Dragon is a free-flying spacecraft designed to deliver both cargo and people to orbiting destinations.
Dragon is the only spacecraft currently flying that is capable of returning significant amounts of cargo to Earth. Currently Dragon carries cargo to space, but it was designed from the beginning to carry humans.
The Dragon spacecraft is capable of carrying up to 7 passengers to and from Earth orbit, and beyond. The pressurized section of the capsule is designed to carry both people and environmentally sensitive cargo. Towards the base of the capsule and contained within the nose cone are the Draco thrusters, which allow for orbital maneuvering.
Dragon made its maiden flight in December 2010, making it the first commercially built and operated spacecraft to be recovered successfully from orbit.
Specifications:
>> Diameter : 04 m
>> Height : 08.01 m
>> Capsule Volume : 09.03 m3
>> Trunk Volume : 37 m3
>> Launch payload mass : 6,000 kg
>> Return payload mass : 3,000 kg
On 2nd March 2019 the first commercially-built SpaceX’s ‘Crew Dragon’ capsule embarked on its first test mission to the International Space Station .
Crew Dragon known as Demo-1, was launched atop a Falcon 9 rocket at 2:49 a.m. EST from Launch Complex 39A at the NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
In this flight, a dummy astronaut named Ripley was on board, and if all goes well, SpaceX will use the capsule to ferry two astronauts to the orbiting lab as early as this July.
United sates had been using Russian Soyuz rockets and spacecraft to ferry astronauts to and from the space station, since NASA grounded its space shuttle fleet in July 2011. The cost to ferry an astronaut from a Russian rocket is about $80 million per seat.
On Sunday, March 03, at 1051 GMT, SpaceX’s, “Crew Dragon” capsule successfully docked with the International Space Station, making it the first American spacecraft to autonomously dock to the orbiting laboratory. It was scheduled to doc the International Space Station (ISS), at 1105 GMT.
The capsule, traveled for about 27 hours and docked with space station currently orbiting Earth at an altitude of about 410 kilometers above the surface traveling at a speed of 7.66 km/s.
The spacecraft first slowed down when reaching a position known as Waypoint 1, about 150 meters away. It then reversed to 180 meters to practice moving away, before moving forwards again to Waypoint 2 – just 20 meters away – ahead of its final approach.
It first completed a “soft capture”, where it gently touched the station, before docking rings engaged and a “hard capture” was completed, firmly attaching the spacecraft to the space station. This spacecraft will remain docked to the space station only five days, departing Friday, March 8. After undocking from the station, Crew Dragon will begin its descent to Earth.
“Today’s successful launch marks a new chapter in American excellence, getting us closer to once again flying American astronauts on American rockets from American soil,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. “I proudly congratulate the SpaceX and NASA teams for this major milestone in our nation’s space history. This first launch of a space system designed for humans, and built and operated by a commercial company through a public-private partnership, is a revolutionary step on our path to get humans to the Moon, Mars and beyond.”
“First a note of appreciation to the SpaceX team. It has been 17 years to get to this point, 2002 to now, and an incredible amount of hard work and sacrifice from a lot of people that got us to this point...I’d also like to express great appreciation for NASA,” said Elon Musk, CEO and lead designer at SpaceX.
Source : Wikipedia, NASA, Spacex, News-in-Flight
Pictures : NASA, SpaceX
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