SpaceX Crew-2

SpaceX Crew-2 was the second operational flight of a Crew Dragon spacecraft, and the third overall crewed orbital flight of the Commercial Crew Program. The mission was launched on 23 April 2021 at 09:49:02 UTC, and docked to the International Space Station on 24 April at 09:08 UTC.[2]

Not to be confused with Crew Dragon Demo-2.

SpaceX Crew-2
Endeavour approaches the ISS
NamesUSCV-2 (2012–2019)
Crew-2
Mission typeISS crew transport
OperatorSpaceX
COSPAR ID2021-030A
SATCAT no.48209Edit this on Wikidata
Mission duration199 days, 17 hours and 43 minutes
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftCrew Dragon Endeavour
Spacecraft typeCrew Dragon
ManufacturerSpaceX
Launch mass12,055 kg (26,577 lb)[1]
Landing mass9,616 kg (21,200 lb)
Crew
Crew size4
Members
ExpeditionExpedition 65 / 66
EVAs4
EVA duration27 hours and 22 minutes
Start of mission
Launch date23 April 2021, 09:49:02 UTC[2]
RocketFalcon 9 Block 5 (B1061.2)
Launch siteKennedy Space Center, LC-39A
ContractorSpaceX
End of mission
Recovered byGO Navigator
Landing date9 November 2021, 03:33 UTC
Landing siteGulf of Mexico
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric orbit
RegimeLow Earth orbit
Inclination51.66°
Docking with International Space Station
Docking portHarmony forward
Docking date24 April 2021, 09:10 UTC
Undocking date21 July 2021, 10:45 UTC
Time docked88 days
Docking with International Space Station (relocation) [3] [lower-alpha 1]
Docking portHarmony zenith
Docking date21 July 2021, 11:36 UTC
Undocking date8 November 2021, 19:05 UTC [5]
Time docked110 days

SpaceX Crew-2 mission patch

McArthur, Pesquet, Hoshide and Kimbrough
 

SpaceX Crew-2 used the same capsule as Crew Dragon Demo-2 (Endeavour) and launched on the same Falcon 9 booster as SpaceX Crew-1 (B1061.1).

With its return to Earth the evening of 9 November 2021, the mission set a record for the longest spaceflight by a U.S. crewed spacecraft, 199 days.[6]

Crew

On 28 July 2020, JAXA, ESA and NASA confirmed their astronaut assignments aboard this mission.[7][8]

Prime crew
Position Astronaut
Spacecraft commander United States Shane Kimbrough, NASA
Expedition 65 / 66
Third and last spaceflight
Pilot United States K. Megan McArthur, NASA
Expedition 65 / 66
Second spaceflight
Mission Specialist 1 Japan Akihiko Hoshide, JAXA
Expedition 65 / 66
Third spaceflight
Mission Specialist 2 France Thomas Pesquet, ESA
Expedition 65 / 66
Second spaceflight

German astronaut Matthias Maurer was the backup for Pesquet, while Japanese astronaut Satoshi Furukawa trained as backup to Hoshide.[8][9]

Backup crew
Position Astronaut
Spacecraft commander Not assigned
Pilot Not assigned
Mission Specialist 1 Japan Satoshi Furukawa, JAXA
Mission Specialist 2 Germany Matthias Maurer, ESA

Mission


The second SpaceX operational mission in the Commercial Crew Program launched on 23 April 2021.[10][11] The Crew Dragon Endeavour (C206), docked to the International Docking Adapter (IDA) on the Harmony module at its forward port. This mission was the first with astronauts on board with a previously used booster launch vehicle.[12][13]

All crew members were veteran astronauts, though this was Megan McArthur's first visit to the ISS (as her first spaceflight was STS-125, a mission to the Hubble Space Telescope). McArthur used the same seat on the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour in this mission which her husband, Bob Behnken, used on the Demo-2 mission.[14] Akihiko Hoshide served as the second Japanese ISS commander during his stay.[7] It was the second mission by Thomas Pesquet to the International Space Station and was named Alpha, after Alpha Centauri, the closest star system to Earth.[8]

As preparation for the launch of Starliner, the Crew Dragon Endeavour docked to ISS at Harmony forward port for its Crew-2 mission was undocked at 10:45 UTC and relocated to Harmony zenith port on 21 July 2021, at 11:36 UTC.[lower-alpha 1]

With CRS-23, (C208) and Inspiration4 (Resilience), three Dragon spacecraft were in space at the same time, from 16 to 18 September 2021 (UTC).

Timeline
MET Time Date
(UTC)		 Event[15]
EDT UTC
−6:40:00 11:09:00 PM 03:09:00 23 April
2021		 Crew wake
−05:30:00 0:19:02 AM 04:19:02 CE launch readiness briefing
−05:00:00 0:49:02 AM 04:49:02 Launch shift on console
−04:59:59 0:49:03 AM 04:49:03 Dragon IMU align and configure for launch.
−04:30:00 1:19:02 AM 04:19:02 Dragon propellant pressurization
−04:20:00 1:29:02 AM 04:29:02 Crew weather brief
−04:10:00 1:39:02 AM 05:39:02 Crew handoff
−04:00:00 1:49:02 AM 05:49:02 Suit donning and checkouts
−03:20:00 2:29:02 AM 05:29:02 Crew walk out of Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building
−03:15:00 2:34:02 AM 05:34:02 Crew transportation to Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) by Tesla Model X with "RECYCLE" license plate
−02:55:00 2:54:02 AM 06:54:02 Crew arrives at pad
−02:35:00 3:14:02 AM 07:14:02 Crew ingress
−02:20:00 3:29:02 AM 07:29:02 Communication check
−02:15:00 3:34:02 AM 07:34:02 Verify ready for seat rotation
−02:14:00 3:35:02 AM 07:35:02 Suit leak checks
−01:55:00 3:54:02 AM 07:54:02 Hatch close
−01:10:00 4:39:02 AM 08:39:02 ISS state upload to Dragon
−00:45:00 5:04:02 AM 09:04:02 SpaceX launch director verifies go for propellant load
−00:42:00 5:07:02 AM 09:07:02 Crew access arm retracts
−00:38:00 5:11:02 AM 09:11:02 Dragon launch escape system is armed.
−00:35:00 5:14:02 AM 09:14:02 RP-1 (rocket grade kerosene) loading begins; 1st stage LOX (liquid oxygen) loading begins.
−00:16:00 5:33:02 AM 09:33:02 2nd stage LOX loading begins.
−00:07:00 5:42:02 AM 09:42:02 Falcon 9 begins engine chill prior to launch.
−00:05:00 5:44:02 AM 09:44:02 Dragon transitions to internal power
−00:01:00 5:48:02 AM 09:48:02 Command flight computer to begin final prelaunch checks; propellant tank pressurization to flight pressure begins.
−00:00:45 5:48:17 AM 09:48:17 SpaceX launch director verifies go for launch.
−00:00:03 5:48:59 AM 09:48:59 Engine controller commands Merlin engine ignition sequence to start.
00:00:00 5:49:02 AM 09:49:02 Liftoff
+00:01:02 5:50:04 AM 09:50:04 Max Q (moment of peak mechanical stress on the launch vehicle)
+00:02:36 5:51:38 AM 09:51:38 1st stage main engine cutoff (MECO)
+00:02:39 5:51:41 AM 09:51:41 1st and 2nd stages separate
+00:02:47 5:51:49 AM 09:51:49 2nd stage engine starts
+00:07:27 5:56:29 AM 09:56:29 1st stage entry burn
+00:08:47 5:57:49 AM 09:57:49 2nd stage engine cutoff (SECO-1)
+00:09:03 5:58:05 AM 09:58:05 1st stage landing burn
+00:09:30 5:58:32 AM 09:58:32 1st stage landing
+00:11:58 6:01:00 AM 10:01:00 Crew Dragon separates from 2nd stage
+00:13:02 6:02:04 AM 10:02:04 Dragon nosecone open sequence begins
+1/ 3:31 AM 07:31 24 April
2021		 Dragon starts the final phase of the approach to the ISS.[16]
+1/03:33 05:08 AM 09:08 Soft capture to the ISS.[17]
+1/03:33 05:20 AM 09:20 Dragon docked to the ISS.[18]
+1/05:34 7:15 AM 11:15 Hatch opened.[19]

Wake-up calls

NASA began a tradition of playing music to astronauts during the Gemini program, and first used music to wake up a flight crew during Apollo 15. Each track is specially chosen, often by the astronauts' families, and usually has a special meaning to an individual member of the crew, or is applicable to their daily activities.[20]

Flight Day Song Artist Played for Links
Day 2 An off-key, all flute comedic cover of A-Ha's "Take On Me", made by YouTube artist "Shittyflute".[21] A-ha (original)
Shittyflute (Cover)		 Thomas Pesquet

Return

Due to weather delays and a minor health problem with one of the SpaceX Crew-3 crew,[22] NASA decided to bring home the Crew-2 astronauts from the ISS before launching Crew-3, thus being the first Crew Dragon indirect handover of space station crews. The Crew Dragon undocked from the station at 19:05 UTC on 8 November 2021 and splashed down off the coast of Florida at 03:33 UTC on 9 November 2021.[5] One of four parachutes deployed slower than the others.[23]

SpaceX Crew-2
  • Crew-2 astronauts before flight
    Crew-2 astronauts before flight
  • Launch of Crew-2
    Launch of Crew-2
  • Endeavour approaching the ISS
    Endeavour approaching the ISS
  • View of the ISS from Endeavour
    View of the ISS from Endeavour
  • Crew-2 reentering the atmosphere
    Crew-2 reentering the atmosphere

See also

Notes
  1. From an orbital dynamics perspective, the forward port is easier to approach, and therefore new vehicles use this approach for their first live docking. The Boeing Starliner was scheduled to make its first docking on OFT-2 at the end of July 2021; therefore, Crew-2 relocated to the zenith port to clear the forward port for OFT-2.[4]

References
  1. "Dragon Endeavour 2". NASA. 26 April 2021. Retrieved 15 November 2021. Mass: 12055 kg
  2. "SpaceX's Crew-2 launch lights up the predawn sky with a spectacular show (photos)". Space.com. 23 April 2021.
  3. "Starliner capsule fueled for unpiloted test flight to International Space Station". Spaceflight Now. 22 June 2021. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  4. "NASA TV to Air Crew Dragon Crew-2 Port Relocation on Space Station". NASA. 14 June 2021. Retrieved 14 June 2021. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  5. Loff, Sarah (7 November 2021). "NASA, SpaceX Adjust Crew-2 Station Departure Date". blogs.nasa. Retrieved 7 November 2021. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  6. Kathleen Ellis (9 November 2021). "Crew-2 Astronauts Safely Splash Down in Gulf of Mexico". NASA. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
  7. "JAXA星出彰彦宇宙飛行士の国際宇宙ステーション（ISS）長期滞在 搭乗機決定について". jaxa.jp (in Japanese). 28 July 2020. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  8. "Thomas Pesquet first ESA astronaut to ride a Dragon to space". ESA Science and Exploration. 28 July 2020. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  9. Powell, Joel [@ShuttleAlmanac] (19 November 2020). "JAXA has announced long stay visits to the ISS for 2022 and 2023" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  10. Potter, Sean (5 March 2021). "NASA, SpaceX Invite Media to Next Commercial Crew Launch". NASA. Retrieved 5 March 2021. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  11. Clark, Stephen (5 March 2021). "Next Crew Dragon launch set for April 22". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  12. Drake, Nadia (23 April 2021). "SpaceX launches first astronauts on a reused rocket". National Geographic. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  13. Thompson, Amy (23 April 2021). "SpaceX launches 4 astronauts to space station, nails rocket landing". Space.com. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  14. "Megan to reuse Bob's demo-2 seat in crew-2 mission". aljazeera.com. 20 April 2020.
  15. "Mission Timeline for Launch Thursday, April 23 at 5:49:02 EST". Spaceflight Now.
  16. Garcia, Mark (24 April 2021). "NASA TV Covers SpaceX Crew-2 Docking to Station Today". blogs.nasa. Archived from the original on 24 May 2021. Retrieved 24 April 2021. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  17. "SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour docks with ISS". france24.com. 24 April 2021. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
  18. Cawley, James (24 April 2021). "Crew Dragon Docks to Station, Hatches Open Soon". blogs.nasa. Retrieved 13 December 2020. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  19. Cawley, James (17 November 2020). "Hatches Open, Crew Dragon Astronauts Join Expedition 64". blogs.nasa. Retrieved 13 December 2020. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  20. "Chronology of Wakeup Calls". NASA. 2 August 2005. Retrieved 5 April 2010. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  21. @chasg76 (25 July 2021). "@Explorer_Flight @Thom_astro..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  22. "SpaceX crew launch bumped to next week; astronaut on mend". AP News. 4 November 2021. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
  23. Clark, Stephen (9 November 2021). "SpaceX crew capsule brings astronauts home after nearly 200 days in orbit – Spaceflight Now". Retrieved 2 February 2022.
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