SpaceX CRS-22, also known as SpX-22, was a

Commercial Resupply Services Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) are a series of flights awarded by NASA for the delivery of cargo and supplies to the International Space Station (ISS) on commercially operated spacecraft. The first CRS contracts were signed in 2008 and awarde ...

(CRS) 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 ...

(ISS) that launched at 17:29:15 UTC on 3 June 2021. The mission is 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 flown 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 Cargo Dragon 2. This is the second flight for SpaceX under NASA's CRS Phase 2 contract awarded in January 2016.

Cargo Dragon

SpaceX plans to reuse the Cargo Dragons up to five times. Since it does not support a crew, the Cargo Dragon launches without SuperDraco abort engines, seats, cockpit controls or the life support system required to sustain astronauts in space.

Dragon 2 Dragon 2 is a class of partially reusable spacecraft developed and manufactured by American aerospace manufacturer SpaceX, primarily for flights to the International Space Station (ISS). SpaceX has also launched private missions such as Ins ...

improves on Dragon 1 in several ways, including lessened refurbishment time, leading to shorter periods between flights. The new Cargo Dragon capsules under the NASA CRS Phase 2 contract splash down under parachutes in the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...

rather than the previous recovery zone in the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

west 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 ...

under the NASA CRS Phase 1 contract.

Payload

NASA contracted for the CRS-22 mission from SpaceX and therefore determines the primary payload, date 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 Cargo Dragon. The total mission payload is . * Science investigations: * Vehicle hardware: * Crew supplies: * Spacewalk equipment: * Computer resources: * External payloads: ISS Roll Out Solar Arrays (iROSA) First pair of new roll-out solar arrays, namely, 2B and 4B; using XTJ Prime space solar cells, based on design tested at ISS in 2017. They will be delivered to the station in the unpressurized trunk of the SpaceX Cargo Dragon CRS-22 spacecraft. A second pair was delivered to the ISS on CRS-26 in late 2022, followed by another pair on CRS-28 due to be delivered in june 2023. The installation of these new solar arrays requires two spacewalks: one to prepare the worksite with a modification kit, on 16 June 2021, and another to install the new panel, on 20 June 2021. Additional hardware carried internally includes: * Catalytic Reactor: legacy unit launching to provide critical sparing support for the water production capability for the

environmental control and life support system A life-support system is the combination of equipment that allows survival in an environment or situation that would not support that life in its absence. It is generally applied to systems supporting human life in situations where the outsid ...

(ECLSS) * Commercial Crew Vehicle Emergency Breathing Air Assembly (CEBAA) Regulator Manifold Assembly (RMA): completing the first set of emergency air supply capability, this integrated system supports as many as five crew members for up to 1 hour during an ISS emergency ammonia leak * Zarya Kurs Electronics Unit: critical hardware for cosmonaut remote-control docking of Russian spacecraft is launching to support planned maintenance activity during 2021 * Potable Water Dispenser (PWD) Filter: major filter assembly used to remove iodine from water consumed by the crew during nominal operations * Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) Air Tanks: critical disposable air tanks to support gas resupply for routine cabin repress activities in-orbit * Iceberg: critical cold stowage capability to support expanded payload operations

Research

The new experiments arriving at the orbiting laboratory on the SpaceX CRS-22 mission supports science from human health to high-powered computing, and utilizes the space station as a proving ground for new technologies. Among the investigations arriving inside the Dragon's pressurized capsule will be a variety of research experiments and studies, including: * Develop better pharmaceuticals and therapies for treating kidney disease on

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

* Using cotton root systems to identify varieties of plants that require less water and pesticides * Test new portable ultrasound technology in microgravity (Butterfly IQ Ultrasound) Two model organism investigations: * One study will look at

bobtail squid Bobtail squid (order Sepiolida) are a group of cephalopods closely related to cuttlefish. Bobtail squid tend to have a rounder mantle than cuttlefish and have no cuttlebone. They have eight suckered arms and two tentacles and are generally qui ...

as a model to examine the effects of spaceflight on interactions between beneficial microbes and their animal hosts * Second study will examine

tardigrade Tardigrades (), known colloquially as water bears or moss piglets, are a phylum of eight-legged segmented micro-animals. They were first described by the German zoologist Johann August Ephraim Goeze in 1773, who called them Kleiner Wasserbär ...

s' adaptation to the harsh environment of space, which could contribute to long-term problem solving for vaccine production, distribution, and storage on Earth NASA Glenn Research Center studies: * Combustion Integration Rack (CIR) Reconfiguration Student Spaceflight Experiments Program The Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) has five experiments manifested: * Mission 14B - 3 experiments * Mission 15A - 2 experiments ISS United States National Laboratory The ISS U.S. National Laboratory is sponsoring more than a dozen payloads with education and commercial partners. These include: *

Colgate-Palmolive Colgate-Palmolive Company is an American multinational consumer products company headquartered on Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The company specializes in the production, distribution, and provision of household, health car ...

- oral biofilms investigation *

Eli Lilly Eli Lilly (July 8, 1838 – June 6, 1898) was an American soldier, pharmacist, chemist, and businessman who founded the Eli Lilly and Company pharmaceutical corporation. Lilly enlisted in the Union Army during the American Civil War and r ...

- investigation to examine the effects of gravity on the physical state and properties of freeze-dried pharmaceutical products

CubeSats

ELaNa 36: One

CubeSat A CubeSat is a class of miniaturized satellite based around a form factor consisting of cubes. CubeSats have a mass of no more than per unit, and often use commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components for their electronics and structure. CubeSats ...

is scheduled for deployment on this mission:
RamSat
– Oak Ridge Public Schools (Robertsville Middle School),

Oak Ridge, Tennessee Oak Ridge is a city in Anderson and Roane counties in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Tennessee, about west of downtown Knoxville. Oak Ridge's population was 31,402 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Knoxville Metropolitan Area. Oak ...

Nanoracks Nanoracks LLC is a private in-space services companywhich builds space hardware and in-space repurposing tools.The company also facilitates experiments and launches of CubeSats to Low Earth Orbit. Nanoracks's main office is in Houston, Tex ...

CubeSat deployments: * SOAR –

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and th
DISCOVERER
consortium with EU/EC Horizon 2020 funding. UNOOSA /

JAXA The is the Japanese national air and space agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on 1 October 2003. JAXA is responsible for research, technology development and launch of satellites into orb ...

KiboCUBE program: * MIR-SAT1 – Mauritius Research and Innovation Council (MRIC) * G-SATELLITE 2 – OneTeam,

Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games The (TOCOG) was the organisation responsible for overseeing the planning and development of the 2020 Summer Olympics, 2020 Summer Olympic and 2020 Summer Paralympics, Paralympic Games. History The Organising Committee was launched on 24 Januar ...

(TOCOG)

Returning hardware

Beginning with returning capsules or lifting bodies under the CRS-2 contract, NASA reports major hardware (failed or expended hardware for diagnostic assessment, refurbishment, repair, or no longer needed) returning from the International Space Station. The SpaceX CRS-22 mission ends on 10 July 2021, this is a two-day delay from the original undocking target of 6 July 2021 as a result of Tropical Storm/Hurricane Elsa causing weather concerns at the splashdown zones, with re-entry into

atmosphere of Earth The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...

and splash down in the

near the western coast of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

with of return cargo. * Catalytic Reactor Developmental Test Objective (DTO): developmental environmental control and life support system (ECLSS) unit returning for testing, teardown, and evaluation (TT&E) to determine the cause of failure and subsequent re-flight * Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) Distillation Assembly: critical ECLSS orbital replacement unit used for urine distillation, processing, and future use returning for TT&E and refurbishment to support future spares demand * Sabatier Main Controller: major Sabatier system hardware used in conjunction with the Oxygen Generation System (OGS) for water production needs on-orbit * Rodent Research Habitats (AEM-X): habitats used during Rodent Research missions returning for refurbishment to support future missions in early 2022 * Nitrogen/Oxygen Recharge System (NORS) Recharge Tank Assembly (RTA): empty gas tanks returning for reuse to support high-pressure gas operations and activities on-orbit

References

External links

NASA

SpaceX official page for the Dragon spacecraft
{{Orbital launches in 2021 SpaceX Dragon 2 SpaceX payloads contracted by NASA Supply vehicles for the International Space Station Spacecraft launched in 2021 2021 in the United States Spacecraft which reentered in 2021