SpaceX Falcon 9 V1.0 - COTS C1 - Launching December 8, 2010
Screenshot from SpaceX Webcast of the launch of COTS C1
Mission Rundown: SpaceX Falcon 9 V1.0 - COTS C1
Written: February 6, 2021
Can this Dragon fly on its own?
SpaceX COTS Demo Flight C1 was the first orbital spaceflight of the Dragon cargo spacecraft, and the second overall flight of the Falcon 9 rocket manufactured by SpaceX. It was also the first demonstration flight for NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program.
The primary mission objectives were to test the orbital maneuvering and reentry of the Dragon capsule. The mission also aimed to test fixes to the Falcon 9 rocket, particularly the unplanned roll of the first stage that occurred during flight 1. Liftoff occurred on 8 December 2010 at 15:43 UTC.
The success of the mission allowed SpaceX to advance its vehicle testing plan. With two back-to-back "near-perfect" Falcon 9 launches and satisfactory tests of the first Dragon capsule, SpaceX "asked NASA to combine objectives laid out for the remaining two COTS missions... and permit a berthing at the ISS during its next flight". This combined test mission was completed in May 2012, and achieved its objectives, opening the path to regular cargo deliveries by Dragon to the International Space Station (ISS) under the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract. Commercial flights started in October 2012 with CRS-1.
The second launch attempt was targeted for 15:43 UTC, and was successful. First stage engines cut off at T+02:56, the nose cone separated at T+03:47, second stage engines cut off at T+08:56, all as planned. The Dragon vehicle separated at T+09:30 and achieved a near circular orbit, with a perigee of 288 km (179 mi), an apogee of 301 km (187 mi) and an inclination of 34.53°. These were close to targeted marks of a 300 km (190 mi) circular orbit at an inclination of 34.5°.
The Dragon Payload
In addition to Dragon C101, Falcon 9 carried eight CubeSats or nano satellites into orbit as well. These were Space and Missile Defense Command — Operational Nanosatellite Effect, SMDC-ONE 1 for the US Army, Mayflower for Northrop Grumman and the University of Southern California, QbX-1 and QbX-2 for the US National Reconnaissance Office, and Perseus 000, 001, 002 and 003 for the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
These CubeSats were all deployed into orbit from the Dragon trunk still attached to the second stage which decayed quickly.
One of the weight ballasts inside the Dragon spacecraft was a metal barrel containing a wheel of French Le Brouère cheese. This cheese is produced in Bulgnéville, Vosges. It was packed as a joke, and references the Cheese Shop sketch from Monty Python's Flying Circus. The barrel's lid was pasted with an image from the poster for the 1984 spoof film Top Secret!. SpaceX's CEO didn’t reveal the “cargo'' during the post-splashdown news conference, for fear of the joke overshadowing the company's accomplishments.
While in orbit, a battery of automated tests were performed including thermal control and attitude control to maintain uninterrupted TDRS data links. At 16:15 UTC, SpaceX announced that it had achieved contact with the Dragon module through the TDRS system. After the two planned orbits, the spacecraft was manually commanded to begin a deorbit burn, resulting in it splashing down in the Pacific Ocean at 19:02 UTC approximately 800 km (500 mi) west of Baja California after all three parachutes successfully deployed.
SpaceX reported that all test objectives were completed, and the recovery craft arrived to retrieve the spacecraft within 20 minutes of splashdown. The craft landed within 800 m (2,600 ft) of the targeted location, well within the 60-by-20-kilometer (37 by 12 mi) recovery zone. From launch to splashdown, the demonstration flight lasted for 3 hours, 19 minutes, 52 seconds.
DRAGON COTS C1 DEMO was successfully completed. Now next launch. Please.
Second stage secondary mission
The second stage engine was reignited in orbit after separation from the Dragon capsule. This allowed SpaceX to work on a secondary mission objective of expanding the launch capability envelope by testing in-space engine reignition and ability of the vehicle to achieve a beyond-LEO (Low Earth Orbit) or a Transfer Orbit.
Even though the nozzle of the Merlin 1C Vacuum second-stage engine had been substantially trimmed by six inches—due to two cracks discovered only a few days before the scheduled launch—the second stage reached an altitude of 11,000 kilometers (6,800 mi) in an elliptical transfer orbit.
If a small satellite was carried by the second stage, and was deployed at apogee. It would be able to carry out its mission in a High Earth Orbit, if it circuliced its orbit. Stage two was carrying the Dragon Trunk mounted with 3-7 CubeSats dispencere already, so it was a technical possibility.
There is no information about whether or not the dispensere were meant for six to eight 1-3U CubeSats, but since NORAD tracked 8 targets, I think the latter.
Ha! Tin snips! The red arrow points to an incredibly lowtech tool. Whatever. If it works. Use it.
SpaceX “employee“ Marty Anderson inside Falcon 9 interstage trimming the Merlin 1C engine bell, or is he mounting the brown ring stiffeners near the gray pressure bottles, that probably is a part of the stage separation mechanism. The reflective walls behind him are honeycomb aluminium plates mounted on a glasfiber or carbonfiber tube bolted on top of the propellant tanks, and there is a power/data plug next to his thigh.
He is also working on top of the bulkhead to the first stage LOX tank, and he might be sitting on a parachute used in a failed recovery attempt. The first stage comes in at extremely high speeds over 8 000 km/h when reentering the upper atmosphere at about 60 km altitude, where the drogeshutes hardly have time to slow the first stage down, so the main parachute can be deployed at 30 km altitude.
I have currently no information source to tell me the dry mass of the first stage, so I can't give any calculation on the aerodynamic forces the first stage faces. But I found a calculation on the Dragon capsule. “In that one great the force is.” Master Yoda.
