SpaceX says it has sent the first upgraded Dragon 2 cargo spacecraft to Florida, opening the door to the first simultaneous space flight of two dragons.
More or less modified by SpaceX’s fast-maturing Cry Dragon spacecraft, the company says the Cargo Dragon 2 will be “able to pay 50% more science” than the original Cargo Dragon. Cargo Dragon explored milestones after exploring many parts of the Earth in his career, eventually becoming a privately-developed spacecraft that reached orbit, turn and splashdown; The first commercial spacecraft to deliver and deliver cargo to the International Space Station (ISS) and the first regular reusable or rabital capsule.
SpaceX retired the historic vehicle in April 2020 after the completion of its 21st successful rebital launch and landing, less than two months before the start of another historic spaceflight by Crew Dragon. Prior to Demo 2, Crew Dragon accomplished what both NASA and SpaceX considered one. Almost incredible stupid spotless start In March, 2019. Now, two months after Space War successfully successfully returned two of its NASA astronauts from Earth for the first time, the SpaceX Crew Dragon is gearing up for the launch of the active astronaut launch at almost the same time as Cargo Dragon 2 is preparing for it. Is doing. Your start.
According to an October 10 update from NASA, SpaceX and the space agency have decided to double Crew Dragon’s Crew-1 launch in three weeks and investigate three times a booster engine issue that led to the recent Falcon 9 satellite launch. Ended with its sister rocket. Possibly built well at SpaceX’s Hawthorne, CA factory, it is not unreasonable to confirm that the Falcon 9 Booster B1061 (Crew-1) is not affected by the same issue that led to the B1062 being unveiled by its U.S. military GPS on October 2. III Satellite launch forced to abort. .
As a result, the Crew-1 placeholder has slipped somewhat from the launch date of October 23 and October 31 to “early November to mid-November”, while most external sources indicate that the target for mid-November More likely. NASA and SpaceX have never confirmed the arrival, but the Crew Dragon Capsule C-207 probably arrived in Florida in late August or early September, where teams prepared and processed the spacecraft for final inspection and close procedures. Are doing.
SpaceX, meanwhile, says it sent the first Crew Dragon-receiving cargo dragon to Florida several days ago, meaning the company will soon begin preflight processing of two upgraded dragons simultaneously for the first time. Specifically, SpaceX did not offer any launch targets in its CRS-21 update, although NASA’s planning document – prior to the recent Crew-1 delay – stated that the mission was scheduled to launch on November 22 at NET.
In other words, CRS-21 and Crew-1 are currently about to launch within a period of about two weeks – a situation that could cause some unique problems. So far, both the Crew Dragon and Cargo Dragon 2 will have to launch from the Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A, as the pad is provided with a unique tower and Crew Access Arm (CAA) that allows both astronauts to board and load cargo. Allow. SpaceX’s Pad 39A turnaround record – two launches from the same pad is about 10 days and that’s a lot for crew dragon missions.
If current dates are kept, NASA will have to decide whether to launch the SpaceX Dragon mission first. Either way, there will be a big delay in not marking for the first time for CRS-21 and Crew-1 when the two SpaceX Dragon spacecraft meet in ISS or Rabbit. If successful, it is safe to say that SpaceX will secure its position as the only spaceflight company on Earth – from affordable and reusable rocket launches, crude spaceflight, and space station re-travel missions to rabital tourism. And much more.
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