Cargo Dragon CRS-17 mission reaches orbit

SpaceX CRS-17 launched from Cape Canaveral on an all-new Falcon 9 rocket 4 May 2019 0248 UT. The reused Cargo Dragon capsule previously flown on CRS-12 in 2017 is bound once more for the International Space Station, where it is due to arrive 6 May 2019 1100 UT.

The 2500 kg cargo manifest includes over 20 science payloads, including the experiment selected by the “Genes in Space” competition, proposed by students from Woodbury High School and Mounds View High School in Minnesota. The experiment will use CRISPR-Cas9 to damage yeast cells and test their ability to self-repair DNA; the payload will also perform an on-orbit PCR. CRS-17 is also carrying an Iowa algae study, a Montana yeast pathogen study (among other human cell flex-chips), and the ingredients for cancer drug crystals and drug-delivery nanoparticles, which will be fabricated on-orbit.

Launch coverage included a high-quality infrared view of the Falcon 9 first stage descent and stunning continuous video of its landing on Of Course I Still Love You, which is a pleasant change from the usual interruption that often happens to the video feed right around when the booster reaches the deck.

In the end, CRS-17 was delayed from yesterday’s scheduled departure not by weather, but due to a faulty generator on the recovery ship. SpaceX repaired the vessel onshore and returned it to the landing zone off the Jacksonville coast. A minor helium leak at the pad (not from the rocket) was also repaired.

Minnesota Space Grant short talks now on YouTube

The Minnesota Space Grant Consortium (MnSGC) posted April’s short talks on a new YouTube channel. The three talks run for about 1 hour in total.

Tonnis ter Veldhuis, Macalester College – Teaching physics with rocketry

Richard Barker, University of Wisconsin – Studying plant genetics in space

James Flaten, University of Minnesota – Astronaut training with hoverboards


Cargo Dragon clear to fly CRS-17; delay to 4 May likely

Hans Koenigsmann of SpaceX answers questions on the Crew Dragon test, during the CRS-17 press conference, 2 May 2019. (Credit: NASA TV)

SpaceX is moving forward with its flight of Cargo Dragon mission CRS-17, with a first launch window at 3 May 2019 at 071133 UT – though due to the weather around Cape Canaveral, the flight is likely to be delayed to 4 May 2019 0648 UT, or failing that, possibly the week of 13 May. While little has changed from the Cargo Dragon perspective, the recent energetic deconstruction of the larger, newer Crew Dragon capsule has attracted additional attention to the routine cargo launch.

Continue reading “Cargo Dragon clear to fly CRS-17; delay to 4 May likely”

Minnesota Space Grant begins new online lecture series [Update]

The Minnesota Space Grant Consortium (MnSGC) held a “TEDx”-style online event 19 April 2019. The talks, from Tonnis ter Veldhuis (Macalester College), Richard Barker (University of Wisconsin), and James Flaten (University of Minnesota), discussed a unique way to make outer space accessible to the public and students in K-12 and university – from using high-power model rockets to inspire physics learning, flying plants on the ISS and developing new web interfaces to engage students and citizen-scientists in the search for better genes, to running astronaut training in the hallway using shopvac hovercrafts and cold gas thrusters!

The talks were the first in a series planned by MnSGC over the next few semesters and will feature speakers from each of 8 midwestern states. The full video will eventually appear at the Minnesota Space Grant Consortium website.

Telecon capture from Short Talks event
(Credit: James Flaten/Minnesota Space Grant Consortium)

UPDATE – 3 May: The lecture series has been uploaded to YouTube. A higher-quality version of the hovercraft lecture is available here.

NG-11 mission will stretch Cygnus capabilities

The clear skies over the Chesapeake will continue, with an expected launch of a Cygnus spacecraft on an Antares rocket from Wallops Island planned at 2046 UT 17 April 2016.

Fully loaded, the Cygnus NG-11 “SS Roger Chaffee” will carry 3100 kg to the space station, including 600 kg of special late-loaded cargo. Late-load capability means that live animals and perishable goods can now be placed aboard the rocket just hours, not days, before launch. A new launchpad facility and modified service crane allows the Cygnus-Antares rocket assembly to be lifted vertical, checked out for preflight tests, then lowered again. Once horizontal, a Mississippi-built “pop-top” added to the fairing is removed, allowing quick access to the interior of the Cygnus spacecraft.

Among other things, this allows the first ever rodent launch on Cygnus – forty C57BL/6J mice will fly to the space station to participate in the TARBIS immunology study.

This launch also marks a milestone for space business. A private enterprise – FOMS, Inc. – will use the microgravity environment on the International Space Station to make up to 100 km of fluoride-based UV-IR wideband optical fibre for later sale on Earth, with a potential market value of “millions of dollars” – alongside a scientific version of the same payload.

There’s also a small piece of fabric with a touch of North Dakota going into space with Cygnus: A material sample flying on the MISSE-11 experiment will advance the development of SPIcDER (PaperNewScientist report), a Carbon Nanotube-based electrostatic dust removal system being developed by UND grad Dr. Kavya Manyapu. Manyapu confirmed the launch date at a recent lecture in Grand Forks.

Cygnus NG-11 will be the first mission for Cygnus that will remain in orbit for an extended period after it undocks, perhaps 7 months or more, which will stress test the spacecraft and operator NGIS, which intends to manage the NG-11 mission even during and after the launch of Cygnus NG-12. With a planned unberthing in July, that puts the end of the NG-11 mission some time in early 2020.