Abstract
On May 31st, 2012, SpaceX ‘s cargo-laden Dragon space capsule parachuted (Figure 6.1) back to Earth after a nearly flawless demonstration mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
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- 1.
Kistler’s contract was terminated in 2007 after it failed to meet its obligations and NASA re-awarded Kistler’s contract to the Orbital Sciences Corporation.
- 2.
The Dragon’s rendezvous profile from orbit insertion to docking at the ISS can be divided into three phases: far-field, mid-field, and proximity operations. The far-field stage is characterized as the most quiescent phase. En route to the ISS, the vehicle uses Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs) to calculate its position and uses this opportunity to take extensive ground-based radar updates. The targeting solutions for burn maneuvers are also computed on the ground and uplinked. The mid-field rendezvous phase starts as the Dragon utilizes relative sensors for on-board navigation – a process that is coordinated through timelines anchored to various mission events. The final phase of rendezvous is proximity operations, which involve the frequent use of jet firings to control the relative trajectory of the vehicle up to docking.
- 3.
The RBM was a maneuver performed by the Space Shuttle as it rendezvoused with the ISS. The Shuttle performed a back flip that exposed its heat shield to the ISS crew, who took photos of it. Based on analysis of the photos, Mission Control could decide whether the orbiter was safe for re-entry (this was a standard procedure after the Columbia accident, caused by a damaged heat shield). The name of the maneuver was based on the R-Bar and V-Bar lines used in the approach of the ISS. R-Bar or Earth Radius Vector is an imaginary line connecting the ISS to the center of Earth. The RBM was developed by NASA engineers Steve Walker, Mark Schrock, and Jessica LoPresti after the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.
- 4.
Going back to the subject of choosing cool names for their spacecraft, SpaceX’s DragonRider moniker may have its origins in the 1997 German children’s novel by the same name. Written by Cornelia Funke, Dragon Rider follows the exploits of a silver dragon named Firedrake, the Brownie Sorrel, and Ben, a human boy, in their search for the mythical Himalayan mountain range called the Rim of Heaven.
- 5.
The number was quoted in the Orlando Sentinel on August 5th, 2011. The Sentinel reported that NASA estimated the cost of the SLS and Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) could be as much as US$38 billion through 2021. The estimate, which came from an internal NASA report obtained by the Sentinel, stated that the cost of developing the SLS and the MPCV through 2017, the date of the first unmanned flight, was US$17 billion to US$22 billion. Getting the vehicles ready for the first manned mission in late 2021 would be an additional US$12 billion to $US16 billion.
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Seedhouse, E. (2013). The Dragon has landed: Picking up where NASA left off. In: SpaceX. Other Springer-Praxis books of related interest by Erik Seedhoose. Praxis, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5514-1_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5514-1_6
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