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SpaceX Crew-2

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Not to be confused with Crew Dragon Demo-2.

SpaceX Crew-2
Endeavour approaches the ISS
Names
  • USCV-2 (2012–2019)
  • Crew-2
Mission typeISS crew transport
OperatorSpaceX
COSPAR ID2021-030A Edit this at Wikidata
SATCAT no.48209Edit this on Wikidata
Mission duration199 days, 17 hours, 44 minutes, 13 seconds
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftCrew Dragon Endeavour
Spacecraft typeCrew Dragon
ManufacturerSpaceX
Launch mass12,055 kg (26,577 lb)[1]
Landing mass9,616 kg (21,200 lb)
Crew
Crew size4
Members
ExpeditionExpedition 65/66
Start of mission
Launch dateApril 23, 2021, 09:49:02 (2021-04-23UTC09:49:02Z) UTC (5:27:17 am EDT)[2]
RocketFalcon 9 Block 5 B1061-2
Launch siteKennedy, LC‑39A
End of mission
Recovered byMV GO Navigator
Landing dateNovember 9, 2021, 03:33:15 (2021-11-09UTC03:33:16Z) UTC (10:33:15 am EST)
Landing siteGulf of Mexico, near Pensacola, Florida
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric orbit
RegimeLow Earth orbit
Inclination51.66°
Docking with ISS
Docking portHarmony forward
Docking dateApril 24, 2021, 09:07:55 UTC
Undocking dateJuly 21, 2021, 10:45 UTC
Time docked88 days, 1 hour, 37 minutes
Docking with ISS (relocation)[a]
Docking portHarmony zenith
Docking dateJuly 21, 2021, 11:36 UTC
Undocking dateNovember 8, 2021, 19:05 UTC[5]
Time docked110 days, 7 hours, 29 minutes


From top to bottom, left to right: NASA,[6] SpaceX, JAXA, and ESA mission patches

From left: McArthur, Pesquet, Hoshide and Kimbrough

SpaceX Crew-2 was the second operational flight of a Crew Dragon spacecraft, and the third overall crewed orbital flight of the Commercial Crew Program. The mission was launched on April 23, 2021, at 09:49:02 UTC, and docked to the International Space Station on April 24 at 09:08 UTC.[2]

SpaceX Crew-2 used the same capsule as Crew Dragon Demo-2 (Endeavour) and launched on the same Falcon 9 booster as SpaceX Crew-1 (B1061.1).

With its return to Earth the evening of November 9, 2021, the mission set a record for the longest spaceflight by a U.S. crewed spacecraft with a mission duration of 199 days before being surpassed by SpaceX Crew-8 with a mission duration of 235 days respectively.[7]

Crew

[edit]

On July 28, 2020, JAXA, ESA, and NASA confirmed their astronaut assignments aboard this mission.[8][9]

Prime crew
Position Astronaut
Commander United States Shane Kimbrough, NASA
Expedition 65/66
Third and last spaceflight
Pilot United States K. Megan McArthur, NASA
Expedition 65/66
Second and last spaceflight
Mission specialist Japan Akihiko Hoshide, JAXA
Expedition 65/66
Third spaceflight
Mission specialist France Thomas Pesquet, ESA
Expedition 65/66
Second spaceflight
Backup crew
Position Astronaut
Mission specialist Japan Satoshi Furukawa, JAXA
Mission specialist Germany Matthias Maurer, ESA

German astronaut Matthias Maurer was the backup for Pesquet, while Japanese astronaut Satoshi Furukawa trained as backup to Hoshide.[9][10]

Mission

[edit]

The second SpaceX operational mission in the Commercial Crew Program launched on April 23, 2021.[11][12] The Crew Dragon Endeavour docked to the International Docking Adapter (IDA) at the forward port of the Harmony module. This was the first mission with astronauts on board to use a previously flown booster launch vehicle.[13][14]

All crew members were veteran astronauts, though this was Megan McArthur's first visit to the ISS (as her first spaceflight was STS-125, a mission to the Hubble Space Telescope). McArthur used the same seat on the Crew Dragon Endeavour which her husband, Bob Behnken, used on the Demo-2 mission.[15] Akihiko Hoshide served as the second Japanese ISS commander during his stay.[8] It was the second mission by Thomas Pesquet to the International Space Station and was named Alpha, after Alpha Centauri, the closest star system to Earth.[9]

To prepare for the arrival of a Starliner, the Endeavour docked to ISS at Harmony forward port was undocked at 10:45 UTC and relocated to Harmony zenith port on July 21, 2021, at 11:36 UTC.[a]

With CRS-23, (C208) and Inspiration4 (Resilience), three Dragon spacecraft were in space at the same time, from September 16 to 18, 2021 (UTC).

Timeline

[edit]
MET Time Date
(UTC) 		Event[16]
EDT UTC
−6:40:00 11:09:00 PM 03:09:00 April 23
2021 		Crew wake
−05:30:00 0:19:02 AM 04:19:02 CE launch readiness briefing
−05:00:00 0:49:02 AM 04:49:02 Launch shift on console
−04:59:59 0:49:03 AM 04:49:03 Dragon IMU align and configure for launch.
−04:30:00 1:19:02 AM 04:19:02 Dragon propellant pressurization
−04:20:00 1:29:02 AM 04:29:02 Crew weather brief
−04:10:00 1:39:02 AM 05:39:02 Crew handoff
−04:00:00 1:49:02 AM 05:49:02 Suit donning and checkouts
−03:20:00 2:29:02 AM 05:29:02 Crew walk out of Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building
−03:15:00 2:34:02 AM 05:34:02 Crew transportation to Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) by Tesla Model X with "RECYCLE" license plate
−02:55:00 2:54:02 AM 06:54:02 Crew arrives at pad
−02:35:00 3:14:02 AM 07:14:02 Crew ingress
−02:20:00 3:29:02 AM 07:29:02 Communication check
−02:15:00 3:34:02 AM 07:34:02 Verify ready for seat rotation
−02:14:00 3:35:02 AM 07:35:02 Suit leak checks
−01:55:00 3:54:02 AM 07:54:02 Hatch close
−01:10:00 4:39:02 AM 08:39:02 ISS state upload to Dragon
−00:45:00 5:04:02 AM 09:04:02 SpaceX launch director verifies go for propellant load
−00:42:00 5:07:02 AM 09:07:02 Crew access arm retracts
−00:38:00 5:11:02 AM 09:11:02 Dragon launch escape system is armed.
−00:35:00 5:14:02 AM 09:14:02 RP-1 (rocket grade kerosene) loading begins; 1st stage LOX (liquid oxygen) loading begins.
−00:16:00 5:33:02 AM 09:33:02 2nd stage LOX loading begins.
−00:07:00 5:42:02 AM 09:42:02 Falcon 9 begins engine chill prior to launch.
−00:05:00 5:44:02 AM 09:44:02 Dragon transitions to internal power
−00:01:00 5:48:02 AM 09:48:02 Command flight computer to begin final prelaunch checks; propellant tank pressurization to flight pressure begins.
−00:00:45 5:48:17 AM 09:48:17 SpaceX launch director verifies go for launch.
−00:00:03 5:48:59 AM 09:48:59 Engine controller commands Merlin engine ignition sequence to start.
00:00:00 5:49:02 AM 09:49:02 Liftoff
+00:01:02 5:50:04 AM 09:50:04 Max Q (moment of peak mechanical stress on the launch vehicle)
+00:02:36 5:51:38 AM 09:51:38 1st stage main engine cutoff (MECO)
+00:02:39 5:51:41 AM 09:51:41 1st and 2nd stages separate
+00:02:47 5:51:49 AM 09:51:49 2nd stage engine starts
+00:07:27 5:56:29 AM 09:56:29 1st stage entry burn
+00:08:47 5:57:49 AM 09:57:49 2nd stage engine cutoff (SECO-1)
+00:09:03 5:58:05 AM 09:58:05 1st stage landing burn
+00:09:30 5:58:32 AM 09:58:32 1st stage landing
+00:11:58 6:01:00 AM 10:01:00 Crew Dragon separates from 2nd stage
+00:13:02 6:02:04 AM 10:02:04 Dragon nosecone open sequence begins
+1/ 3:31 AM 07:31 April 24
2021 		Dragon starts the final phase of the approach to the ISS.[17]
+1/03:33 05:08 AM 09:08 Soft capture to the ISS.[18]
+1/03:33 05:20 AM 09:20 Dragon docked to the ISS.[19]
+1/05:34 7:15 AM 11:15 Hatch opened.[20]

Wake-up calls

[edit]

NASA began a tradition of playing music to astronauts during the Gemini program, and first used music to wake up a flight crew during Gemini 6; the first song was Hello, Dolly.[21] Each track is specially chosen, often by the astronauts' families, and usually has a special meaning to an individual member of the crew, or is applicable to their daily activities.[22]

Flight Day Song Artist Played for Links
Day 2 An off-key, all flute comedic cover of A-Ha's "Take On Me", made by YouTube artist "Shittyflute".[23] A-ha (original)
Shittyflute (Cover) 		Thomas Pesquet [1]

Return

[edit]

Due to weather delays and a minor health problem with one of the SpaceX Crew-3 astronauts,[24] NASA decided to bring home the Crew-2 astronauts from the ISS before launching Crew-3, thus being the first Crew Dragon indirect handover of space station crews. The Crew Dragon undocked from the station at 19:05 UTC on November 8, 2021, and splashed down off the coast of Florida at 03:33 UTC on November 9, 2021.[5] One of four parachutes deployed slower than the others.[25]

[edit]
SpaceX Crew-2
  • Photo of Crew-2 astronauts waving from an elevator of the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building
    Crew-2 astronauts walk out from the O&C Building
  • Photo of Crew-2 rocket shortly after liftoff
    Launch of Crew-2
  • View of Crew Dragon Endeavour approaching the ISS with the Earth in the background as seen from Crew Dragon Resilience
    Crew Dragon Endeavour approaching the ISS
  • View of the ISS as seen from Endeavour after undocking
    View of the ISS from Endeavour
  • Photo of the Crew Dragon Endeavour capsule sitting in the Gulf of Mexico waters shortly after splashdown
    Crew-2 reentering the atmosphere
  • Crew Dragon Endeavour is lifted onto MV GO Navigator after splashdown
    Crew Dragon Endeavour on MV GO Navigator after splashdown

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ a b From an orbital dynamics perspective, the forward port is easier to approach, and therefore, new vehicles use this approach for their first docking. The Boeing Starliner was scheduled to make its first docking on OFT-2 at the end of July 2021; therefore, Crew-2 relocated to the zenith port to clear the forward port for OFT-2.[3][4]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Dragon Endeavour 2". NASA. April 26, 2021. Retrieved November 15, 2021. Mass: 12055 kg
  2. ^ a b "SpaceX's Crew-2 launch lights up the predawn sky with a spectacular show (photos)". Space.com. April 23, 2021.
  3. ^ "NASA TV to Air Crew Dragon Crew-2 Port Relocation on Space Station". NASA. June 14, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2021. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  4. ^ "Starliner capsule fueled for unpiloted test flight to International Space Station". Spaceflight Now. June 22, 2021. Retrieved June 22, 2021.
  5. ^ a b Loff, Sarah (November 7, 2021). "NASA, SpaceX Adjust Crew-2 Station Departure Date". blogs.nasa. Retrieved November 7, 2021. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  6. ^ Manchess, Gregory (April 21, 2021). "Dragon Crew Two Launch!". Muddy Colors. Retrieved March 19, 2025.
  7. ^ Kathleen Ellis (November 9, 2021). "Crew-2 Astronauts Safely Splash Down in Gulf of Mexico". NASA. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
  8. ^ a b "JAXA星出彰彦宇宙飛行士の国際宇宙ステーション（ISS）長期滞在 搭乗機決定について". jaxa.jp (in Japanese). July 28, 2020. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  9. ^ a b c "Thomas Pesquet first ESA astronaut to ride a Dragon to space". ESA Science and Exploration. July 28, 2020. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  10. ^ Powell, Joel [@ShuttleAlmanac] (November 19, 2020). "JAXA has announced long stay visits to the ISS for 2022 and 2023" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  11. ^ Potter, Sean (March 5, 2021). "NASA, SpaceX Invite Media to Next Commercial Crew Launch". NASA. Retrieved March 5, 2021. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  12. ^ Clark, Stephen (March 5, 2021). "Next Crew Dragon launch set for April 22". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
  13. ^ Drake, Nadia (April 23, 2021). "SpaceX launches first astronauts on a reused rocket". National Geographic. Archived from the original on April 23, 2021. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
  14. ^ Thompson, Amy (April 23, 2021). "SpaceX launches 4 astronauts to space station, nails rocket landing". Space.com. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
  15. ^ "Megan to reuse Bob's demo-2 seat in crew-2 mission". aljazeera.com. April 20, 2020.
  16. ^ "Mission Timeline for Launch Thursday, April 23 at 5:49:02 EST". Spaceflight Now.
  17. ^ Garcia, Mark (April 24, 2021). "NASA TV Covers SpaceX Crew-2 Docking to Station Today". blogs.nasa. Archived from the original on May 24, 2021. Retrieved April 24, 2021. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  18. ^ "SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour docks with ISS". france24.com. April 24, 2021. Retrieved April 24, 2021.
  19. ^ Cawley, James (April 24, 2021). "Crew Dragon Docks to Station, Hatches Open Soon". blogs.nasa. Retrieved December 13, 2020. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  20. ^ Cawley, James (November 17, 2020). "Hatches Open, Crew Dragon Astronauts Join Expedition 64". blogs.nasa. Retrieved December 13, 2020. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  21. ^ "SPACE SHUTTLE MUSIC" (PDF). NASA. March 13, 2015. Retrieved November 3, 2023.
  22. ^ "Chronology of Wakeup Calls". NASA. August 2, 2005. Retrieved April 5, 2010. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  23. ^ @chasg76 (July 25, 2021). "@Explorer_Flight @Thom_astro..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  24. ^ "SpaceX crew launch bumped to next week; astronaut on mend". AP News. November 4, 2021. Retrieved November 5, 2021.
  25. ^ Clark, Stephen (November 9, 2021). "SpaceX crew capsule brings astronauts home after nearly 200 days in orbit – Spaceflight Now". Retrieved February 2, 2022.
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