SpaceX CRS-6

SpaceX CRS-6
	The SpaceX CRS-6 Dragon spacecraft as seen from the ISS on 17 April 2015
Names	SpX-6
Mission type	ISS resupply
Operator	SpaceX / NASA
COSPAR ID	2015-021A
SATCAT no.	40588
Website	https://www.spacex.com/
Mission duration	30 days (planned); 36 days, 20 hours, 31 minutes (achieved)
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	Dragon C108
Spacecraft type	Dragon CRS
Manufacturer	SpaceX
Launch mass	6,000 kg (13,000 lb)
Dimensions	8.1 m (27 ft) (height); 4 m (13 ft) (diameter)
Start of mission
Launch date	14 April 2015, 20:10:41 UTC
Rocket	Falcon 9 v1.1
Launch site	Cape Canaveral, SLC-40
Contractor	SpaceX
End of mission
Disposal	Recovered
Landing date	21 May 2015, 16:42 UTC
Landing site	Pacific Ocean
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric orbit
Regime	Low Earth orbit
Inclination	51.65°
Berthing at ISS
Berthing port	Harmony nadir
RMS capture	17 April 2015, 10:55 UTC
Berthing date	17 April 2015, 13:29 UTC
Unberthing date	21 May 2015, 09:29 UTC
RMS release	21 May 2015, 11:04 UTC
Time berthed	33 days, 20 hours
Cargo
Mass	2,015 kg (4,442 lb)
Pressurised	2,015 kg (4,442 lb)
	; NASA SpX-6 mission patch Commercial Resupply Services ← SpaceX CRS-5 SpaceX CRS-7 → Cargo Dragon ← SpaceX CRS-5 SpaceX CRS-7 →

SpaceX CRS-6, also known as SpX-6, was a Commercial Resupply Service mission to the International Space Station, contracted to NASA. It was the eighth flight for SpaceX's uncrewed Dragon cargo spacecraft and the sixth SpaceX operational mission contracted to NASA under a Commercial Resupply Services contract. It was docked to the International Space Station from 17 April to 21 May 2015.

Launch history[]

As of July 2014, the launch was scheduled by NASA for February 2015, with berthing to the station occurring two days later. However, as a result of delays in the launch of the previous SpaceX CRS-5 mission, SpaceX CRS-6 launched on 14 April 2015. In late March, 2015, the launch was scheduled for 13 April 2015,^[3] but was later postponed to 14 April 2015 due to weather conditions.^[4]

Falcon 9 and Dragon undergoing preparations in Florida in advance of launch to the International Space Station.

A Federal Communications Commission (FCC) application submitted for temporary communication frequency authority notes the launch planning date as no earlier than 8 April 2015. The application also confirms communication uplinks for use with the first stage of this mission as it conducts another attempt at a first-ever propulsive landing on the Autonomous spaceport drone ship after staging.^[5]

Launch of the Falcon 9 v1.1 launch vehicle carrying the CRS-6 Dragon spacecraft on 14 April 2015

Payload[]

Primary payload[]

NASA has contracted for the CRS-6 mission from SpaceX and therefore determines the primary payload, date/time of launch, and orbital parameters for the Dragon space capsule. The Dragon spacecraft was filled with 2,015 kg (4,442 lb) of supplies and payloads, including critical materials to directly support about 40 of the more than 250 science and research investigations that will occur during Expedition 43 and Expedition 44.^[2]

Among other items on board:

Planetary Resources will transport an Arkyd 3 — known as Arkyd 3 Reflight — to the ISS aboard Dragon on CRS-6.^[6] Planetary plans to deploy the smallsat from the ISS via a Nanoracks-provided service, in an attempt to validate and mature the technology of its Arkyd series of spacecraft. This is the second Arkyd 3 satellite; in October 2014, the first Arkyd 3 satellite was destroyed on launch in the explosion of the Orbital Sciences Corporation Antares launch vehicle carrying it aboard .^[7]^[8]

Planet Labs will transport 14 Flock-1e Earth observation CubeSat satellites for later deployment from the space station via an agreement with Nanoracks, operator of the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS).^[9]

Secondary payload[]

SpaceX has the primary control over manifesting, scheduling and loading secondary payloads. However, there are certain restrictions included in their contract with NASA that preclude specified hazards on the secondary payloads, and also require contract-specified probabilities of success and safety margins for any SpaceX reboosts of the secondary satellites once the Falcon 9 second stage has achieved its initial low Earth orbit (LEO).

SpaceX CRS-6 included science payloads for studying new ways to possibly counteract the microgravity-induced cell damage seen during spaceflight, the effects of microgravity on the most common cells in bones, gather new insight that could lead to treatments for osteoporosis and muscle wasting conditions, continue studies into astronaut vision changes and test a new material that could one day be used as a synthetic muscle for robotics explorers of the future. Also making the trip was a new espresso machine for space station crews.^[2]

A part of this payload includes science experiments from high schools, such as a project from Ambassador High School in Torrance, California.^[10]

Return payload[]

Dragon returned 1,370 kg (3,020 lb) of cargo to Earth.^[2]

Post-launch flight test[]

Falcon 9 first stage approaches the drone ship. The stage makes a hard landing followed by a tip-over.

Falcon 9 first stage attempts landing on ASDS after second stage with SpaceX CRS-6 continued onto orbit. Landing legs are in the midst of deploying.

After the separation of the second stage, SpaceX conducted a flight test and attempted to return the nearly-empty first stage of the Falcon 9 through the atmosphere and land it on a 90 m × 50 m (300 ft × 160 ft) floating platform called the autonomous spaceport drone ship. The unmanned launch vehicle technically landed on the floating platform, however it came down with too much lateral velocity, tipped over, and was destroyed.^[11] Elon Musk later explained that the bipropellant valve was stuck, and therefore the control system could not react rapidly enough for a successful landing.^[12]

This was SpaceX's second attempt to land the booster on a floating platform after an earlier test landing attempt in January 2015 had to be abandoned due to weather conditions. The booster was fitted with a variety of technologies to facilitate the flight test, including grid fins and landing legs to facilitate the post-mission test. If successful, this would have been the first time in history that a launch vehicle booster was returned to a vertical landing.^[9]^[13]

On 15 April 2015, SpaceX released a video of the terminal phase of the descent, the landing, the tip over, and a small deflagration as the stage broke up on the deck of the ASDS.^[14]

Capsule reflight[]

The Dragon capsule used for this mission was successfully flown a second time in December 2017 with SpaceX CRS-13. The capsule made its third and final flight as part of the SpaceX CRS-18 mission on 25 July 2019.

References[]

^ "DRAGON CRS-6". N2YO.com. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d "SpaceX CRS-6 Sixth Commercial Resupply Services Flight to the International Space Station" (PDF). NASA. April 2015. Retrieved 31 May 2021. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^ "Launch Schedule". Retrieved 4 April 2015.
^ Lawler, Richard. "SpaceX's next try at landing a reusable rocket is minutes away". Engadget. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
^ "OET Special Temporary Authority Report". Retrieved 4 April 2015. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^ "ARKYD: A Space Telescope for Everyone". KickStarter. 26 May 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
^ Wilhelm, Steve (16 October 2014). "First step toward asteroid mining: Planetary Resources set to launch test satellite". Puget Sound Business Journal. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
^ "Antares 130 debut with fourth Cygnus ready for second attempt". NASASpaceFlight.com. 27 October 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Graham, William (13 April 2015). "SpaceX Falcon 9 scrubs CRS-6 Dragon launch due to weather". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
^ "Nanoracks-Ambassador High School-Pollen Propulsion in a Microgravity Environment (Nanoracks-AHS-Pollen Propulsion)". NASA. 3 April 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2015. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^ "CRS-6 First Stage Landing". YouTube. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
^ "Elon Musk on Twitter". Twitter. Archived from the original on 15 April 2015. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
^ Bergin, Chris (3 April 2015). "SpaceX preparing for a busy season of missions and test milestones". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved 4 April 2015.
^ CRS-6 First Stage Landing SpaceX, 15 April 2015

External links[]

NASA
SpaceX/NASA CRS-6 press kit April 2015

[n2yo-1] "DRAGON CRS-6". N2YO.com. Retrieved 31 May 2021.

[nasa-overview-2] Jump up to: ^a ^b ^c ^d "SpaceX CRS-6 Sixth Commercial Resupply Services Flight to the International Space Station" (PDF). NASA. April 2015. Retrieved 31 May 2021. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

[3] "Launch Schedule". Retrieved 4 April 2015.

[4] Lawler, Richard. "SpaceX's next try at landing a reusable rocket is minutes away". Engadget. Retrieved 13 April 2015.

[FCC-5] "OET Special Temporary Authority Report". Retrieved 4 April 2015. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

[ks20150410-6] "ARKYD: A Space Telescope for Everyone". KickStarter. 26 May 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2021.

[psbj20141016-7] Wilhelm, Steve (16 October 2014). "First step toward asteroid mining: Planetary Resources set to launch test satellite". Puget Sound Business Journal. Retrieved 19 October 2014.

[NSF20141027-8] "Antares 130 debut with fourth Cygnus ready for second attempt". NASASpaceFlight.com. 27 October 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2021.

[nsf20150413-9] Jump up to: ^a ^b Graham, William (13 April 2015). "SpaceX Falcon 9 scrubs CRS-6 Dragon launch due to weather". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved 14 April 2015.

[10] "Nanoracks-Ambassador High School-Pollen Propulsion in a Microgravity Environment (Nanoracks-AHS-Pollen Propulsion)". NASA. 3 April 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2015. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

[11] "CRS-6 First Stage Landing". YouTube. Retrieved 16 April 2015.

[12] "Elon Musk on Twitter". Twitter. Archived from the original on 15 April 2015. Retrieved 14 April 2015.

[nsf20150403-13] Bergin, Chris (3 April 2015). "SpaceX preparing for a busy season of missions and test milestones". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved 4 April 2015.

[14] CRS-6 First Stage Landing SpaceX, 15 April 2015

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show v t Uncrewed spaceflights to the International Space Station
See also: {{Crewed ISS flights}} {{ISS expeditions}}
2000–2004	2000 2R / Zvezda 1P 2P 3P 2001 4P 5P SO1 / Pirs 6P 2002 7P 8P 9P 2003 10P 11P 12P 2004 13P 14P 15P 16P
2005–2009	2005 17P 18P 19P 20P 2006 21P 22P 23P 2007 24P 25P 26P 27P 2008 28P ATV-1 29P 30P 31P 2009 32P 33P 34P HTV-1 35P MIM2 / Poisk
2010–2014	2010 36P 37P 38P 39P 40P 2011 HTV-2 41P ATV-2 42P 43P 44P† 45P 2012 46P ATV-3 47P SpX-D HTV-3 48P SpX-1 49P 2013 50P SpX-2 51P ATV-4 52P HTV-4 Orb-D1 53P 2014 Orb-1 54P 55P SpX-3 Orb-2 56P ATV-5 SpX-4 Orb-3† 57P
2015–2019	2015 SpX-5 58P SpX-6 59P† SpX-7† 60P HTV-5 61P OA-4 62P 2016 OA-6 63P SpX-8 64P SpX-9 OA-5 65P† HTV-6 2017 SpX-10 66P OA-7 SpX-11 67P SpX-12 68P OA-8E SpX-13 2018 69P SpX-14 OA-9E SpX-15 70P HTV-7 71P NG-10 SpX-16 2019 SpX-DM1 72P NG-11 SpX-17 SpX-18 73P 60S HTV-8 NG-12 SpX-19 74P Boe-OFT†
2020–2024	2020 NG-13 SpX-20 75P HTV-9 76P NG-14 SpX-21 2021 77P NG-15 SpX-22 78P Nauka NG-16 SpX-23
Future	2021 79P Boe-OFT 2 M-UM / Prichal SpX-24 2022 80P NG-17 SpX-25 SpX-26 SNC Demo-1 HTV-X1 2023 HTV-X2
Spacecraft	Roscosmos Progress ESA ATV JAXA HTV NASA CRS SpaceX Dragon SpaceX Cargo Dragon Northrop Grumman Cygnus Sierra Nevada Dream Chaser
Ongoing spaceflights in bold Future spaceflights in italics † - mission failed to reach ISS

show v t ← 2014 · Orbital launches in 2015 · 2016 →
January	SpaceX CRS-5 (Flock-1d' × 2 · AESP-14) – MUOS-3 – SMAP · A, B · ·
February	– Inmarsat 5-F2 – Fajr – DSCOVR – Progress M-26M – / No. 1
March	ABS-3A · Eutelsat 115 West B – – MMS – Ekspress AM7 – USA-260 / GPS IIF-9 – – – Soyuz TMA-16M – Galileo FOC-3, FOC-4 – IRNSS-1D – BeiDou I1-S – Gonets-M 11, 12, 13 ·
April	SpaceX CRS-6 (Arkyd-3R · · · Flock-1e × 14) – Thor 7 · SICRAL-2 – TürkmenÄlem 52°E / MonacoSAT – Progress M-27M
May	Mexsat-1 – USA-261 / X-37 OTV-4 · LightSail-1 · · BRICSat-P · ParkinsonSat · · 8A, 8B · 1, 2, 3 – DirecTV-15 · SKY México-1
June	/ Kobalt-M – Sentinel-2A – / Persona No.3 – – SpaceX CRS-7 (Flock-1f × 8)
July	Progress M-28M – UK-DMC 3 × 3 · · – USA-262 / GPS IIF-10 – Star One C4 · MSG-4 – Soyuz TMA-17M – USA-263 / WGS-7 – BeiDou M1-S, M2-S
August	HTV-5 / Kounotori 5 ( · · Flock-2b × 14 · · ) – Eutelsat 8 West B · Intelsat 34 – Yaogan 27 – GSAT-6 / INSAT-4E – Inmarsat 5-F3
September	Soyuz TMA-18M – MUOS-4 – Galileo FOC-5, FOC-6 – – Gaofen 9 – Ekspress AM8 – · · 2A, 2B · × 6 · · · · × 4 · · × 2 – , , / Strela-3M × 3 – · Tianwang 1A, 1B, 1C – Astrosat · · · Lemur-2 × 4 – BeiDou I2-S – NBN-Co 1A · ARSAT-2
October	Progress M-29M – Mexsat-2 – Jilin-1 · A · B · – / NOSS Intruder × 2 / NROL-55 · AeroCube-5c, 7 · SNaP-3 × 3 · PropCube × 2 · SINOD-D × 2 · ARC-1 · BisonSat · AMSAT Fox-1 · LMRST-Sat – – Türksat 4B – – USA-265 / GPS IIF-11
November	– · EDSN × 8 · · · · – Yaogan 28 – · GSAT-15 – / EKS-1 / Tundra-11L – – Telstar 12V – Yaogan 29
December	LISA Pathfinder – / · / -1 – Cygnus CRS OA-4 (Flock-2e × 12 · · MinXSS 1 · × 2 · · ) – – Elektro-L No.2 – / -12L – Soyuz TMA-19M – TeLEOS-1 · · · · · – DAMPE – Galileo FOC-8, FOC-9 – Progress MS-01 – Orbcomm-2 × 11 – Ekspress-AMU1 – Gaofen 4
Launches are separated by dashes ( – ), payloads by dots ( · ), multiple names for the same satellite by slashes ( / ). Cubesats are smaller. Crewed flights are bolded. Launch failures are in italics. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are (enclosed in brackets).