Dragon v2 ship (another name: Crew Dragon). The first demonstration unmanned flight of Dragon v2 is scheduled for November 2017, with a crew on board - for May 2018). In September of that year, NASA and SpaceX signed a $2.6 billion contract to complete development of Dragon v2 and certify it for flight to the ISS. And in November and December 2015, contracts were signed for the flight of two manned spacecraft to the ISS.
On April 27, 2016, SpaceX announced that it plans to send an unmanned Red Dragon spacecraft to Mars. The launch is scheduled for 2020 (previously considered 2018) and will be carried out by the new Falcon Heavy rocket.
In addition, Dragon can be used for autonomous flights as scientific laboratory- in the DragonLab version.
Characteristics
Dragon is a capsule ship. Structurally, it consists of three main elements: the nose part (separated during launch into orbit), a sealed module with a volume of 11 cubic meters. m (returnable part) and unsealed cargo compartment 14 cu. m (separated upon return to Earth before entering the atmosphere). Outside the unsealed compartment there are solar panels(power - 1.5-2 kilowatts).
The return module is designed for cargo requiring sealed transportation (in the Dragon v2 version - for crew members), it also houses a service compartment with a control system, fuel tanks, and propulsion system. SpaceX's 18 Draco engines run on monomethylhydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide.
Docking with the ISS is carried out by capturing the ship with the Canadarm2 manipulator ("Canadarm2"), which is controlled by station crew members. The return to Earth is carried out during a controlled parachute descent into the waters of the Pacific Ocean.
The maximum height of the spacecraft is 7.2 m, the maximum diameter is 3.7 m, the mass (without fuel) is 4.2 tons, and the duration of operation in orbit is up to two years. It can deliver cargo into orbit with a total weight of up to 6 tons and a volume of up to 25 cubic meters. m, return to Earth - up to 3 tons (11 cubic meters).
Launches and incidents
Dragon launches are carried out on a Falcon 9 rocket from the Space Center. John F. Kennedy (located on Merritt Island northwest of Cape Canaveral). The Cape Canaveral Air Force Station site was previously used, but was destroyed due to a missile explosion on September 1, 2016.
The first test flight of the ship took place on December 8, 2010. During the second test flight, May 22-31, 2012, Dragon docked with the ISS for the first time (it was part of it from May 25 to 31). It became the first private spacecraft to dock with the station. The first commercial flight to the ISS was carried out on October 8-28, 2012: Dragon delivered food, clothing, equipment to the station, and returned the results of experiments conducted on the ISS to Earth.
The June 28, 2015 launch of Dragon on its seventh mission to the ISS ended in an accident. The Falcon 9 rocket exploded 139 seconds into the flight, causing debris to fall into Atlantic Ocean. The ship was supposed to deliver about 2 tons of various cargo to the station, including a new docking station IDA (International Docking Adapter; manufactured by Boeing) for the modernization of the American segment of the ISS.
In total, by August 14, 2017, 13 spacecraft launches were carried out - 12 successful and one emergency. Of these, two are test and 11 are working (under the ISS program).
The previous launch of Dragon took place on June 4, 2017 at 00:08 Moscow time, the return capsule of the ship was reused for the first time (participated in the flight in September - October 2014). On June 5, the ship with 2.7 tons of various cargo docked to the ISS and stayed with the station for almost a month. Dragon was undocked from the ISS on July 3 at 09:41 Moscow time and on the same day its return capsule successfully splashed down in Pacific Ocean, off the coast of California. 1.9 tons of cargo were returned to Earth from the ISS, mainly the results scientific experiments and samples of technological developments.
For the first time, a private company not only launched a device into low-Earth orbit, but also showed that it was capable of returning it to Earth. For the first time in thirty years, a new spaceship has appeared in America, capable of lifting passengers “up” and lowering them “down.” For the first time, private manned spaceflight has shown that it is ready to go beyond suborbital jumps.
On December 8, 2010 at 18:43 Moscow time, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 launch vehicle with the Dragon spacecraft.
This was the second flight of the Falcon 9. During the first (in June 2010), a full-size Dragon prototype was launched into orbit. But the December 8 launch is the first demonstration flight conducted under NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program.
Interestingly, the launch of the Falcon 9 rocket was postponed for a day against initial plan due to two tiny cracks found at the very end of the second stage engine nozzle. The engineers believed that the cracks (whether they tried to repair them or not - it is not explained) would not affect the operation of the engine (and they were right), but it took a day to check the rest of the unit and make sure that the cracks were not a sign of a more serious problem.
The photo shows engines being prepared for the third and fourth launches of Falcon 9. By the way, both stages of the rocket are equipped with almost identical Merlin engines, created by SpaceX itself and differing only in some details. They are optimized for operation close to the ground and in vacuum, respectively (photo by SpaceX).
The American space agency expects that the Dragon will first act as a truck on the Earth-ISS line, and later “as a taxi,” because the SpaceX project provides for both an automatic and a manned version of the Dragon.
Falcon 9 and Dragon during preparation for launch. In the bottom image, the PICA-X heat shield is clearly visible near the descent capsule. This material is SpaceX’s own development, based on a composite created by NASA. PICA-X is designed to protect the vehicle during re-entry into the atmosphere at a speed of 7 kilometers per second, when the temperature of the bottom rises to 1850 degrees Celsius (Brian Attiyeh, Michael Rooks/SpaceX).
The Dragon consists of three main parts: a fairing, a conical sealed capsule with a diameter of 3.6 meters and an unpressurized cylindrical compartment. The capsule is accessible through a docking port and can carry both cargo and crew.
The cylindrical instrument compartment under the capsule carries solar panels, radiators, and cargo that does not require sealed storage. In total, the unmanned version of the Dragon can deliver up to 6 tons of supplies into orbit and return up to 3 tons of cargo to Earth (illustration by Space.com).
The current flight is designed to test communication and navigation systems, as well as test maneuvering in orbit. After several orbits around the planet (and more than three hours after launch), the descent module should splash down in the Pacific Ocean, 800 kilometers west of Mexico.
In August 2010, the Dragon passed a full test of the parachute system: the capsule was dropped from a helicopter into the ocean from a height of more than 4 kilometers. First, the device deployed a pair of small braking parachutes, which slowed down and stabilized the capsule, and then three main ones (photo Roger Gilbertson, Chris Thompson/SpaceX).
On June 28, 2015, the Falcon 9 rocket that was to be launched into orbit space truck Dragon with cargo for the ISS, at the launch site at Cape Canaveral (Florida).
The private American transport spacecraft Dragon was developed by SpaceX.
The ship is designed both for autonomous flights (in this case it will be called DragonLab) and for delivering astronauts and various cargo to the ISS. The ship can be used either in a manned version - in this case, it will be able to deliver seven people into orbit, or in a cargo-passenger version - in this case, it will deliver four people and 2.5 tons of cargo into orbit, or as an unmanned ship to supply the ISS.
The total length of the ship is 7.2 meters; maximum diameter - 3.7 meters.
Dragon consists of two modules: a conical command compartment and a cylindrical instrument compartment. The ship's power supply, like the Russian Soyuz, is provided by solar panels and batteries. The general layout and appearance of the ship is similar to the Apollo series spacecraft and the new Orion spacecraft currently being designed.
The developers are especially proud of the ship's safety concept. Under the capsule there is a service module, which in the event of a Dragon accident, the crew and cargo due to the fact that it is able to quickly undock from the base station.
Dragon is the world's only operational cargo spacecraft capable of returning to Earth.
In the front part of the capsule, under the folding nose cone, a docking unit for mooring to the ISS can be located. The volume of the return vehicle (VA) allows you to place various loads in it. Under the VA capsule there is a combined instrument-assembly compartment (IAC). Its engines are used both for on-orbit maneuvers and as an emergency escape system (ESS) in the event of a launch accident.
The launch vehicle for the Dragon spacecraft is a two-stage Falcon 9 launch vehicle, also developed by SpaceX.
In December 2010, the Dragon spacecraft made its first flight into orbit and successfully splashed down in the Pacific Ocean. Thus, SpaceX became the first private company, which launched a ship into space and successfully returned it to Earth - something that only three countries had previously succeeded in: the USA, Russia and China.
The second Dragon spacecraft was launched on May 22, 2012 from Cape Canaveral. On May 25, after a series of tests of navigation systems, ability to maneuver and obey commands, it was docked to the ISS. The ship remained with the station until May 31. They brought 520 kilograms of cargo to the ISS: several boxes with equipment for experiments, clothes, laptops, batteries and food - 117 standard lunches for astronauts. The ship carries about 660 kilograms of cargo to Earth. These are, in particular, the pump for the urine processing system, components of the water filtration unit and parts of spacesuits.
After this, the ship made over ten missions.
On June 28, 2015, the Falcon 9 rocket, which was to launch the spacecraft into orbit Dragon truck with cargo for the ISS, at the launch from the spaceport at Cape Canaveral (Florida).
The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources
Either Elon Musk really can't wait to get to Mars, or his engineers are able to create the necessary technology much faster than expected. In any case, SpaceX announced plans to launch an unmanned spacecraft on April 27 Red Dragon to the Red Planet in 2018, four years earlier than expected.
To date, NASA has already developed unmanned rovers that can collect samples from the surface of Mars to test them for signs of life. If these samples are delivered to Earth, where they can be studied in equipped last word technology laboratories, then this search may become more fruitful. NASA is preparing to send another rover to Mars in the next 5 years. He will collect samples rocks and soil, but space agency There are no clear plans yet on how they can be returned to Earth.
It is worth remembering the SpaceX company and its unmanned Dragon capsule, which went down in history in 2012 as the first commercial spacecraft to transport cargo to the ISS, as well as from the station to Earth. SpaceX in at the moment is developing a modification of the Dragon spacecraft as an unmanned lander to the surface of Mars. The idea piqued the interest of NASA researchers last year.
According to NASA's proposal, the Red Dragon lander will be delivered to Mars by the Falcon Heavy rocket currently being developed by SpaceX. The launch was originally scheduled for 2022. During this mission, samples collected by the rover will be brought back to Earth for study.
With Falcon Heavy nearing completion and a test launch planned for this year, SpaceX has announced plans to send Red Dragon into space within a few years. The head of SpaceX plans to talk in more detail about the spacecraft intended for flights to Mars at the end of September 2016 at International conference in astronautics.
It's not yet clear how this fits into NASA's schedule to collect rock samples, but Elon Musk has already made a big announcement that Red Dragon will lay the groundwork for the eventual colonization of Mars.
Musk also added on his Twitter account that his company SpaceX plans to develop the Dragon 2 spacecraft, which will be able to land "anywhere" solar system", and the Red Dragon mission to Mars is only the first test flight. At the same time, the Canadian-American entrepreneur also said that the current version of the Dragon has a cockpit volume approximately equal to an SUV, which will be inconvenient for long-term manned flights.
Musk's statements are not groundless - SpaceX is already working on a manned version of Dragon. The first manned test flights are expected to begin within two to three years, and Musk has publicly said that around 2025 the era of passenger flights to Mars will be ushered in.
Recently, all the world's media reported that. Perhaps flights to Mars will become a reality in the near future.
