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

[FutureSpaceTourist]

Here’s the great tracking shot of booster landing

https://twitter.com/thesheetztweetz/status/1154517554838171648

Watch this:

A tracking camera gave an incredible view of @SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket booster hurtling back down through the sky. You can even see the booster bounce just a little on the landing! cnb.cx/2YlQ4mt

[FutureSpaceTourist]

Ben Cooper launch photo from SpaceX website

[Targeteer]

July 25, 2019
RELEASE 19-058

A SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft is on its way to deliver the second commercial crew docking port and about 5,000 pounds of science investigations and supplies for the International Space Station after a 6:01 p.m. EDT Thursday launch from Florida.

The spacecraft launched on a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, and is scheduled to arrive at the orbiting laboratory Saturday, July 27. Coverage of the spacecraft’s approach and arrival will begin at 8:30 a.m. on NASA Television and the agency’s website.

Dragon will join three other spacecraft currently at the space station. Expedition 60 Flight Engineers Nick Hague and Christina Koch of NASA will use the station’s robotic arm, Canadarm2, to grab, or grapple, Dragon around 10 a.m. Coverage of robotic installation to the Earth-facing port of the Harmony module will begin at 12 p.m.

A key item in Dragon’s unpressurized cargo section is International Docking Adapter-3 (IDA-3). Flight controllers at mission control in Houston will use the robotic arm to extract IDA-3 from Dragon and position it over Pressurized Mating Adapter-3, on the space-facing side of the Harmony module. Hague and NASA astronaut Drew Morgan, who arrived at the station Saturday, July 20, will conduct a spacewalk in mid-August to install the docking port, connect power and data cables, and set up a high-definition camera on a boom arm.

Robotics flight control teams from NASA and the Canadian Space Agency will move the docking port into position remotely before the astronauts perform the final installation steps. IDA-3 and IDA-2, which was installed in the summer of 2016, provide a new standardized and automated docking system for future spacecraft, including upcoming commercial spacecraft that will transport astronauts through contracts with NASA.

This delivery, SpaceX’s 18th cargo flight to the space station under a Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA, will support dozens of new and existing investigations. The space station continues to be a one-of-a-kind laboratory where NASA is conducting world-class research in fields, such as biology, physics, and materials science. NASA’s research and development work aboard the space station contributes to the agency’s deep space exploration plans, including returning astronauts to the Moon’s surface in five years and preparing to send humans to Mars.

Here are details about some of the scientific investigations Dragon is delivering to the space station:

Bio-Mining in Microgravity

The Biorock investigation will provide insight into the physical interactions of liquid, rocks and microorganisms under microgravity conditions and improve the efficiency and understanding of mining materials in space. Bio-mining eventually could help explorers on the Moon or Mars acquire needed materials, lessening the need to use precious resources from Earth and reducing the amount of supplies that explorers must take with them.

Printing Biological Tissues in Space

Using 3D biological printers to produce usable human organs has long been a dream of scientists and doctors around the globe. However, printing the tiny, complex structures found inside human organs, such as capillary structures, has proven difficult to accomplish in Earth’s gravity. To overcome this challenge, Techshot designed their BioFabrication Facility to print organ-like tissues in microgravity – a stepping stone in a long-term plan to manufacture whole human organs in space using refined biological 3D printing techniques.

Improving Tire Manufacturing from Orbit

The Goodyear Tire investigation will use microgravity to push the limits of silica fillers for tire applications. A better understanding of silica morphology and the relationship between silica structure and its properties could improve the silica design process, silica rubber formulation and tire manufacturing and performance. Such improvements could include increased fuel efficiency, which would reduce transportation costs and help to protect Earth’s environment.

Effects of Microgravity on Microglia 3D Models

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) – adult cells genetically programmed to return to an embryonic stem cell-like state – have the ability to develop into any cell type in the human body, potentially providing an unlimited source of human cells for therapeutic purposes. Space Tango-Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells examines how specialized white blood cells derived from iPSCs of patients with Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis grow and move in 3D cultures, and any changes in gene expression that occur as a result of exposure to a microgravity environment. Results could lead to the development of potential therapies.

Mechanisms of Moss in Microgravity

Space Moss compares mosses grown aboard the space station with those grown on Earth to determine how microgravity affects its growth, development, and other characteristics. Tiny plants without roots, mosses need only a small area for growth, an advantage for their potential use in space and future bases on the Moon or Mars. This investigation also could yield information that aids in engineering other plants to grow better on the Moon and Mars, as well as on Earth.

These are just a few of the hundreds of investigations providing opportunities for 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. Conducting science aboard the orbiting laboratory will help us learn how to keep astronauts healthy during long-duration space travel and demonstrate technologies for future human and robotic exploration beyond low-Earth orbit to the Moon and Mars.

For more than 18 years, humans have lived and worked continuously aboard the International Space Station, advancing scientific knowledge and demonstrating new technologies, making research breakthroughs not possible on Earth that will enable long-duration human and robotic exploration into deep space. A global endeavor, more than 230 people from 18 countries have visited the unique microgravity laboratory that has hosted more than 2,500 research investigations from researchers in 106 countries.

Get breaking news, images and features from the station on social media, at:

https://instagram.com/iss

https://www.twitter.com/ISS_Research

https://www.twitter.com/Space_Station

[abaddon]

SpaceX Webcast

[Targeteer]

still no orbital elements...

[gongora]

https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/1154598017007312896

TLEs for Dragon CRS-18 and two solar array covers in 203 x 387 km x51.6 deg orbit. Still only one object from the SQX-1 launch.

1 44448U 19044C   19207.04117546 -.00003552  11230-4  00000+0 0  9995
2 44448  51.6467 168.7615 0131911  49.4280 311.8121 15.92984538    25

1 44447U 19044B   19207.04109553 -.00003550  11224-4  00000+0 0  9994
2 44447  51.6070 168.8187 0137063  48.6470 311.9083 15.92654931    24

1 44446U 19044A   19207.04123515 -.00003552  11228-4  00000+0 0  9993
2 44446  51.6335 168.7645 0137836  48.9486 312.4879 15.92748579    24

[catdlr]

SpaceX - CRS18 - Continuous 4K Tracker Launch To Landing 07-25-2019


USLaunchReport
Published on Jul 25, 2019

4 - 4K Blackmagic Cameras, Three telescopes, one manual tracker. The Fl weather parted for a beautiful launch. Thanks to our friends from, Italy and the Philippines. Ed Geiger did a Great Job.

[FutureSpaceTourist]

A selection of shots from:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasakennedy/

[jacqmans]

SpaceX photos

[jacqmans]

A SpaceX Falcon 9 CRS-18 rocket launched at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, July 25, 2019. The CRS-18 is the latest mission in the Commercial Resupply Services program which transports thousands of pounds of cargo and supplies to resupply the International Space Station.

(U.S. Air Force photos by Airman 1st Class Dalton Williams)

[FutureSpaceTourist]

https://twitter.com/johnkrausphotos/status/1154797225949769728

Closeup views of yesterday’s launch of Falcon 9 and CRS-18! Dragon is currently en route to the International Space Station following yesterday’s 6:01pm EDT launch from Cape Canaveral.

https://twitter.com/schilkescott/status/1154759817770221569

The fury of 1.7 million pounds of thrust at liftoff from nine Merlin engines igniting at once! This is an engine shot of the SpaceX Falcon 9 NASA CRS-16 [sic] to resupply the International Space Station from last night! @SpaceX @elonmusk @NASASocial @NASAKennedy @45thSpaceWing @CNN

[FutureSpaceTourist]

Wow

https://twitter.com/johnpisaniphoto/status/1154576932614414337

another frame, tighter crop

[yg1968]

Short post-launch interview:

[yg1968]

SpaceX CRS-18 - Launch
http://www.space-multimedia.nl.eu.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6673

SpaceX CRS-18 - Launch Coverage
http://www.space-multimedia.nl.eu.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6674

Here is another link to the full NASA launch coverage (starts at 1h27m):
https://www.ustream.tv/recorded/123320298

[edkyle99]

Here is another link to the full NASA launch coverage (starts at 1h27m):
https://www.ustream.tv/recorded/123320298

Super.  Love the NASA coverage.  No SpaceX graphics hiding the launch, for example.

 - Ed Kyle

[Andy USA]

Update thread for rendezvous and ISS ops to EOM and splashdown.
https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=48672.0

[Lewis007]

Some shots inside Mission Control during the Dragon SpX-18 launch.

source: JSC twitter

[FutureSpaceTourist]

Great shot of landed booster in 2nd photo. Legs are being folded up, not removed:

https://twitter.com/throughtjseye/status/1155286791127281667

Great time on @CanaveralTours today.  @spacex booster and @ulalaunch rocket.  Also the Canaveral Lighthouse #spacecoast

[FutureSpaceTourist]

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1155414118574067713

Falcon 9 piercing the sound barrier on reentry

Edit to add: credit where credit’s due

twitter.com/thefavoritist/status/1155445376427659264

Such a great shot by Jim Poppino!

[SMS]

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1155567236716740608