SpaceX CRS-9, also known as SpX-9, is a
Commercial Resupply Service mission to the
International Space Station
The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ...
which launched on 18 July 2016.
The mission was contracted by
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
and is operated by
SpaceX
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) is an American spacecraft manufacturer, launcher, and a satellite communications corporation headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with the stated goal of ...
using a
Dragon
A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...
capsule.
The cargo was successfully carried aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 Flight 27.
Launch and operations history
A July 2014 NASA Flight Planning Integration Panel (FPIP) presentation had this mission scheduled no earlier than (NET) 7 December 2015.
By December 2014, the launch had been pushed back to NET 9 December 2015.
Following the failure of
SpaceX CRS-7
SpaceX CRS-7, also known as SpX-7, was a private American Commercial Resupply Service mission to the International Space Station, contracted to NASA, which launched and failed on June 28, 2015. It disintegrated 139 seconds into the flight aft ...
on 28 June 2015, the launch date was left open and, in September 2015, was moved to NET 21 March 2016.
The flight was later pushed to 24 June, 27 June, 16 July, and finally 18 July 2016,
as the crewed mission
Soyuz MS-01
Soyuz MS-01 was a 2016 Soyuz spaceflight to the International Space Station. Originally scheduled for launch in June 2016, the mission successfully lifted off from Kazakhstan on 7 July 2016. It transported three members of the Expedition 48 cr ...
took the 24 June slot.
CRS-9 launched on 18 July 2016 at 04:44
UTC from
Cape Canaveral
, image = cape canaveral.jpg
, image_size = 300
, caption = View of Cape Canaveral from space in 1991
, map = Florida#USA
, map_width = 300
, type =Cape
, map_caption = Location in Florida
, location ...
SLC-40
Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40), previously Launch Complex 40 (LC-40) is a launch pad for rockets located at the north end of Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida.
The launch pad was used by the United States Air Force for 55 Titan III ...
aboard a
Falcon 9
Falcon 9 is a partially reusable medium lift launch vehicle that can carry cargo and crew into Earth orbit, produced by American aerospace company SpaceX.
The rocket has two stages. The first (booster) stage carries the second stage and payl ...
launch vehicle.
After 9 minutes and 37 seconds the Dragon spacecraft successfully separated from the rocket, and deployed its solar arrays about two minutes later.
The opening of its
GNC door came two hours later, enabling orbital operations.
After a series or orbital maneuvers and stationkeeping at different hold points, the CRS-9 Dragon was captured by the
ISS
The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA (J ...
's
Canadarm2
The Mobile Servicing System (MSS), is a robotic system on board the International Space Station (ISS). Launched to the ISS in 2001, it plays a key role in station assembly and maintenance; it moves equipment and supplies around the station, supp ...
on 20 July 2016 at 10:56 UTC. After robotic operations, it was berthed some three hours later at 14:03 UTC.
In preparation for recovery, the Dragon capsule was loaded with of experiments and no-longer-needed equipment and, on 25 August 2016 at 21:00 UTC, it was unberthed and stowed in an overnight parking position away from the station. Dragon was released from Canadarm2 the following day at 10:11 UTC. After maneuvering away from the station, Dragon conducted a re-entry burn at 14:56 UTC and successfully landed in the Pacific Ocean at 15:47 UTC, approximately southwest of
Baja California
Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...
.
Primary payload
NASA contracted for the CRS-9 mission from SpaceX and therefore determined the primary payload, date/time of launch, and
orbital parameters
Orbital elements are the parameters required to uniquely identify a specific orbit. In celestial mechanics these elements are considered in two-body systems using a Kepler orbit. There are many different ways to mathematically describe the same ...
for the Dragon
space capsule
A space capsule is an often-crewed spacecraft that uses a blunt-body reentry capsule to reenter the Earth's atmosphere without wings. Capsules are distinguished from other satellites primarily by the ability to survive reentry and return a payl ...
.
CRS-9 carried of cargo to the International Space Station. Amongst its pressurized cargo was of material supporting about 250 science and research experiments, of crew supplies, of spacecraft hardware, of extravehicular activity equipment, of computer equipment, and of Russian hardware. Its unpressurized cargo, the
International Docking Adapter
The International Docking Adapter (IDA) is a spacecraft docking system adapter developed to convert APAS-95 to the NASA Docking System (NDS). An IDA is placed on each of the International Space Station's (ISS) two open Pressurized Mating Adapte ...
-2 located in Dragon's trunk, massed .
Some of the key experiments transported by CRS-9 to the ISS were the Biomolecule Sequencer, which performed
DNA sequencing
DNA sequencing is the process of determining the nucleic acid sequence – the order of nucleotides in DNA. It includes any method or technology that is used to determine the order of the four bases: adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine. Th ...
in orbit; the Phase Change Heat Exchanger, which tested
temperature regulation
Thermoregulation is the ability of an organism to keep its body temperature within certain boundaries, even when the surrounding temperature is very different. A thermoconforming organism, by contrast, simply adopts the surrounding temperature ...
systems for future spacecraft applications; the OsteoOmics experiment, which tested if Earth-based
magnetic levitation
Magnetic levitation (maglev) or magnetic suspension is a method by which an object is suspended with no support other than magnetic fields. Magnetic force is used to counteract the effects of the gravitational force and any other forces.
The ...
can properly simulate microgravity conditions; and the Heart Cells experiment from
Stanford University
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
, which examined the effects of microgravity on the human heart at the cellular and molecular level using human
induced pluripotent stem cell
Induced pluripotent stem cells (also known as iPS cells or iPSCs) are a type of pluripotent stem cell that can be generated directly from a somatic cell. The iPSC technology was pioneered by Shinya Yamanaka's lab in Kyoto, Japan, who showed in ...
-derived
cardiomyocytes
Cardiac muscle (also called heart muscle, myocardium, cardiomyocytes and cardiac myocytes) is one of three types of vertebrate muscle tissues, with the other two being skeletal muscle and smooth muscle. It is an involuntary, striated muscle that ...
.
First stage landing
Following stage separation, the rocket's first stage performed a boostback maneuver and landed smoothly at
Landing Zone 1
Landing Zone 1 and Landing Zone 2, also known as LZ-1 and LZ-2 respectively, are landing facilities on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station for recovering components of SpaceX's VTVL reusable launch vehicles. LZ-1 and LZ-2 were built on land lea ...
,
Cape Canaveral
, image = cape canaveral.jpg
, image_size = 300
, caption = View of Cape Canaveral from space in 1991
, map = Florida#USA
, map_width = 300
, type =Cape
, map_caption = Location in Florida
, location ...
, for the second time on solid ground, following
Falcon 9 Flight 20
Falcon 9 flight 20 (also known as Orbcomm OG2 M2) was a Falcon 9 space launch that occurred on 22 December 2015 at 01:29:00 UTC (21 December, 8:29:00 pm local time). It was the first time that the first stage of an orbital rocket made a succe ...
in December 2015.
See also
*
List of Falcon 9 launches
References
External links
*
SpaceX CRS portalat NASA.gov
Dragon spacecraft pageat SpaceX.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:CRS 009
SpaceX Dragon
Spacecraft launched in 2016
Spacecraft which reentered in 2016
SpaceX payloads contracted by NASA
Supply vehicles for the International Space Station