Space X historic Crew Dragon Demo 2 - Curiosity Streamer

                                       Crew Dragon  

Dragon is a free-flying reusable spacecraft designed to carry both people and cargo to earth’s orbit and far in space’s destinations. It was designed by Space X ,an American private industry in aerospace.At present it is considered as the only spacecraft which is capable of returning significant amounts of cargo to Earth. The Dragon spacecraft is capable of carrying up to 7 passengers and cargo to and from Earth orbit. It is the first private spacecraft to take humans to the space station. 

                                             

    

                                

Crew Dragon Demo-2 mission- May 27, 2020

Crew Dragon is flying to ISS on Wednesday (27/05/2020). The instantaneous launch window opens at 4:33 p.m. EDT, or 20:33 UTC. The Crew Dragon spacecraft mounted atop of a Falcon 9 rocket from Florida's Kennedy Space Center.

Since the retirement of the space shuttle in 2011, NASA has been paying Russia tens of millions of dollars to launch its astronauts on the Soyuz spacecraft. The Crew Dragon launch from Florida marks the first launch of humans in nine years from U.S Soil.

Cargo Dragon is carrying 3,307 kilograms to the ISS. Crew Dragon has a capacity of seven astronauts but NASA is sending only four seats with two astronauts and remaining space is filled with supplies.

The Astronauts selected for this mission are Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley .They both are NASA astronauts. They both were selected in 2000 and have each gone to space twice, on the space shuttle. They are among the most experienced members of NASA’S astronaut corps and both trained as test pilots.

Demo-2 is the final major test for Space X’s human spaceflight system to be certified by NASA for operational crew missions to and from the International Space Station.

  DRAGON OVERVIEW

HEIGHT	8.1 m / 26.7 ft
DIAMETER	4 m / 13 ft
CAPSULE VOLUME	9.3 m³ / 328 ft³
TRUNK VOLUME	37 m³ / 1300 ft³
LAUNCH PAYLOAD MASS	6,000 kg / 13,228   lbs
RETURN PAYLOAD MASS	3,000 kg / 6,614 lbs

                          

Parts of the Dragon

TRUNK

                                                      

Dragon’s trunk supports the spacecraft during ascent and also carries unpressurized cargo. During in space and while at station, one half of the trunk is covered in solar panels which provide power to Dragon. The trunk will be disengaged shortly before reentering into Earth’s atmosphere.

              

CAPSULE

The Dragon capsule, also known as the pressurized section, allows for the transport of people as well as environmentally sensitive cargo.

Dragon is equipped with Draco thrusters that allow Dragon to maneuver while on orbit and 8 Super Draco’s coupled together as a Launch Escape System. For maneuvers, orbit adjustment and attitude control, it is equipped with 16 Draco thrusters used to orient the spacecraft during the mission.  

  

                                             

Planned flight stages following the launch of Demo-2, currently scheduled for May 27, 2020. Credit: NASA TV

                                                        

Planned flight stages for the approach of Demo-2 mission to the International Space Station. Credit: NASA TV

The thrust in vacuum of Draco Engines (16 engines) is about 400N.The Escape thrust of Super Draco (8 Engines) is about 73KN. With the help of the thrusters the capsule will manoeuvre in space and will dock - or attach - to the space station under autonomous control. Unlike previous spacecraft designed for humans, the crew cabin features touch screen controls in place of physical buttons.

Above the seats, there is a three-screen control panel, a toilet (with privacy curtain) and the docking hatch.

Escape System

The Dragon spacecraft is equipped with two drogue parachutes to stabilize the spacecraft following reentry and four main parachutes to further decelerate the spacecraft for safe landing.

The Launch Abort System is a crew safety system built in to quickly separate Dragon from Falcon 9 during an emergency event. The crew Dragon spacecraft will use its Super Draco engines during a launch abort scenario to propel both the capsule and its trunk away from the launch vehicle.

If the Crew Dragon Demo-2 mission is successful, Space X will proceed with the six "operational" missions to the ISS they are required to fly under their $2.6billion contract with NASA. It also lays the groundwork for future missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond.

If you get up in the morning and think the future is going to be better, it is a bright day. –Elon Musk.

check out our article how space x revolutionized space industry

Article contributed by Johith Gandhi :)