Dragon C2+ launch (SPLASHDOWN!!)

[Jammrock]

Hurray!

[Dr Mordrid]

Day One Milestones

(aborts = bug-out modes - rapidly retreat from the existing position without destabilizing the spacecraft)

Free drift (no station keeping): no leaking gases or fluids destabilizing its orientation; successful

Pulsed abort: Draco thrusters rapidly pulsing; successful

Non-Pulsed abort: Draco thrusters continuously firing; successful

All milestones met

And one highly symbolic pic -

http://i.usatoday.net/tech/_photos/2012/05/22/Many-hopes-riding-on-SpaceX-rocket-GG1HBT1M-x-extralarge.jpg

[paulw]

Yes it was great to watch. It was on here about 7.30pm so an ideal time. I'm not sure what time the docking is on Saturday our time..

[Dr Mordrid]

This is the Dragon schedule - all times US Eastern. If it's streamed NASA TV is at -

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html

but it'll probably also be streamed by LiveStream and at SpaceX's website

http://www.spacex.com

MY 23, Wednesday

Catch up to ISS

May 24, Thursday

2:30 a.m. – SpaceX/Dragon Fly-Under Coverage
10 a.m. – Mission Status Briefing
11 a.m. – ISS Update

May 25, Friday

2 a.m. – SpaceX/Dragon ISS Rendezvous and Berthing Coverage
1 p.m. – Mission Status Briefing

May 26, Saturday

5:30 a.m. – SpaceX/Dragon Hatch Opening Coverage
11:25 a.m. – Expedition 31 Crew News Conference

May 31, Thursday

3:30 a.m. – SpaceX/Dragon Departure Coverage
9:00 a.m. – ISS Update
10:15 a.m. – SpaceX/Dragon Deorbit and Splashdown Coverage
1:30 p.m. – Mission Status Briefing

Dragon was going to stay longer, but the launch delay and other issues like the solar beta angle (Earth shadow issue) made the stay have to be short.

[Dr Mordrid]

Updated NASA TV coverage -

NASA TV MISSION COVERAGE

Thursday, May 24 (Flight Day 3): Live NASA Television coverage from NASA's Johnson Space Center mission control in Houston as the Dragon spacecraft performs its flyby of the International Space Station to test its systems begins at 2:30 a.m. EDT and will continue until the Dragon passes the vicinity of the station. A news briefing will be held at 10 a.m. following the activities.

Friday, May 25 (Flight Day 4): Live coverage of the rendezvous and berthing of the Dragon spacecraft to the station begins at 2 a.m. and will continue through the capture and berthing of the Dragon to the station's Harmony node. A news briefing will be held at 1 p.m. after Dragon is secured to the station.

Saturday, May 26 (Flight Day 5): Live coverage of the hatch opening and entry of the Dragon spacecraft begins at 5:30 a.m. and will include a crew news conference at 11:25 a.m.

NASA TV also will provide live coverage of the departure and reentry of the Dragon spacecraft once a date is determined.

As of 7:08 PM EST, and for a while all I could get was "GoogleSatTrack is temporary unavailable due to heavy traffic.
Please try again later"

[paulw]

Thanx Doc. That's about 6.00 PM my time so something good to watch at dinner time..

[Dr Mordrid]

1/3 through todays fly-under, Relative GPS and other maneuvering tests and Dragon appears to be working very well. Fact is, ISS has had several camera calibration and hardware issues while Dragon just does its thing. R-BAR (nearest approach) in about 1 hour.

[Dr Mordrid]

Test maneuvers, phasing and command tests so far are spot on. Control over Dragon has been near perfect from ISS and SpaceX and more coming. Closest approach today was 2.5 km from ISS (attached) but not the best camera from this angle.

[Dr Mordrid]

Fly-Under tests: SUCCESSFUL

Relative GPS accuracy (ISS vs. Dragon's): SUCCESSFUL

R-Bar** crossing (closest approach): SUCCESSFUL

** line through IS to the center of the Earth

Just a couple more to go

** line through ISS to the center of the Earth

COTS-2 mission almost complete, COTS-3 (berthing to ISS) tomorrow.

Expect great pics.

[Dr Mordrid]

NASA ‏@NASA

The @SpaceX #Dragon capsule fly-under of the #ISS has been successfully completed! 10amET news briefing to follow live: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

[Dr Mordrid]

Video of the flyby

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nRkiJ2hups

[SitFlyer]

I hope for a great nominal success for SpaceX on this mission. I think this all very awesome and I'm certain that the grapple and berthing will go just as well

[Dr Mordrid]

Attached is a still taken friom ISS at about 1.5 miles

Everything is going quite well. One thruster got balky, but a reset fixed that and there are 17 others (more total on later models) so redundancy is built in. There was actually more trouble on ISS as a video monitor in the Cupola went wonky and had to be replaced in order to calibrate the cameras.

FRIDAY MORNING - Final Approach, Dragon Grapple

Around 2:00 AM Pacific/5:00 AM Eastern NASA will decide if Dragon is GO to move into the approach ellipsoid 1.4 kilometers around the space station. If Dragon is GO, after approximately one hour Dragon will move to a location 250 meters directly below the station. Dragon will then perform a series of maneuvers to show systems are operating as expected. If NASA is satisfied with the results of these many tests, Dragon will be allowed to perform the final approach to the space station.

Sometime around 6:00 AM Pacific/9:00 AM Eastern, astronauts on the space station will grapple Dragon with the space station’s robotic arm and the spacecraft will attach to the station.

http://www.spacex.com/press.php?page=20120524

NASA TV will be broadcasting events from 2 am EDT.

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html

[Dr Mordrid]

In my mail...

SpaceX to Webcast Dragon's Visit Space Station

SpaceX is planning to webcast Dragon's historic attempt to visit the space station live tomorrow morning starting at approximately 4:30 AM PT / 7:30 AM ET. Times may change so check back for updates.

So check their site: http://www.spacex.com

[Dr Mordrid]

Robot arm capture now set for 7:59 ET, with a berthing between 10:00 and 11:00 ET.

NASA TV is on now covering the approach burns & control tests.

Demonstration maneuvers attached