WASHINGTON -- With the successful launch of the Dragon cargoship, SpaceX engineers and NASA controllers are now focusing on thespacecraft's readiness to approach and link up with the International SpaceStation.
If the mission goes as planned, the historic attempt to"berth" the first commercial spacecraft to the space station -- astronautsaboard the orbiting lab would grab the spacecraft and pull it into a dockingport -- is scheduled to occur on Friday (May 25), SpaceX said after a flawlesslaunch of its Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral on Tuesday morning.
For the next two days, SpaceX engineers will check outDragon's systems as it orbits below the space station, a maneuver that allowsit to catch up with its target. On Thursday, Dragon's rendezvous and proximitysensors, communications and other navigation systems will undergo a series ofexhaustive tests to determine if it is safe to approach the space station. Aseries of orbital maneuvers and system checks would then bring the spacecraftwithin about 1.5 miles of the space station, SpaceX said.
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Pad 40 at theKennedy Space Center on Tuesday (May 22) carrying the Dragon cargo ship to theInternational Space Station (Source: NASA)NASA officials would then decide on Friday whether thespacecraft was fit to "berth" with the station. Earlier spacecraft like thespace shuttle actually docked with the station, but NASA wants astronautsaboard the station to grab the test vehicle with a robotic arm, then attach itto station.
The complexity of the rendezvous and berthing maneuversaccounted for a series of launch delays. SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell saidlast week that NASA program managers and company engineers spent monthsvalidating every line of Dragon's navigation software code. A chief concern wasthat Dragon's systems might interfere with space station equipment duringrendezvous maneuvers.
The upcoming tests of the orbiting spacecraft will revealwhether NASA's software assurance program was successful. SpaceX officialsacknowledged again after today's launch that the berthing maneuver will be a"feat that requires extreme precision."
Dragon is carrying nonessential supplies to the spacestation, including clothing and food. If it successfully links up with thespace station, it is scheduled to remain attached until May 31, whileastronauts unload supplies and load cargo for Dragon's return to earth.
"We obviously have to go through a number of steps to berthwith the space station, but everything is looking really good and I think Iwould count today as a success no matter what happens with the rest of themission," SpaceX founder Elon Musk said in a statement released after thelaunch. Musk likened the mission to the advent of the Internet in the mid-1990swhen private companies shifted many of their operations to the Web.
This week's mission to the space station is the seconddemonstration flight under a NASA commercial cargo and crew contract withSpaceX, which became the first private entity to launch and recover aspacecraft in December 2010.
The Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to splashdown off theSouthern California coast after completing its two-week mission.
This story was originally published on EETimes.
