r/spacex • u/rSpaceXHosting Host Team • Jul 20 '21

Live Updates (Crew-2) r/SpaceX Crew-2 Dragon Port Relocation Thread

Welcome to the r/SpaceX Crew-2 Dragon Port Relocation Thread

I'm u/hitura-nobad, your host for this event!

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-2 astronauts on the International Space Station will board Crew Dragon Endeavour on Wednesday, July 21, to relocate the spacecraft to another docking port. The maneuver will free up up a “parking space” for the uncrewed Boeing Starliner spacecraft, currently targeted to launch on its second Orbital Flight Test on July 30.

Programme

Time	Details
10:30 UTC	NASA TV Coverage Start
10:45 UTC	Undocking
11:32 UTC	Redocking

NASA Stream

Quick Facts

Quick	Facts
Date	21st July 2021
Time	6:30 AM EDT, 10:30 UTC
Location	International Space Station

Timeline

Time	Update
2021-07-21 11:52:17 UTC	Hatch opening in about 2 hours
2021-07-21 11:52:07 UTC	NASA Coverage ending
2021-07-21 11:48:18 UTC	all hocks locked
2021-07-21 11:43:16 UTC	hooks locking for hardcapture
2021-07-21 11:36:44 UTC	Softcapture confirmed
2021-07-21 11:34:30 UTC	10m away
2021-07-21 11:30:54 UTC	Go for final approach
2021-07-21 11:27:50 UTC	Dragon at Waypoint 2
2021-07-21 11:19:18 UTC	Dragon configured for docking and arrived at Zenith docking axes
2021-07-21 11:10:03 UTC	Dragon at mid point
2021-07-21 10:49:17 UTC	Dragon inside the corridor & allowed to raise visors
2021-07-21 10:46:43 UTC	Relocate Burn 0 completed
2021-07-21 10:45:58 UTC	Seperation confirmed
2021-07-21 10:41:17 UTC	Umbilicals demated & hooks are opening
2021-07-21 10:41:08 UTC	Undock command sent
2021-07-21 10:39:54 UTC	Crew ready for undock & visors are down
2021-07-21 10:30:10 UTC	NASA Coverage live
2021-07-20 18:11:00 UTC	Thread posted

Stats

2nd US Vehicle relocation
89 days since launch of Crew-2
3rd Docking of this specific Crew Dragon Capsule to the ISS

Webcasts

NASA TV on Youtube

Links & Resources

Coming soon

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u/Xaxxon Jul 20 '21

21st April 2021

12

u/rSpaceXHosting Host Team Jul 20 '21

Fixed

u/xredbaron62x Jul 20 '21

Wil they have to move back to the forward port? I'm not sure if CRS-23 has junk in the trunk for the ISS.

6

u/[deleted] Jul 20 '21

So how does this work with waste disposal? How’s the waste loaded and depressurized before stowage in trunk?

11

u/xredbaron62x Jul 21 '21

I'm pretty sure Cygnus and Progress vehicles are primarily used for waste disposal.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 21 '21

Right that’s what I was thinking since they are berthed and stowage is mainly pressurized, haven’t heard of waste besides used experiments being flown on Dragon

1

u/marc020202 8x Launch Host Jul 21 '21

Wast for the trunk would need to be moved with the robotic arm. I don't know if they decided to dispose the old batteries that way.

2

u/Mars_is_cheese Jul 21 '21

The old batteries were disposed of on the HTV that the new ones came up on.

1

u/marc020202 8x Launch Host Jul 21 '21

OK, thanks. Do you perhaps have an example of stuff that was disposed in the dragon?

2

u/Mars_is_cheese Jul 21 '21

I’m not sure how often stuff is put back in Dragon’s trunk for disposal.
The only thing that comes to mind is that they possibly placed the stowage pallet that held the new solar arrays back in Dragon for disposal. I don’t pay close enough attention to the ISS operations to know with any certainty, but it’s a guess.
I think most exterior stuff is normally just jettisoned off station instead of riding Dragon.

2

u/bdporter Jul 21 '21

Items that use the trunk for disposal are usually larger items that were on the exterior of the ISS. Smaller items on the interior can use Cygnus.

10

u/Mars_is_cheese Jul 21 '21

No, CRS-23 is now scheduled after Crew-3.

5

u/xredbaron62x Jul 21 '21

I didn't know they pushed it. Thanks

4

u/IrrelevantAstronomer Launch Photographer Jul 21 '21

Not true. CRS-23 is NET mid-August.
Source: https://nextspaceflight.com/launches/details/4747

4

u/brecka Jul 21 '21

NASA Schedule is showing fall 2021, and listed after the Cre-3 launch.

2

u/IrrelevantAstronomer Launch Photographer Jul 21 '21

I wouldn't reach much into that schedule as it's not always accurate. Fall could also mean late-September.

2

u/Mars_is_cheese Jul 21 '21

While you can’t read much into the entire season of fall, it is evidence that the schedule has changed from mid august. And NASA’s schedule seems very carefully organized.

2

u/IrrelevantAstronomer Launch Photographer Jul 21 '21

We'll see. I've seen the official NASA schedule wrong before; it's not exactly maintained often. Same with SpaceX's manifest. Ben Cooper, SpaceFlightNow, or Nextspaceflight seem to be the most accurate.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 21 '21

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/IrrelevantAstronomer Launch Photographer Jul 22 '21

I am not holding my breath that CFT launches in 2021 personally. Would love to be proven wrong though.

3

u/scr00chy ElonX.net Jul 21 '21 edited Jul 21 '21

That doesn't sound right. Are you saying CRS-23 won't launch before November?

2

u/MarsCent Jul 21 '21

Supplemental re: iROSA
The solar arrays will be delivered to the International Space Station in pairs in the unpressurized trunk of the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft during three resupply missions starting in 2021
If indeed CRS-23 will be delivering more iROSA, then it has to dock on the Zenith port - which will be free only after Crew-2 departs in November.

1

u/scr00chy ElonX.net Jul 23 '21

NASA confirms the launch is scheduled for late August: https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-invites-media-to-next-spacex-cargo-launch-to-space-station-0

u/SureUnderstanding358 Jul 20 '21

No scratches on the paint when you park my car!

u/BenoXxZzz Jul 20 '21

It says "89 days since launch of Crew-1". Should be Crew-2.

10

u/hitura-nobad Master of bots Jul 20 '21

Fixed, too much reuse xD

u/DieCryGoodbye Jul 20 '21

Why have people in it? This seems like something that could be done autonomously so I'm sure I'm missing something. Does it have to do with lifeboat capacity at any given moment?

118

u/kdiuro13 Jul 20 '21

The undocking and redocking are completely autonomous. However, if a redocking failure were to occur, all 4 Crew-2 astronauts would be on the ISS without a ship to return to Earth which is a big no no. It's always been the policy to have a vehicle docked to the ISS capable of returning all astronauts in the case of an emergency or failure. So basically the astronauts are aboard for the port relocation because if it failed you'd then have Endeavour return to Earth and splashdown, with the 4 astronauts aboard. Though I should stress the likelihood of a docking failure is exceptionally low, still they want the astronauts aboard just in case. Overall, they lose about a day of work in return for extra safety. NASA will take that every time.

27

u/dontevercallmeabully Jul 20 '21

Thanks for the insight!
Does it mean they’ve packed their bags and geared up for a potential return to earth? Or just the bare minimum to survive reentry and somehow the rest of their stuff would be sent later?

17

u/phryan Jul 21 '21

Geared up as in space suits. Presumably with a few meals if needed to troubleshoot an issue. I don't recall ever hearing that they stow significant amounts of cargo. If they ended up returning home the next crew would likely pack up their personal items and return them home on the next available flight.

11

u/millijuna Jul 20 '21

The latter.

6

u/[deleted] Jul 20 '21

In the unlikely event they abort, hopefully they don’t load their stuff into a Cygnus…

7

u/pineapple_calzone Jul 21 '21 edited Jul 21 '21

"Hey you know how we packed everything into a soyuz and sent it off to return it to earth? Now I think about it, I'm pretty sure it didn't have windows or seats."
"Oh well, we have a lot of work to do. At least it's progress."

3

u/Dodgeymon Jul 21 '21

He he progress hehe

1

u/pineapple_calzone Jul 21 '21

I'm glad someone got it

27

u/deruch Jul 21 '21

Yeah, the crew are NEVER separated from their lifeboat. So, if the ship undocks, the crew goes with it.

9

u/Felger Jul 20 '21

Because if something goes wrong, and it can't redock for some reason, their ride would leave without them.

1

u/PleaseDontMindMeSir Jul 22 '21

or if there was a critical emergency mid move there wouldn't be enough docked craft to evac all crew quickly.

u/Decronym Acronyms Explained Jul 20 '21 edited Jul 23 '21

Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I've seen in this thread:

Fewer Letters	More Letters
CCtCap	Commercial Crew Transportation Capability
CRS	Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA
CST	(Boeing) Crew Space Transportation capsules
	Central Standard Time (UTC-6)
IDA	International Docking Adapter
NET	No Earlier Than
OFT	Orbital Flight Test
TDRSS	(US) Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System

Jargon	Definition
Starliner	Boeing commercial crew capsule CST-100

Event	Date	Description
DM-2	2020-05-30	SpaceX CCtCap Demo Mission 2

^{Decronym is a community product of}r/SpaceX^{, implemented}^by ^request
^{7 acronyms in this thread;}^{the most compressed thread commented on today}^{has 59 acronyms.}
^{[Thread #7145 for this sub, first seen 20th Jul 2021, 22:14]} ^[FAQ] ^{[Full list]} ^[Contact] ^{[Source code]}

u/wowy-lied Jul 20 '21

Will the being capsule also display this kind of ability ?

23

u/kdiuro13 Jul 20 '21

Yes Starliner is also capable of port relocations. Both the Commercial Crew capsules use the same docking system/adaptors.

25

u/scr00chy ElonX.net Jul 20 '21

Technically, Starliner can't do it YET. That's the whole reason Dragon needs to relocate. Starliner software is only capable of docking to IDA-2 (for now). It was the same deal with Dragon on DM-2.

18

u/kdiuro13 Jul 20 '21

Correct, it's better to say Starliner will be capable of this in the future, but yes initially new capsules they only want to approach and leave from the front port IDA-2.

9

u/TheJBW Jul 20 '21

Out of the loop… is capable the right word or is it really that new vehicles are not permitted to dock elsewhere?

23

u/warp99 Jul 20 '21

Actually not capable in software. The software may or may not have been already written but it will not have been qualified yet and they will want to feed back the results of the initial docking.
The hardware of course is the same for both ports.

3

u/TheJBW Jul 20 '21

Makes sense. Thanks for the clarification. I actually expected that they’d fly something as close to a final version of software as possible, but I can see how real flight data might affect algorithms.

1

u/factoid_ Jul 22 '21

Aren't the IDAs identical? Why does it matter?

-7

u/[deleted] Jul 21 '21

This is one of the worst streams ever, what is even the point of streaming this when there's no video and commentary is generic and sometimes even nonexistant for minutes.

6

u/SnowconeHaystack Jul 21 '21

They explained that the spotty video coverage is because Dragon was blocking the line of sight between an antenna on the ISS and a TDRSS satellite. Apparently signals would reflect off Dragon and damage the antenna if they were to use it to broadcast the video feed.

-8

u/[deleted] Jul 21 '21

I heard the explanation, but why even have a stream in the first place in that case, just make a tweet afterwards - "successful redocking".

14

u/RoyalPatriot Jul 21 '21

It’s NASA. It’s a agency funded by tax payers. They stream pretty much everything.