SpaceX F9 : CRS SpX-18 : July 25, 2019 - DISCUSSION

[gongora]

CRS-18 Discussion thread

NSF Threads for CRS-18 : Discussion / Updates / RNDZ, ISS Ops, EOM Updates / L2
NSF Articles for CRS-18 :
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/?s=CRS%2BSpaceX

NSF Articles for CRS missions :  https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/?s=CRS

Successful launch July 25 at 18:01 EDT/22:01 UTC) on Falcon 9 (booster 1056.2) from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral. RTLS landing was successful.  This Dragon was previously used for CRS-6 and CRS-13.


External cargo: IDA-3


Other SpaceX resources on NASASpaceflight:
   SpaceX News Articles (Recent)  /   SpaceX News Articles from 2006 (Including numerous exclusive Elon interviews)
   SpaceX Dragon Articles  /  SpaceX Missions Section (with Launch Manifest and info on past and future missions)
   L2 SpaceX Section

[gongora]

RFTSat (1007-EX-CN-2018)

The RFTSat CubeSat will be launched as a payload on a Falcon 9 launch vehicle executing the SpX-18 cargo mission for the International Space Station. The RFTSat CubeSat will then be deployed at a to-be-determined later date by a Cygnus vehicle departing the International Space Station.
The current launch date is projected to be May 7th, 2019
...
Overview
The goal of the Radio Frequency Tag Satellite (RFTSat) mission is to develop and demonstrate the first space-based 5.8GHz RF backscattering communications system. It will allow a wireless passive RF tag to harvest RF energy transmitted through space from
an RF reader on the spacecraft, store that energy in a supercapacitor, and power an MCU and various sensors on the tag. Then the collected sensor data will be transmitted back to the reader by modulating this information on the backscattered RF signal. This tag will be mounted at the end of an unfurling carbon fiber boom and will be used to measure accelerations, temperature, and radiation TID at a distance of about 1 m from the reader. All data will be downlinked to earth via GlobalStar satellite network.

[Comga]

RFTSat (1007-EX-CN-2018)

The RFTSat CubeSat will be launched as a payload on a Falcon 9 launch vehicle executing the SpX-18 cargo mission for the International Space Station. The RFTSat CubeSat will then be deployed at a to-be-determined later date by a Cygnus vehicle departing the International Space Station.
The current launch date is projected to be May 7th, 2019
...

How is that deployment possible?
Post departure deployments from Cygnus have been done from external deployers.
CubeSats carried on SpaceX CRS missions have gone as internal cargo and have been deployed thru the JEM airlock.
External transfer between these systems doesn’t make sense, which contributes to why it hasn’t been demonstrated.
The only way I can see this working is if they bring it back on the Dragon after some testing on orbit and ship it to MARS to be loaded onto the Cygnus before encapsulation and launch.
Unless there are two RFTSats

[Bob Shaw]

There's a new deployer system on this Cygnus which fits into the hatch (so far as I can make out). Cygnus will go to a higher orbit to deploy, then will be deorbited. This method will also be available in future if all goes well.

[gongora]

These are references to the new deployer use with the current SpX-16 and NG-10 missions:

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2018/12/08/dragon-attached-to-station-returns-to-earth-in-january/

A small satellite deployment mechanism, called SlingShot, will be ride up in Dragon and then be installed in a Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft prior to its departure from the space station. SlingShot can accommodate as many as 18 CubeSats of any format. After the Cygnus cargo ship departs from station, the spacecraft navigates to an altitude of 280 to 310 miles (an orbit higher than that of the space station) to deploy the satellites.

NG Press Release

The next phase of the mission features an inaugural flight for the Slingshot CubeSat Deployer System which further demonstrates Cygnus’ capabilities beyond its core cargo delivery function. Cygnus is prepared to support Slingshot, a flexible platform that can fly hosted payloads and CubeSats after installation onto the Cygnus spacecraft by NASA astronauts. Upon completion of its secondary missions, Cygnus will perform a safe, destructive reentry into Earth’s atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean.

https://twitter.com/SEOPSLLC/status/1030517519562551298

[Olaf]

More on this topic

https://twitter.com/SEOPSLLC/status/1050415785078853636
https://twitter.com/SEOPSLLC/status/1072927789601427456

[Comga]

Ah!
Like Jonathan Goff’s proposed “HatchBasket”
The group formed last year and got something to orbit before the end of this year
Very rapid technical and contractual development.
Looking forward to learning the details of how the pieces, “Slingshot” dispensed, CubeSats, etc. are arranged, transported, installed and deployed.

[deruch]

RFTSat (1007-EX-CN-2018)

The RFTSat CubeSat will be launched as a payload on a Falcon 9 launch vehicle executing the SpX-18 cargo mission for the International Space Station. The RFTSat CubeSat will then be deployed at a to-be-determined later date by a Cygnus vehicle departing the International Space Station.
The current launch date is projected to be May 7th, 2019
...

How is that deployment possible?
Post departure deployments from Cygnus have been done from external deployers.
CubeSats carried on SpaceX CRS missions have gone as internal cargo and have been deployed thru the JEM airlock.
External transfer between these systems doesn’t make sense, which contributes to why it hasn’t been demonstrated.
The only way I can see this working is if they bring it back on the Dragon after some testing on orbit and ship it to MARS to be loaded onto the Cygnus before encapsulation and launch.
Unless there are two RFTSats

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=7847 

The SlingShot attachment hardware and controller, as well as the satellites in their deployers, are flown to the space station as pressurized cargo in a visiting vehicle. Just prior to Cygnus departure, the SlingShot Controller is installed inside the Cygnus Cargo Module, the Cygnus hatch is closed and Slingshot deployer hardware is installed in the Cygnus PCBM. The deployers/satellites are then loaded into place. Next, the ISS hatch is closed and Cygnus departs and maneuvers to approximately 50 to 100 km above the space station, and deploys the SlingShot satellites. The remaining SlingShot hardware then burns up with Cygnus upon destructive reentry

That's clever.  The actual deployer is installed on the hatch or berthing ring.  But given the internal cargo volume limitations already experienced with Dragon, I'd be surprised if NASA chooses to send up many payloads with SpaceX instead of inside the Cygnus.

[zubenelgenubi]

Launch date: July 8, 2019
Source: SFN Launch Schedule, updated Jan. 16

[gongora]

0048-EX-CM-2019 MakerSat-1

MakerSat-1 is a technology proof-of-concept mission to demonstrate microgravity additive
manufacturing, assembly, and deployment of a CubeSat from the International Space Station.
MakerSat-1 is the first spacecraft explicitly designed to be 3D-printed aboard the ISS, easily and
safely snap-assembled by the astronaut crew in only 5 minutes without tools or fasteners, and
then gently deployed directly into orbit from the ISS. Its structural frame was 3D-printed in
August 2017, using the Additive Manufacturing Facility (AMF) printer aboard the ISS. Six circuit
boards/batteries are being sent to ISS on a July 2019 re-supply flight to permit the crew to finish
snap-together assembly, and battery charging. MakerSat-1 will be launched on a SpaceX
Falcon 9 vehicle where it will be transported onto the ISS. It will then be deployed from the
SEOPS deployment system onboard the Cygnus spacecraft hatchdoor which will be released
from the ISS.

I guess the parts go up on SpX-18 and the cubesat is launched from NG-12.

[Olaf]

I guess the parts go up on SpX-18 and the cubesat is launched from NG-12.

Or NG-11?

[Olaf]

I guess the parts go up on SpX-18 and the cubesat is launched from NG-12.

Or NG-11?

It will be NG-11.
From site 6 of the ODAR.pdf

Milestone Schedule
CubeSat Delivery to SEOPS 5/6/2019
Falcon 9 Launch to ISS 7/8/2019
Assembly on ISS 7/15/2019
Deploy from Cygnus 7/24/2019
Begin Orbital Operation 7/25/2019

[Olaf]

IDA-3 on SpX-18 is confirmed.
https://blogs.nasa.gov/stationreport/2019/05/02/iss-daily-summary-report-5022019/

The crew ingressed PMA 3 today and reconfigured IMV ducts in preparation for the arrival of International Docking Adapter (IDA) 3 on SpX-18.  Planned for Extravehicular Activity (EVA) installation, IDA 3 is required to support future US Crewed Vehicles (USCV).

[gongora]

ISS update at the NAC HEO committee meeting said mid-July for this launch

[jacqmans]

June 04, 2019 
MEDIA ADVISORY M19-051

NASA Invites Media to 18th SpaceX Cargo Launch to Space Station

Media accreditation is open for the launch of the next SpaceX delivery of NASA supplies, equipment and science investigations to the International Space Station.

A SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft is scheduled to launch in July on a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) in Florida. This will be the company’s 18th mission under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services contract.

Media prelaunch and launch activities will take place at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and neighboring CCAFS. Credentialing deadlines are as follows:

International media without U.S. citizenship must apply by 4:30 p.m. EDT Sunday, June 9, for access to CCAFS or by 4:30 p.m. Sunday, June 30, for access to Kennedy media activities only.U.S. media must apply by 4:30 p.m. Sunday, June 30.

All media accreditation requests should be submitted online at:

https://media.ksc.nasa.gov

For questions about accreditation, please email [email protected]. For other questions, contact Kennedy’s newsroom at 321-867-2468.

The International Space Station is a convergence of science, technology and human innovation that demonstrates new technologies and enables research not possible on Earth. The space station has been occupied continuously since November 2000. In that time, more than 230 people and a variety of international and commercial spacecraft have visited the orbiting laboratory.

The space station remains the springboard to NASA's next great leap in exploration, including missions to the Moon by 2024 and on to Mars. Space station research also provides opportunities for other U.S. government agencies, private industry, and academic and research institutions to conduct microgravity research that leads to new technologies, medical treatments, and products that improve life on Earth.
 

For launch countdown coverage, NASA's launch blog, and more information about the mission, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/spacex

[PM3]

Stephen Clark reports a launch date of July 18.
Ben Cooper reports a launch date of NET July 21,  ~7:30 pm Eastern.

This is close to Soyuz MS-13, which is scheduled for July 20.

https://spaceflightnow.com/launch-schedule/
http://www.launchphotography.com/Delta_4_Atlas_5_Falcon_9_Launch_Viewing.html

[anik]

I confirmed July 21 from my source.

[zubenelgenubi]

Ben Cooper reports a launch date of NET July 21,  ~7:30 pm Eastern.

This is close to Soyuz MS-13, which is scheduled for July 20.

http://www.launchphotography.com/Delta_4_Atlas_5_Falcon_9_Launch_Viewing.html

Assuming all goes according to plans:
Soyuz MS-13 will launch and dock with ISS on July 20 UTC.

Dragon SpX-18 will launch late on July 21 UTC and be berthed with ISS approximately two days later, July 23.

[yg1968]

Slide 32 has this this to say about SpX-18:

SpaceX CRS-18 Mission Status
• Mission Planning
• Launch tentatively planned for July 2019.
• Upmass – 3,310 kg estimated; Return/disposal – 2,500 kg estimated
• Pressurized Cargo
• Ascent: 2 Polar, 2 AEM-T, Bioculture
• Return: 4 Polar, 1 AEM-T, 1 MERLIN
• Unpressurized Cargo
• International Docking Adaptor (IDA)-3

https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/iss_nac_may_2019_rev_b.pdf

[gongora]

The ASAP meeting mentioned an EMU going up on this flight.