LIVE: SpaceX Dragon COTS Demo (C2+) FD2 and FD3 UPDATES

[FinalFrontier]

When is docking currently supposed to happen (and yes I know that's not until tomorrow) barring any unexpected issues.

[Chris Bergin]

Since SpaceX is a private company, I guess they have no obligation to share any information with the general public but having said that I know I'd liek to get a lot more status information on this mission.

I'm assuming no news, is good news but then again, since all we're getting is the occasional Tweet, who knows ??

Yep, no obligation for SpaceX to throw masses of updates out there. However, all is well and we'll get to know if not (I know there are some of my people who'd let me know, so I'd update you).

Mission success is more important than additional coverage from SpaceX. Plus we haven't been short of things to put into the update thread (huge benefit of a forum format update, as we have a community of fans and industry alike, as opposed to a read only site where you'd be waiting for me to post something ).

All is well, that's good news.

[Chris Bergin]

When is docking currently supposed to happen (and yes I know that's not until tomorrow) barring any unexpected issues.

It's Berthing (not docking), and it's Friday, with around 8-9am Eastern (1206 - 1300 UTC).....with 8:06am Eastern (12:06am):

The earliest scheduled time of capture (grapple). Berthing comes later.

Tidied the thread, to remove some confusion/miscommunication and get everything into one post.

[krytek]

When is docking currently supposed to happen (and yes I know that's not until tomorrow) barring any unexpected issues.

It's Berthing (not docking), and it's Friday, with around 8-9am Eastern (1206 - 1300 UTC).....with 8:06am Eastern (12:06am):

The earliest scheduled time of capture (grapple). Berthing comes later.

Tidied the thread, to remove some confusion/miscommunication and get everything into one post.

Chris, can you please give us an idea of what kind of coverage to expect on Friday? Will there be some sort of live video feed? will there be minute to minute updates?
If it's even half as good as the one you managed to do for the launch I'm going to cancel some plans for Friday.

[psloss]

FWIW, attaching ugly pictures of the same timeline that Mr. Harwood already published.  This is the version from JSC PAO.  It looks like these times are preliminary, because looking at the live timeline, the HA2 burn time looks a little different (a few minutes).

[Rocket Science]

Thanks everyone for all the updates. All caught up now… I think?

[Chris Bergin]

When is docking currently supposed to happen (and yes I know that's not until tomorrow) barring any unexpected issues.

It's Berthing (not docking), and it's Friday, with around 8-9am Eastern (1206 - 1300 UTC).....with 8:06am Eastern (12:06am):

The earliest scheduled time of capture (grapple). Berthing comes later.

Tidied the thread, to remove some confusion/miscommunication and get everything into one post.

Chris, can you please give us an idea of what kind of coverage to expect on Friday? Will there be some sort of live video feed? will there be minute to minute updates?
If it's even half as good as the one you managed to do for the launch I'm going to cancel some plans for Friday.

Then cancel some plans cause we'll be treating it just like a Shuttle arrival at the ISS. Fully expect lots of live NTV coverage to work with.

[ChrisC]

Elon's tweet a couple hours ago said "Dragon fly by of Space Station planned for 12:47 am California time." (3:47am ET)

But that's not even close to the CBS timeline.  NASA TV coverage is supposed to start at 2:30am ET, and r-bar crossing is listed at 6:29am ET.  Has this really advanced as much as is implied?  Would love to hear confirmation one way or another, i.e. from an original source, not just a rehash of the above sources.

I bet they are still on the timeline and Elon is referring to the beginning of the ~50 km long fly-under pass, which is timelined for 3:49am ET.

[drdave]

Found a short article on floridatoday website confirming success of Dragon completing the requirements necessary to begin proximity operations. In the embedded video, it has NASA OSO describing the capture and birthing process and preparation for opening hatch.

I can't see the embedded video due to FT's retarded business model, but there was an OSO interview segment yesterday, available from John44 here, which I'm guessing is the same video.

This is my new personal favorite tracker, not sure if you all were aware of it.  http://mada.la.coocan.jp/sat/index.htm

Wasn't aware of it.  That is insane!  It also shows Dragon leading ISS, with an increasing distance between them, so I'm guessing that Dragon is going to do one more phasing lap of ISS before approach.  It took me a while to figure out how to display data for two objects.

And the previously mentioned site http://www.lizard-tail.com/isana/tracking/ shows Dragon trailing ISS.

Also, the SpaceX pdf on COTS 2,3 shows phasing from behind, with no mention of a lap.

[mr. mark]

NASA Coverage.

[shuttle_buff]

Dragon DF3 Mission Profile for tomorrow morning from NASA TV this morning.

[corrodedNut]

You know, I keep hearing that.  Elon's tweet a couple hours ago said "Dragon fly by of Space Station planned for 12:47 am California time." (3:47am ET)

But that's not even close to the CBS timeline. 

I think Elon must mean the flyunder starts at 12:47 AM (3:47AM ET), which it does after the CE2 burn. Dragon doesn't actually "flyunder" the station/crosses the Rbar till about 6:30 AM ET.

[psloss]

A few screenshots from here.  (Going to squeeze in three to save a post.)

[psloss]

FWIW, in the screenshot below (bottom), the timeline there has the HA2 burn at 0800 GMT, which is more than a few minutes later than the earlier timeline.

We'll see what we see in the "morning."

[rdale]

NASA TV MISSION COVERAGE

Thursday, May 24 (Flight Day 3): Live NASA Television coverage from NASA's Johnson Space Center mission control in Houston as the Dragon spacecraft performs its flyby of the International Space Station to test its systems begins at 2:30 a.m. EDT and will continue until the Dragon passes the vicinity of the station. A news briefing will be held at 10 a.m. following the activities.

Friday, May 25 (Flight Day 4): Live coverage of the rendezvous and berthing of the Dragon spacecraft to the station begins at 2 a.m. and will continue through the capture and berthing of the Dragon to the station's Harmony node. A news briefing will be held at 1 p.m. after Dragon is secured to the station.

Saturday, May 26 (Flight Day 5): Live coverage of the hatch opening and entry of the Dragon spacecraft begins at 5:30 a.m. and will include a crew news conference at 11:25 a.m.

NASA TV also will provide live coverage of the departure and reentry of the Dragon spacecraft once a date is determined.

[Lars_J]

SpaceX tweet:

SpaceX ‏@SpaceX
Dragon Mission Update: Dragon spent last night through today firing thrusters to catch up to the International Space Station.

[psloss]

Crew is looking for Dragon (possibly for photos); ground called up that it is 9 km below and 800 km (?) behind ISS.  (Might have misheard the distance behind...maybe he said 80; doesn't look that far behind if the map is correct.)

[Lars_J]

I don't think they have any optics on board that are powerful enough to image something of that size if it is 800km away. It must be closer.

[psloss]

Approaching the terminator, so I wouldn't be surprised if they're looking.

[Comga]

FWIW, attaching ugly pictures of the same timeline that Mr. Harwood already published.  This is the version from JSC PAO.  It looks like these times are preliminary, because looking at the live timeline, the HA2 burn time looks a little different (a few minutes).

Can someone explain the surprising ordering? For instance, CP, (the Capture Point ?)

07:48:43 AM...03...04...04...05...Capture point arrival
07:58:43 AM...03...04...14...05...Go' for capture
08:06:43 AM...03...04...22...05...Capture
08:10:24 AM...03...04...25...46...Sunset
08:45:38 AM...03...05...01...00...Sunrise
09:00:38 AM...03...05...16...00...Latest go for capture
09:10:38 AM...03...05...26...00...Latest CP arrival
09:25:38 AM...03...05...41...00...Earliest go For capture
09:30:38 AM...03...05...46...00...Earliest CP arrival

A nieve view would be earliest, nominal, then latest, with Capture always following CP Arrival.  Apparently something else is being said.