SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5 - CRS-24 SpX-24 - launch December 21, 2021
Screenshot from NASA/SpaceX shared Webcast of the CRS-24
Mission Rundown: SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5 - CRS-24
Written: July 30, 2022
Christmas time. Santa is checking Dragon twice
Dragon CRS-2 SpX-24 (CRS-24) is a Commercial Resupply Service mission that launched on December 21, 2021 at 10:07:08 UTC heading to the International Space Station (ISS).
SpaceX was awarded this mission by NASA in 2016 and launched CRS-24 on its Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket using a Cargo Dragon 2, C209-2. The rocket lifted off from Launch Complex 39A, at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. CRS-24 marked the fourth flight for SpaceX under NASA’s CRS Phase 2 contract and the final launch for SpaceX in 2021. Onboard are ~3,000 kg (6,500 lb) of food, hardware, and scientific research.
At T-14 minutes, the weather predicted to only have a 30% chance to be favorable for launch, cleared up enough to allow SpaceX to launch CRS-24. Launch, stage separation, and Dragon separation were all nominal and Cargo Dragon C209-2 was on its way to the ISS approximately 12 minutes after liftoff.
For the first day ever SpaceX has had all three of its autonomous spaceport drone ships deployed offshore for missions simultaneously to support Starlink 4-4, Türksat 5B and CRS-24.
After boosting the second stage along with Cargo Dragon 2, C209-2 towards orbit, the first stage will perform a 20 second re-entry burn to slow the vehicle down in preparation for atmospheric reentry. The booster will then perform a 20-25 second landing burn aboard one of SpaceX’s autonomous spaceport drone ships.
B1069 maiden voyage is CRS-2 SpX-24 to the International Space Station and upon completion of this first launch with CRS-24, the boosters designation to B1069-1.
B1069-1 did perform a static fire test after refurbishment and waiting for an east coast launch out of the Cape. SpaceX has since Starlink V1.0 L08 omitted this safety precaution many times so far. It is not required to perform a static fire test in house missions like Starlink. Only one mission other than Starlink has omitted the static fire test.
Returning to Earth from ISS
After a month-long stay at the International Space Station, NASA and SpaceX have successfully returned the CRS-24 Cargo Dragon back to Earth. Ground controllers commanded the undocking of the Dragon spacecraft from the Harmony module’s zenith – or space-facing – port at 10:35 AM EST (15:35 UTC) on Sunday, January 23.
Once the spacecraft undocked from the Station, it performed a series of maneuvers to lower its orbit and re-enter Earth’s atmosphere. This set up a splashdown off the coast of Florida at approximately 4:05 PM EST - 09:05 UTC on Monday, January 24.
The landing of the Dragon spacecraft concludes the CRS-24 mission, which is SpaceX’s fourth resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS) under the Commercial Resupply Services 2 (CRS2) contract.
The CRS 2 contract employs the Dragon 2 spacecraft, as the Dragon 1 spacecraft was retired at the end of the initial CRS contract after 19 CRS missions plus the COTS 2+ visit to ISS. CRS-7 was destroyed mid-flight by a loose COPV in the second stage.
Since its inaugural flight, Dragon 2 has flown 12 times — 5 crewed and 7 uncrewed.
Some of the experiments which returned home Monday are:
The Light Microscopy Module: Sponsored by NASA’s Division of Biological and Physical Sciences, this state-of-the-art light imaging microscope will be returning to Earth after operating for 12 years aboard the International Space Station. This module allowed observation at the microscopic level and supported various colloid research, plant studies, and thermophysical experiments.
InSPACE-4: Standing for Investigating the Structure of Paramagnetic Aggregates from Colloidal Ellipsoids, the experiments aimed at studying the assembly of small structures from colloids using magnetic fields. The samples returning from this study will provide insights into the fabrication and manufacturing of new materials using nanoparticles.
Cytoskeleton: Funded by the European Space Agency (ESA), this experiment attempts to acquire more information about different events happening inside a mammalian cell and to learn how microgravity affects it. The samples returning from this mission will help teams study and develop countermeasures to help astronauts maintain optimum health during long-duration space missions in the future.
Apart from the research experiments, six components returned to earth for further tests, evaluations, and possible refurbishment for future reflight. These components are:
Hydrogen Dome: One of the critical components responsible for generating oxygen on the ISS, the Hydrogen dome was removed and replaced following a period of the observed end of life characteristics.
Urine Processing Assembly Distillation Assembly: This equipment supports urine processing and distillation in orbit.
Avionics Air Assembly Fan: Previously installed in the Water Process Assembly on the Tranquility module.
Rodent Research Transporters: Used to support the rodent investigations during this mission.
Total Organic Carbon Analyzer: Returning after 7 years of continuous operations, this hardware is designed to assess the carbon levels in the recovered water onboard the ISS.
CO2/Relative Humidity Sample Containers: This shuttle-era technology is modified to collect payload samples and support other critical exploration development objectives.
Cargo Dragon Payload
On December 22, 2021 at 08:41, C209-2 arrived at the ISS and soft capture was confirmed. Soft capture is the first contact between the spacecraft and the space station. A “soft” capture ring hooks to its counterpart on the docking port and slowly retracts to bring in Dragon for hard capture. Just 10 minutes later at 08:51 hard capture was confirmed after the 12 hooks secured the spacecraft to the space station. After leak checks and pressurization of the vestibule (the small space between station and Dragon), the hatch to C209-2 was opened granting the crew access to the cargo inside.
Dragon C209-2 will spend around one month at the ISS. Its mission will end in late January or early February. After that, the spacecraft will travel back to Earth and will splash down under parachutes off the coast of Florida, returning valuable research and cargo to Earth.
Starting with CRS-2 SpX-23, SpaceX’ cargo missions will have an extended duration – from two months and beyond.
Dragon C209-2 will double as an extra space science laboratory where 4 experiments will share power, downlink data streams and data storage from Dragon C209-2 internal supply. One experiment will be moved from its current home on ISS to its new location on Dragon C209-2, where it will join 3 already installed experiments.
The redesign of Cargo Dragon Capsules will extend ISS ability to conduct experiments, and it seems ISS is due for an extension with an extra laboratory module some time soon.
CRS-24 research payloads
The Bioprint First Aid Handheld Bioprinter is developed by the German OHB Systems AG, the DLR (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt – the German Space Agency) is sending the portable and handheld bioprinter to the ISS.
This bioprinter is designed to work with the patient’s own skin cells in order to create a tissue-forming patch. This bandage would cover an astronaut's wound and accelerate the healing process. The researchers’ hope is to be able to use this form of customized tissue bandages on future Moon and Mars missions where skin injuries would have to be treated quickly and effectively. Furthermore, they hope to be able to utilize it here on Earth for a more personalized treatment.
Monoclonal Antibody Crystallization (CASIS PCG20)
The pharmaceutical company Merck has launched multiple protein crystallization experiments to the ISS over the years. With CRS-24 they are building on a previous experiment that produced a highly uniform, concentrated crystalline suspension of the active ingredient of their cancer immunotherapy drug Keytruda®. The monoclonal antibody pembrolizumab, the active ingredient in Keytruda®, will again be grown in high-quality crystals of uniform size in microgravity, which will allow researchers to better analyze them in order to further improve manufacturing and drug delivery options.
Right now, many of these drugs have to be administered by intravenous infusion, which takes up a lot of time and resources as patients have to see medical facilities where medical personnel have to treat them. Suspensions with high concentrations of uniform crystals of the monoclonal antibodies could potentially be used for easier drug delivery such as injections that can be administered in a doctor’s office or at home.
Turbine Superalloy Casting Module
Redwire Space, Inc. is launching their Turbine Superalloy Casting Module (Turbine SCM) on CRS-24. This small module is a technology demonstration with which Redwire Space hopes to manufacture single-piece turbine blisks (combination of blade and disk). Researchers hope to create more uniform microstructures that will improve mechanical properties in the superalloy parts as a result of them being produced in microgravity compared to similar parts produced on Earth. Turbine parts manufactured in that way could improve turbine assemblies in industries such as aerospace or power generation on Earth
P&G Telescience Investigation of Detergent Experiments (PGTIDE)
Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) has developed a fully degradable detergent specifically for use in space named Tide Infinity. PGTIDE will study the performance of its stain removal ingredients and how stable the formula is in microgravity.
Astronauts on the ISS wear items of clothing multiple times before they change it, which PGTIDE will not necessarily effect, but it will be of significance for long duration missions to the Moon or Mars where regular resupply missions are not possible and astronauts will have to clean their clothes eventually.
ELaNa 38 CubeSats On CRS-24
ELaNa is an initiative that was proposed by NASA and is managed by the Launch Services Program (LSP) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. The main aim of this program is to collaborate with universities all across the US to design, manufacture, and launch research satellites into space. ELaNa brings university students closer to real space missions, giving them opportunities to dive in and get involved in the process from A to Z, from designing and assembling CubeSats, to launching and operating them.
Next to the scientific research payloads and crew supplies, there are also the following four CubeSats hitching a ride on Dragon:
DAILI – Aerospace Corporation, El Segundo, Californien
GASPACS – Utah State University, Logan, Utah
PATCOOL – NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Florida
TARGIT – Georgia Tech Research Corporation, Atlanta, Georgia
Axiom Space is launching three different payloads onboard CRS-24 in order to support their upcoming Axiom-1 mission, which is currently scheduled to lift off on February 21, 2022. The three payloads are:
Ax-1 Fluidic Space Optics
Ax-1 BioMonitor
Ax-1 Holoportation Behavioral
This will support future research done by Axiom Space’s private missions to the ISS.
The Cargo Dragon 2
CRS-24 marks the fourth launch of SpaceX’s upgraded Dragon 2 cargo spacecraft.
Dragon capsule C208 during processing at SpaceX HQ in Hawthorne prior to CRS-21
Cargo Dragon 2 is essentially a Crew Dragon, without an abort system, so it has all of the upgrades from Crew Dragon. Most importantly, Dragon 2 is designed to be reused up to 5 times, with a turnaround time of under 6 months, which is significantly lower than Dragon One; Dragon One’s fastest turnaround time was 418 days, with most turnaround times being significantly longer.
Dragon 1 was unable to dock with the International Space Station. Meaning that Dragon 1 would hold a position away from the ISS. In this position the Canadarm would capture the spacecraft, and attaching it to the ISS. This is called berthing.
Dragon 2 autonomously attaches itself and docks to the ISS. CRS-24 will mark the ninth fully autonomous docking SpaceX has completed: DM-1, DM-2, Crew-1, CRS-21, Crew-2, CRS-22, CRS-23, Crew-3 and now CRS-24.
Cargo Dragon 2’s trunk is also different from both Dragon 1’s and Crew Dragon’s. Dragon 2 has its solar panels integrated onto its trunk, while Dragon 1 had a deployable solar array from its trunk. However, Crew Dragon is equipped with 4 fins used for aerodynamic control during ascent. Cargo Dragon 2’s trunk only has 2 solar cell fins.
Externally, Cargo Dragon 2 differs from its crewed counterpart, lacking windows and the SuperDragon abort system. The differences between Crew Dragon and Cargo Dragon are derived from the fact that Cargo Dragon is not required to have launch escape capability. Crew Dragon is fitted with eight SpaceX-developed SuperDraco engines, located in four, two engine clusters around the outside of the capsule, which are there to pull the capsule and its crew to safety away from a Falcon 9 in the event of a catastrophic failure during fueling or launch.
Since Cargo Dragon does not carry crew, the spacecraft does not have to carry those systems; therefore the SuperDracos have been removed from the Cargo Dragon capsule giving a mass reduction that allows for additional cargo to be carried to ISS.
Cargo Dragon 2 also lacks all of the life support and onboard control systems present on Crew Dragon that are needed for humans. Instead, it carries minimal support systems to ensure conditions are kept acceptable for hatch opening on the Station and ISS Crew ingress to the vehicle.
Cargo Dragon 2 is also significantly more massive, with a dry mass of ~12,000 kg. With this mass increase Dragon 2 is able to carry ~50% more science to the ISS than Dragon One. Because of this, missions past CRS-21 will stay docked to the ISS for 3 months, rather than the 1 month that CRS-21 stayed docked.
Dragon 2’s nose cone is also significantly different as it opens instead of being jettisoned on ascent. It is protecting the docking mechanism.
At a press conference after Crew-1, Gwynne Shotwell said SpaceX is expecting to have a fleet of 8 dragons: 5 Crew Dragons and 3 Cargo Dragons. This will allow SpaceX to conduct up to 25 crewed missions and 15 resupply missions.
Unlike prior cargo resupply missions, the new Cargo Dragon 2 carried too much mass to permit a Return To Launch Site (RTLS) landing of the Falcon 9 first stage. Instead, the first stage — like Crew Dragon, from which Cargo Dragon is now derived — made use of a newly built drone ship “A Shortfall Of Gravitas'' in the Atlantic for landing and recovery.
