Screenshot from SpaceX Webcast of the launch of Dragon Crew-4 - USCV-4
Mission Rundown: SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5 - Crew-4
Written: August 1, 2022 - Edit: October 15, 2022
With four Aces in the ‘w’ hole Dragon
For the fourth time, SpaceX successfully launched four astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) in the Crew Dragon spacecraft on a Falcon 9 rocket. Crew-4 was the first flight of the Crew Dragon Freedom spacecraft, which now enters the ‘computerage’ by featuring USB charging ports.
After a 16 hour trip to the ISS, Freedom slowly docked with the station at 23:37 UTC (19:37 EST). The astronauts proceeded to perform leak checks which was followed by hatch opening.
The Falcon 9 took off from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A), Kennedy Space Center, Florida, Wednesday on April 27, 2022 at 03:52 EDT - 07:52 UTC and docked to the ISS IDA-2/PMA-2 some 21.5 hours later at 23:32 UTC.
Crew-4 is the fourth regular crew rotation mission to the ISS to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Crew Dragon Freedom C212-1 carried four astronauts to the station where they will stay for six months. Only a few days after the arrival of Crew-4, the Crew-3 astronauts currently aboard the ISS—Raja Chari, Thomas Marshburn, Kayla Barron, and Matthias Maurer—will depart and return to Earth.
Crew-4 will join the MS-21 cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveev, and Sergey Korsakov, bringing the total crew members aboard the station to seven.
Like the Space Shuttle before it, Crew Dragon 2 is reusable – the first reusable human capsule launch and reentry system in the world.
Since its inaugural flight, Dragon 2 has flown 14 times — 7 crewed and 7 uncrewed.
The booster supporting the Crew-4 mission is B1067. As this is the booster’s fourth time to fly a mission, B1067 has been given the designation B1067-4. This was the fifth time a flight-proven booster was used to launch a Crew Dragon mission.
After the final static fire test at 09:26 EST on April 20, 2022 on Pad 39A and after the final check outs, the Falcon 9 rocket will be made ready for launch.
After liftoff, Falcon 9’s first stage will propel the astronauts for 2 minutes and 30 seconds to an altitude of around 75 km (~47 miles). After stage separation, Falcon 9’s second stage takes over for the second part of the flight.
Following the stage separation from 2nd stage and Freedom, the booster B1067-4 will conduct an atmosphere re-entry burn and a 35 second landing burn and will touch down on “A Shortfall Of Gravitas'' positioned 535 km downrange on the Atlantic Ocean.
Approximately 6 minutes and 7 seconds after second stage engine ignition the second stage engine will shut down (SECO-1) and the astronauts will be in orbit.
Freedom was inserted into an initial 190 x 210 km orbit, after which a series of phasing and rendezvous burns that will take place to bring the spacecraft Freedom to the Station for a docking on 19:32 EST (23:32 UTC) on Saturday, November 11.
3 minutes and 19 seconds after SECO, Crew Dragon will separate from the second stage and open up its nose cone in order to expose the 4 forward facing Draco thrusters.
Once the Draco thrusters are exposed, Crew-4 Dragon will perform a number of phasing burns to align its orbit with the ISS’ one. After the phasing burns, Crew-4 Dragon will slowly approach the ISS and with the start of proximity operations it will enter the ISS’ Keep Out Sphere.
Last but not least, after around 8 hours and 30 minutes, C212-1 Freedom with Crew-4 will autonomously dock to the nadir docking port. They should be called IDA-2 and IDA-3, since that is their built number. IDA-1 was lost during the CRS-7 inflight anomaly.
The Crew-4 Dragon Science Payload
Hundreds of experiments will be carried out by the Crew-4 astronauts on board the ISS, ranging from biomedical experiments to material science experiments to technology and artificial intelligence testing. This is a handful of the experiments that will be done during the Crew-4 mission.
The Cold Atoms Lab (CAL) is a NASA experiment facility in the Destiny module of the ISS, which will study ultra cold atoms and Bose-Einstein Condensates (BEC) in a microgravity environment for the first time. In CAL, a laser is used to cool clouds of rubidium and potassium atoms to near absolute zero, which are then confined using a magnetic field to create a BEC.
BECs act like a singular giant atom, so quantum phenomena can be seen on a macroscopic level. This means that experiments done in CAL can test theories within quantum physics, like the general theory of relativity. CAL will also aid in the development of integrated circuit technologies and highly precise clocks and sensors.
The Concrete-Hardening project will investigate how various concrete mixtures, which contain cement, sand or regolith, water, and other admixtures, harden in a micro-gravity environment. On Earth concrete solidification is influenced by gravity, as the highly dense components sink to the bottom, but this has not yet been tested in space. The data gathered from this research will help in developing new concrete mixtures which can be used as materials for building habitats on future Moon and Mars missions, as well as a more sustainable material for building housing on Earth.
The Thermo-Mini experiment. An extended stay in space has been shown to lead to a prolonged increase in the core temperature of the body, a phenomenon known as ‘space fever’. This could pose a risk to the health of astronauts, particularly when exercising or carrying out extravehicular activities (EVA).
The Thermo-Mini experiment will be carried out on ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer. A small thermal sensor will be strapped to his forehead to measure his core body temperature and measure his circadian rhythm.
The data gathered from this experiment will help researchers to better understand ‘space fever’ and show whether the Thermo-Mini sensor is appropriate for long-term use in future space missions. Back on Earth, a version of the Thermo-Mini could be used in hospitals or by those working in extreme environments.
The Cellbox-3 experiment will look at how our cells and these processes are affected by being in a microgravity environment on the ISS. Our cells and the processes taking place within them are affected by gravity.
3-D models of bone marrow and co-cultures in skeletal muscle cells and nerve cells will be used to study this. This research will benefit scientist’s understanding of blood formation within bone marrow, and the processes involved in supplying muscles with nerve cells. It is hoped that the results of these experiments will aid in the development of therapies for immune diseases and muscle weakness.
The Bioprint First Aid technology demonstration will look at the potential of using bio-ink for rapid wound treatment. The bio-ink will be printed by a bioprinter and then applied directly to the skin to treat superficial wounds.
In this experiment the ink will be composed of fluorescent micro-particles, but in the future, the bio-ink will be made of the patient’s own skin cells. Once on the skin it will cover the wound like a plaster and will speed up healing of the skin by encouraging the formation of skin tissue. It is hoped that this technology will not only be used during future space missions, but will also benefit humans back on Earth.
The only thing I didn’t find among the sources was a cargo manifest of, what I presume would be, crew supplies and science experiments in the fragile end.
The Dragon Crew-4
Crew-4 is the first flight of Crew Dragon C212-1 spacecraft. Baptized Freedom, named to honor Alan Shepard’s Freedom 7 capsule, will be the last Crew Dragon built as per current SpaceX plans, though cargo Dragons will continue to be built. Freedom joins Endeavour, Endurance, and Resilience in the fleet.
Crew-4 during dress rehearsal in front of a test vehicle of Crew Dragon. (Credit: SpaceX)
The Crew-3 is composed of three NASA astronauts and one ESA astronaut:
NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren was born on January 23, 1973 in Taipei, Taiwan. He grew up in England as a child and then lived in the Midwestern United States. After moving back to the United States he finished his education with a Doctorate in Medicine from the University of Colorado.
While at the U.S. Air Force Academy, Lindgren was part of the ‘Wings of Blue” parachute team. This already demonstrated his love for adventure.
Lindgren was selected as a NASA astronaut in June 2009 after serving as the Deputy Crew Surgeon for STS-130 and Expedition 24.
Lindgren joined Expedition 44 after the Soyuz docked with ISS six hours after launch and conducted two spacewalks with astronaut Scott Kelly (on his 340-day mission of his own) to prepare ISS for the International Docking Adapters that the Crew Dragon now uses, as well as to conduct repairs on critical ammonia cooling systems. Lindgren spent 141 days in space before landing on the Kazakh steppe.
Lindgren also commanded the NEEMO 22 mission on an underwater base, 19 meters under the surface, known as the Aquarius Reef Base, 9 kilometers off Key Largo, Florida in June 2017.
NASA astronaut Bob Hines was born on January 11, 1975, in Fayetteville, North Carolina and proceeded to live around the east coast of the United States for most of his early life.
After graduating from Crestwood High School in Mountaintop, Pennsylvania, he continued his education at Boston University. Hines graduated with a Bachelors of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering.
Like Lindgren, Hines also went to the United States Air Force Academy where he went through pilots training to eventually fly the F-15E aircraft.
Hines was selected by NASA in August 2017 and has recently been preparing for his first mission, Crew-4.
NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins was born on May 14, 1988 in Gaithersburg, Maryland, but grew up in Lafayette, Colorado. She attended and graduated from Fairview High School in Boulder, Colorado.
Watkins continued her education at Stanford University. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Geological and Environmental Sciences. Watkins later went one to earn her Doctorate in Geology from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Since college, Watkins has been involved in NASA work reaching out to Mars. In undergraduate internships, Watkins conducted research on Mars soil simulant to support the Phoenix lander. Later, she analyzed data for NEOWISE and Curiosity.
Watkins was selected by NASA in August of 2017 and has recently been preparing for her first mission, Crew-4.
ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti was born on April 26, 1977 in Milan, Italy. After completing one year as an exchange student in the United States, she finished her education at Liceo Scientifico.
Cristoforetti graduated with a Masters in Mechanical Engineers specializing in Aerospace Propulsion and Lightweight Structures from the Technical University of Munich, Germany.
Similar to many other astronauts, Cristoforetti joined the Italian Air Force Academy in 2001. She later went on to become an ESA astronaut in May 2009.
Cristoforetti launched to the ISS aboard Soyuz TMA-15M on November 23, 2014, and served on the Expedition 42/43 crew. After 199 days in space on the “Futura” mission, setting a new endurance record for women at the time, Cristoforetti landed back on Earth on June 11, 2015.
Cristoforetti also served as the NEEMO 23 crew commander in 2019, conducting a ten-day mission underwater at the Aquarius Reef base, with fellow Crew-4 astronaut Jessica Watkins as one of the crewmembers.
Where to land the Dragon?
Seven hazard areas for landing Dragon C212-1 - LZ-7 Jacksonville have been chosen.
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 mission now is scheduled to perform a return journey to Earth at 12:05 EDT - 16:05 UTC on Friday, October 14, 2022. The Crew-4 Dragon spacecraft ‘Freedom’ have undocked to IDA-3 now known as IDA-Z airlock - Z for zenit.
Crew-5 arrived in September 2022, with a crew of four who will carry out the handover with Crew-4 still onboard the ISS. Once this is complete, Freedom will undock and return to Earth with its astronauts after a 6 month stay aboard the station.
The Crew Dragon spacecraft will aim for a splashdown in zone 7 at Jacksonville, one of seven targeted landing zones in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida. Dragon recovery vessel Megan is standing by to recover Dragon C212 ‘Freedom’.
Before splashdown you might see the light in the sky from the short reentry at 20:43 UTC.
Dragon C212 ‘Freedom’ will after the trunk is jettisoned perform its deorbit burn at 16:03 EST - 20:03 UTC and close the nose hatch cover. Then Dragon C212 ‘Freedom’ will reorient itself with its heat shield forward and enter the Earth's atmosphere.
Four minutes before splashdown, the drogue parachutes will deploy at about 18,000 feet in altitude while Crew Dragon C212 ‘Freedom’ is moving approximately 350 miles per hour, and less than a minute later, the main parachutes deploy at about 6,000 feet in altitude while the spacecraft is moving approximately 119 miles per hour.
For normal crew rescue and recovery operations, the NASA and SpaceX teams select two primary splashdown locations from the seven possible locations about two weeks prior to return, with additional decision milestones taking place prior to crew boarding the spacecraft, during free flight, and before Crew Dragon performs a deorbit burn.
NASA and SpaceX coordinates with the U.S. Coast Guard to establish a 10-nautical-mile safety zone around the expected splashdown location to ensure safety for the public and for those involved in the recovery operations, as well as the crew aboard the returning Dragon C212 ‘Freedom’ spacecraft.
The return will mark the end of the fourth crew rotation mission to the International Space Station of the Crew Dragon spacecraft developed in partnership between NASA and SpaceX as a part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program.
Teams on the Go Navigator, renamed ‘Megan’ after Crew-2 Astronaut Megan Macarthur or other available recovery ships, including two fast boats, will be securing Crew-4 Dragon C212 ‘Freedom’ and ensuring the spacecraft is safe for the recovery effort.
As the fast boat teams complete their work securing the parachutes, the recovery ship will move into position to hoist Crew Dragon C212 ‘Freedom’ onto the main deck of the ship with the astronauts inside.
Once on the main deck, the crew will be taken out of the spacecraft and receive medical checks before a helicopter ride to shore to board a plane for Houston. Dragon C212 ‘Freedom’ will also return important and time-sensitive research samples.
Still to be recorded in this Mission Rundown:
The discarded Dragon trunk from the Crew-4 mission, jettisoned on October 14, has now been cataloged in a 210 x 394 km x 51.3 deg orbit. 15 days later it reentered at 03:48 UTC May 21 (8:48 pm PDT Saturday evening) over the Vancouver/Calgary area.
The low apogee of 210 km in this orbit must have been the contributing factor in deorbiting the Dragon trunk section so fast. It is after all a BIG barrel or dustbin, so maybe it should be rebuilt as a space debris hunter gatherer collecting space junk.
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