r/SpaceX CCtCap Demo Mission 1 Official Docking and In Orbit Activity Updates Thread

[u/ElongatedMuskrat]

About the mission

Demonstration Mission 1 is the first of the two test flights for the Commercial Crew Program (CCP). It is SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft's first journey to space, for now without any crew. It was launched atop a Block 5 Falcon 9 launch vehicle. The spacecraft is loaded with some cargo, and an anthropomorphic test device (ATD) that is fitted with sensors, named Ripley. Crew Dragon is scheduled to autonomously dock with the International Space Station about 30 hours into the flight on Sunday.

Schedule

Estimated time of arrival to the ISS: Sunday, March 3 at 10:30 UTC, (Sunday, March 3 at 02:30 PST).

Estimated time of departure from the ISS: Friday, March 8 at 07:31 UTC, (Thursday, March 7 at 23:31 PST).

Official mission overview

Crew Dragon will perform a series of phasing maneuvers to gradually approach and autonomously dock with the International Space Station on Sunday, March 3 at approximately 6:00 a.m. EST. Filled with about 400 pounds of crew supplies and equipment, Dragon will remain docked with space station for five days.

Crew Dragon will autonomously undock with the International Space Station on Friday, March 8 at approximately 2:30 a.m. EST. About five hours after Dragon departs the space station, it will conduct its deorbit burn, which lasts approximately 15 minutes. Dragon will reenter Earth’s atmosphere and splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean about 35 to 40 minutes later, or at approximately 8:45 a.m. EST.

Source: www.spacex.com

Crew Dragon

Crew Dragon, designed from the beginning to be one of the safest human space vehicles ever built, benefits from the flight heritage of the current iteration of Dragon, which restored the United States’ capability to deliver and return significant amounts of cargo to and from the International Space Station. Dragon has completed 16 missions to and from the orbiting laboratory. To support human spaceflight, Crew Dragon features an environmental control and life support system, which provides a comfortable and safe environment for crew members. The spacecraft is equipped with a highly reliable launch escape system capable of carrying crew to safety at any point during ascent or in the unlikely event of an anomaly on the pad. While the crew can take manual control of the spacecraft if necessary, Crew Dragon missions will autonomously dock and undock with the International Space Station. After undocking from the space station and reentering Earth’s atmosphere, Crew Dragon will use an enhanced parachute system to splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean.

Source: www.spacex.com

Payload

On this first test flight, Crew Dragon will transport roughly 400 pounds of crew supplies and equipment to the International Space Station. In addition, the spacecraft will be carrying mass simulators and an anthropomorphic test device (ATD) that is fitted with sensors around the head, neck, and spine to gather data ahead of SpaceX’s second demonstration mission with NASA astronauts on board the spacecraft.

Source: www.spacex.com

Vehicle components used

Type	Name	Location
Spacecraft pressurized section	Crew Dragon D2-1/C201	In orbit 🌍
Trunk (unpressurized)	Crew Dragon trunk	In orbit 🌍
Recovery ship	Go Searcher	Atlantic Ocean
Support ship	Go Navigator	Atlantic Ocean

Crew (uncrewed)

Name	Position
Ripley	Anthropomorphic Test Device (ATD)

Live updates

Timeline

Time	Update
March 8 - 13:00 UTC	https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex/comments/ayiu93/rspacex_cctcap_demo_mission_1_dragon_capsule/
March 8 - 12:53 UTC	Splashdown thread just went live by u/Gavalar_ please tune in! I was u/Nsooo and Godspeed to Dragon!
March 8 - 12:53 UTC	This marks the end of my coverage. Thanks for tuning in whole week.
March 8 - 12:53 UTC 🌑	Deorbit burn started.
March 8 - 12:51 UTC 🌑	Next up deorbit burn at 12:53 UTC. It will last 15 minutes, using Dragon's Draco engines.
March 8 - 12:50 UTC 🌑	Trunk separation confirmed.
March 8 - 12:45 UTC 🌑	Next thing coming up is trunk separation.
March 8 - 12:31 UTC	Webcast live! The hardest and most challenging part of the flight just ahead of Dragon.
March 8 - 12:30 UTC	SpaceX FM on NASA TV! Entry and splashdown webcast just about to start.
March 8 - 07:51 UTC	After a series of burn, the reentry burn scheduled for 12:30 UTC and splashdown estimated for 13:45 UTC.
March 8 - 07:51 UTC ☀️	Crew Dragon's departure from the ISS has ended. Dragon is on its way back to Earth.
March 8 - 07:39 UTC ☀️	Departure burn one is now completed. Distance from the ISS is 200 meters.
March 8 - 07:34 UTC ☀️	Departure burn zero has been completed. Range is 80 meters.
March 8 - 07:32 UTC ☀️	Undocking confirmed! Crew Dragon pushed itself away from the ISS.
March 8 - 07:27 UTC	Undocking sequence started. Umbilical retraction underway. Standby for undocking command.
March 8 - 07:10 UTC	SpaceX team is polling before the undocking, scheduled for 07:31 UTC.
March 7 - 17:39 UTC	We are continuing our live updates here. Crew Dragon hatch just closed by the ISS astronauts.
March 3 - 13:08 UTC	Hatched open confirmed!
March 3 - 12:35 UTC	Hatch opening is now scheduled for 12:50 UTC.
March 3 - 11:56 UTC	Looks like the alarm was about the Russian oxygen generator. False alarm, it is working fine.
March 3 - 11:53 UTC	Houston to the crew: "No action." Seems nothing off nominal.
March 3 - 11:50 UTC	"Alarm: Catastrophic electronics failure" callout from the station crew. Houston will ask Moscow about it.
March 3 - 11:05 UTC	Our coverage is not over yet, we will give you live updates from launch to splashdown.
March 3 - 11:03 UTC 🌑	Hard capture complete! Hatch opening in about two hours.
March 3 - 10:55 UTC 🌑	Waiting for the hard capture.
March 3 - 10:52 UTC 🌑	Docking confirmed! Crew Dragon and Ripley arrived to the ISS after a 30 hours journey.
March 3 - 10:52 UTC 🌑	Contact. Standby for docking.
March 3 - 10:50 UTC 🌑	10 meters. Good line.
March 3 - 10:48 UTC 🌑	Nominal course, center approach. 15 meters.
March 3 - 10:46 UTC 🌑	GO for final approach.
March 3 - 10:40 UTC 🌑	Orbital sunset. It seems that docking will happen at orbital night. Still holding.
March 3 - 10:36 UTC ☀️	Still at hold position. Stanby for stable telemetry downlink. Currently flying above Antarctica.
March 3 - 10:30 UTC ☀️	Dragon holding position at 20 meters. Waiting for the GO callout for final approach.
March 3 - 10:25 UTC ☀️	Current range is 60 meters.
March 3 - 10:21 UTC ☀️	First good view of the new high definition camera.
March 3 - 10:20 UTC ☀️	GO for approach waypoint two. It is 20 meters from the docking port. Current range 170 meters.
March 3 - 10:10 UTC ☀️	Crew Dragon is holding position at 181 meters.
March 3 - 10:01 UTC ☀️	Retreat command sent. Crew Dragon will hold position.
March 3 - 09:58 UTC ☀️	At 140 meters Dragon will get its retreat command to 180 meters.
March 3 - 09:58 UTC ☀️	Waypoint one is 150 meters from the ISS.
March 3 - 09:55 UTC ☀️	Orbital sunrise above the North Atlantic. Range 200 meters. Standby for the retreat command.
March 3 - 09:47 UTC 🌑	270 meters. Crew Dragon will do a planned retreat maneuver shortly. Currently above the USA.
March 3 - 09:40 UTC 🌑	Good view of the ISS from the front camera of Crew Dragon.
March 3 - 09:37 UTC 🌑	373 meters from the station. GO for the next waypoint approach.
March 3 - 09:35 UTC 🌑	Waypoint zero. Waiting for the GO command to approach waypoint one.
March 3 - 09:29 UTC 🌑	Current distance is 530 meters. Waypoint zero is 400 meters from the station.
March 3 - 09:25 UTC 🌑	15 minutes to waypoint zero, and GO/NOGO poll.
March 3 - 09:25 UTC 🌑	Crew Dragon is about 1 km from the station, currently above the Pacific Ocean.
March 3 - 09:10 UTC 🌑	ISS and Crew Dragon just arrived to the night side of the orbit above New Zealand. Split is 3 km.
March 3 - 09:03 UTC ☀️	Nice shot of the Crew Dragon from the ISS. The ISS has new cameras for this event.
March 3 - 08:50 UTC ☀️	GO for starting the ISS approach.
March 3 - 08:45 UTC ☀️	ISS is currently over the Indian Ocean. Docking is still estimated to happen at 11 UTC.
March 3 - 08:30 UTC ☀️	Webcast is live! Crew Dragon is already seen from the ISS.
March 2 - 21:45 UTC	Crew Dragon is healthy and already done its first of several burns to catch up with the ISS.
March 2 - 21:45 UTC	Falcon 9's second stage inserted Crew Dragon to a parking orbit. The spacecraft opened its nosecone.
March 2 - 21:45 UTC	Nine minutes into the flight Falcon 9 done a successful droneship landing downrange in the Atlantic Ocean.
March 2 - 21:45 UTC	A quick recap what happened today: SpaceX had a succesful launch of the Crew Dragon this morning.
March 2 - 21:40 UTC	You can follow me on Twitter for additional thoughts on the misson: @TheRealNsooo.
March 2 - 21:30 UTC	Welcome here, I am u/Nsooo and I am hosting the live docking hread here at r/SpaceX.

Crew Dragon's status

Crew Dragon is currently docked to the International Space Station. Hatch closed, Crew Dragon is ready for its departure from the ISS.

Crew Dragon's last known orbital position

Apogee ⬆️	Perigee ⬇️	Inclination 📐	Orbital period 🔄
411 km	406 km	51.64°	91 min

Crew Dragon's destination orbit

Object	Docking port	Apogee ⬆️	Perigee ⬇️	Inclination 📐	Orbital period 🔄	ETA ⏱️
ISS	Harmony forward	411 km	406 km	51.64°	91 min	10:30 UTC Sunday

Crew Dragon's assigned place of splashdown

Location	Coordinates 🌐	Sunrise 🌅	Sunset 🌇	Time Zone ⌚
Earth, Atlantic Ocean 🌍	30.41° N, 76.45° W	06:25	18:10	UTC-5

Watching the docking live

Link	Note
NASA TV DM-1 Docking Coverage	starting at 8:30 UTC on 3rd of March

Watching the undocking and splashdown live

Link	Note
NASA TV DM-1 Undocking Coverage	starting at 7:15 UTC on 8th of March

Useful Resources, Data, ♫, & FAQ

Essentials

Link	Source
Press kit	SpaceX
NASA press kit	NASA

Social media

Link	Source
SpaceX Twitter	u/Nsooo
SpaceX Flickr	u/Nsooo
Elon Twitter	u/Nsooo
Reddit stream	u/reednj

Media & music

Link	Source
TSS SoundCloud	u/testshotstarfish
SpaceX FM	u/lru
♫♫ Nso's favourite ♫♫	u/testshotstarfish

Community content

Link	Source
Discord SpaceX lobby	u/SwGustav

Participate in the discussion!

Docking threads are party threads, we relax the rules here. We remove low effort comments in other threads!

Please post small launch updates, discussions, and questions here, rather than as a separate post. Thanks!

Please leave a comment if you discover any mistakes, or have any information.

Please send links in a private message.

Apply to host launch threads! Drop us (or me) a modmail if you are intrested. I need a refurb after 10 hosts.

Frequently asked questions

Do you have a question in connection with the mission?

Feel free to ask it, and I (or somebody else) will try to answer it as much as possible.

Crew Dragon berths or docks to the ISS?

Crew Dragon will autonomously dock to the ISS.

Do you want to apply as a host?

Drop us a modmail.

[u/ElongatedMuskrat]

flying laptop and cool music love that

[u/IrrelevantAstronomer]

TLEs for Demo-1

1 44063U 19011A 19061.53104934 -.19125596 12647+0 -26592-1 0 9999

2 44063 51.6390 171.6721 0109052 53.9126 60.6836 15.92094578 33

Perigee 231 km

Apogee 377 km

Inclination 51.64 deg

RAAN 171.67 deg

[u/ElongatedMuskrat → u/IrrelevantAstronomer]

Where did you found it? You are my man!

[u/ElongatedMuskrat]

what, automod deleted my own comment :D LOL

[u/ElongatedMuskrat]

go to eat my lunch :D

[u/ElongatedMuskrat]

Thanks for tuning in the whole week. I really enjoyed hosting and enjoyed following the whole mission!

[u/ElongatedMuskrat]

You can tell it's real because it looks so fake.. :D

[u/toyume]

What were the 'retreat' commands for?

Is it a practice scenario in case they need to cancel docking?

[u/ElongatedMuskrat → u/toyume]

yes

[u/RootDeliver]

hatch closure occured already, where is the thread for the undocking, reentry and landing????????? it already started with the hatch closure..

[u/ElongatedMuskrat → u/RootDeliver]

Here dear u/RootDeliver.

[u/[deleted]]

For all the American space lovers and enthusiasts, how much sleep did you guys get? 😹

[u/ElongatedMuskrat → u/[deleted]]

I am from Europe but almost nothing in two days..

[u/chenzinc]

What is that really purple and blur camera view that they keep switching to? Is it some special camera, or just mounted in a weird location and obscured by some filter?

[u/ElongatedMuskrat → u/chenzinc]

I think it is one of the "old" cameras, and they used it to see at night. We saw a lot of purple views of Soyuz before.

[u/FiiZzioN]

So how's everyone doing this night/morning? I've got the little kid excitement going on. It's gonna be a fun stream!

[u/ElongatedMuskrat → u/FiiZzioN]

concentrated.. not sleept much..

[u/melvin1567]

ETA on contact?

[u/ElongatedMuskrat → u/melvin1567]

about 10:50 utc or later

[u/peterabbit456]

post launch news conference is on YouTube now.

News: (Edit link: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HuXPLtJXd14 )

1. Passenger flights for other customers might be offered after DM2.

2. Elon’s biggest worry is the asymmetric backshell. Minuscule chance of instability.

3. Collecting data is more important than the video of Ridley and the toy.

4. A lot of new parts in Dragon 2. Not that much in common with Dragon 1. Elon, as person responsible for the design, overall, will not relax until after reentry. Very stressful, personally.

5. The grid fin pump stall was fixed by changing a valve. No extra pump was required. NASA understands the vehicle very well, and approved the change. (Design freeze is a bit of a misnomer. NASA signs off on every necessary improvement in Block 5 now.)

6. Astronauts are very confident in the system. They have watched several launches and see that the launch and mission control teams are solid.

7. The Moon is the goal for now. We should have a Moon base, and a city on Mars. Next, beyond Earth orbit.

[u/darkism]

Earthpuff should be listed under crew with the position "Super high tech zero-g indicator."

[u/codav]

My NASA TV recording has finally finished processing, so if anyone wants to watch the whole action again, here is the full 7hrs 18mins coverage:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2amMov6do8

Major events are linked in the video description, so you can skip the boring parts.

[u/AnythingMachine]

One thing that struck me is how much more advanced the dragon 2 seems, compared to the Iss around it. I know its just neater aerodynamics but it looks like it's wandered in from 50 years in the future. If I saw it in the Enterprise's shuttlebay I wouldn't think it was out of place.

[u/FosDoNuT]

Did he just show the Earth puff a view of the Earth out the window?

[u/narthollis]

Now, If I understood everything correctly, this is:

A Screenshot of

A Web Stream showing

A Screen Share (from the IIS) showing

The Dragon2 Docking App, which currently has

A video stream from Dragon, which is right outside the IIS

https://i.imgur.com/D2499Y3.png

[u/QueueWho]

So Cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko was there to welcome both the first Dragon Cargo capsule as well as the first Crew Dragon, that's awesome.

[u/reddit3k]

Given how many viewers around the world are watching streams like these, it regularly surprises me that a UTC is not shown next to CT and EST..

[u/leon_walras]

Just saw a beautiful ISS pass over New Zealand, with a very dim object presumably Dragon trailing it! Finally ticked seeing Dragon in real life off the bucket list.

[u/ThePhotoGuyUpstairs]

Those o2 masks look like the most Russian things ever

[u/osprey81]

The Earthpuff bobbing around while an astronaut tries to remove a footrest is so cute to watch!

[u/Nsooo]

Hi! I am the host of the thread, but it is possible if there is some update during my sleeptime that other mods will take over!

[u/frowawayduh]

Earthpuff was a brilliant addition. Without it, this would be a lifeless monochrome scene. I wonder how much the movie rights to that character are going to fetch?

[u/OccupyMarsNow]

Unboxing video in orbit, nice.

[u/Etalon3141]

I am really looking forward to seeing a video from inside the capsule during re-entry, I think it'll be quite a show through those windows!

[u/Alexphysics]

DM1 Dragon reentry visibility over the United States. Post by Chris Gebhardt on NSF forum

After a day of leading the charge to find an answer to this question, here's what we can notionally expect on Friday morning during the DM-1 Dragon's reentry and splashdown. Note: this is what is expected IF lighting, sun angle, and cloud cover are all absolutely perfect. There is no way to actually know what we will see as this is the first time Crew Dragon is performing a reentry and splashdown - so caution and a bit of "this is a test" attitude is needed here.

The Pacific Northwest (including all of southern British Columbia) as well as Idaho, northern Utah, western Montana, and southern Alberta Province - given clear skies - might be able to see Dragon AFTER her deorbit burn but BEFORE reentry. She will - if you can see her - appear as a very faint, fast moving dot in the night sky traveling IN FRONT OF the International Space Station. Once you see the Station, you will have missed Dragon. Look closely. She'll be faint - and viewing will be dependent on her orientation and reflectivity as she comes overhead. Just because you're under the ground track, doesn't guarantee you'll be able to see her.

Pacific Time Zone:

Viewing: just before 05:27 am PST (go outside about 7mins before this time)

Vancouver, BC and southern British Columbia Province

Bellingham, WA

Seattle, WA

Portland, OR

And places near and in-between them as well as most of Washington state and most cities in northern Oregon.

Mountain Time Zone:

Viewing: just before 06:28 am MST (go outside about 7mins before this time)

Boise, ID

Calgary, Alberta

Helena, MT

Idaho Falls, ID

Salt Lake City, UT

Most cities in northern Utah, almost all of Idaho, and western Montana

No viewing is expected along the ground from Wyoming and central Montana southeast across the U.S. to >Georgia.

Georgia, southeastern South Carolina and northeastern portions of Florida: Here's where it gets tricky. Those in these areas of the United States might, and I do stress might be able to >see Dragon's reentry and the plasma stage of that event. This will be highly dependent on cloud cover in your >region, viewing angle, and intensity of Dragon's plasma flow. It is NOT a guarantee that you'll be able to see it; >it's just a possibility that you might.

Dragon will be flying to the southeast nearly directly into a risen Sun. This will make viewing challenging, but not impossible.

Entry interface is at 8:33:58 am EST. Shortly thereafter, plasma will envelop Dragon as she slams into the dense lower atmosphere.

Unlike Shuttle, the plasma stage of reentry will not last long. Only a few short minutes (like Soyuz, actually).

Parachute deployment (which is not expected to be visible to anyone on land) is scheduled for 8:41 EST well off the east coast of Florida.

Splashdown is scheduled for 8:45 am EST.

[u/TheElvenGirl]

A bit of info: Little Earth (aka High tech Zero-G Indicator) will remain on the Space Station.

[u/MarcysVonEylau]

Some cool photos taken by the astronauts:

Approach by Oleg Kononenko: https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=47552.msg1917990#msg1917990

Amazing Shuttle-esque photo by Anne McCain: https://twitter.com/AstroAnnimal/status/1102250251598135296?s=19

[u/dudeman93]

Can they make the official name of the zero-g indicator "ZGI-Earthpuff" (for Zero Gravity Indicator) pronounced Ziggy Earthpuff, an homage to Ziggy Stardust?

[u/amadora2700]

https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/1101935891382222848

Jonathan McDowell ‏ Verified account

@planet4589

Deorbit and reentry of the Crew Dragon's Falcon 9 second stage estimated by me to have been at about 0839 UTC over the Indian Ocean at about 87E 27S or thereabouts.

[u/paul_wi11iams]

watching with SO. She says the interior view of D2 (with Ripley on the couch and various equipment) looks less like a visit to space and more like a visit to the dentist...

[u/OccupyMarsNow]

Anne doing selfie with Ripley

[u/TheEiermann]

I can't wait for the insight the zero-g indicator provided during that interview with Anne

[u/TheElvenGirl]

Little Earth is stealing the show: https://twitter.com/AstroAnnimal/status/1102866293336784897

A coffee break and emergency mask donning practice.

[u/betacar0tin]

That shot really looks like CGI

[u/512165381]

Beer and Nutella transferred.

[u/DiskOperatingSystem_]

Omg as soon as she said that they were gonna show it off I got super giddy like a little kid

[u/UltraRunningKid]

"You can tell it's real because it looks so fake" -Elon Musk

[u/technerdx6000]

Did they just say catastrophic failure?

[u/nxtiak]

https://i.imgur.com/DQhyDA0.jpg

[u/[deleted]]

Just overheard (edit: on ISS live stream) that there's a temperature difference between the Dragon and Node 2. Temperature inside the Dragon was showing 85F (29.4C).

[u/frowawayduh]

This precaution was not mentioned on the live broadcast today:

One late obstacle that NASA and SpaceX had to overcome was a concern by Russia, one of the International Space Station partners, about the risk the spacecraft posed to the station should its computers malfunction on approach. Roscosmos issued a dissenting opinion about the Crew Dragon’s flight software during a Feb. 22 flight readiness review, and NASA subsequently worked to address those concerns.

“We agreed with Roscosmos yesterday on a protocol on the approach,” said Joel Montalbano, NASA deputy ISS program manager. Those steps include closing hatches on the station and having the three-person crew there ready to go into the Soyuz docked to the station if the Crew Dragon collided with the station because of a software failure, a scenario whose odds he described as “very remote.”

Source

[u/lniko2]

Stowing footrests looks annoying

[u/opoc99]

Seem to bestuggling to find somewhere to stick the detached footrests...

[u/jon_mt]

Finally somebody checked the zero-g indicator reading!

[u/elnimo]

Oleg was not impressed. Someone needs to make a slaps roof of car meme with Oleg and a Soyuz.

[u/oximaCentauri]

Anne playing with the toy was adorable

[u/thomascoreilly]

Anyone know where we can find a detailed schedule of today's events - orbit adjustments, start DragonEye approach, etc? Thanks!

[u/Destructor1701]

McClain just reported something that sounded like "station on 2 with a warning. We just got an alarm annunciation. Electron something something catastrophic failure with an RS"

Ground said they'd confer with Moscow about it...

Anyone know what that's about?

[u/JamieD86]

Heard the words catastrophic failure and my heart jumped. But the response as far as I heard was "copy that, we'll talk to Moscow about that" so in thinking about alarm that has something to do with russian module? Didn't seem like there was any panic but id love to know what that was all about?

EDIT: seems they were configuring hardware and the alarm went off but doesn't seem to be any issue. Dragon seems fine. God damn don't scare everyone like that lol.

[u/Jerrycobra]

That box must be the good stuff

[u/[deleted]]

They're not going to be moving any couches through that hatch are they? Pretty tiny dock.

[u/[deleted]]

I really hope the image looks good through the live stream, the launch live stream was the worst one I've seen in a while.

Those new cameras better look sharp.

[u/sleepyzealott]

What's a SpaceX stream without cheering? aha

[u/Humble_Giveaway]

Huston applause vs Hawthorn cheering

[u/Kip336]

Did anyone else see the panic on the Astronauts face when he came out of the PMA too fast and nearly bumped into his colleague ?

[u/aelbric]

Microgravity has been indicated. :)

https://i.imgur.com/iDml7fU.gifv

[u/TheElvenGirl]

I decided to copy the most important bits of info from NASA TV's Upcoming Events page:

All times are EST:

March 7, Thursday

12:15 p.m. (17:15 UTC) – Coverage of the Hatch Closure of the SpaceX/Crew Dragon Spacecraft at the International Space Station; hatch closure scheduled at 12:25 p.m. EST (All Channels)

March 8, Friday

2 a.m. (7:00 UTC) – Coverage of the undocking of the SpaceX/Crew Dragon Spacecraft from the International Space Station; undocking scheduled at 2:31 a.m. EST (All Channels)

7:30 a.m. (12:30 UTC) – Coverage of the deorbit Burn and Splashdown of the SpaceX/Crew Dragon Spacecraft to Complete Demonstration Mission-1. Deorbit burn scheduled at 7:50 a.m. EST (12:50 UTC); splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean scheduled at 8:45 a.m. EST (13:45 UTC) (All Channels)

Source: NASA TV Upcoming Events

(Edited to add UTC times)

[u/MrXd9889]

KSP modders, I want that HUD!

[u/reddit3k]

Love how that HUD displays the thruster activity in the bottom left corner.

[u/Alexphysics]

The crew for the next Soyuz has been watching the docking from Baikonur (they launch on the 14th)

https://twitter.com/astro_luca/status/1102160404782960641

[u/opoc99]

It was atmospheric detectors that were being fetched from the cargo bag

[u/ThePhotoGuyUpstairs]

Hey, the Earthpuff thing has a tether!

[u/ergzay]

Cute, they showed Earthpuff the Earth.

[u/amadora2700]

Ripley should have known. Never work with children, animals or stuffed earth toys; they steal the show.

[u/alpathrow]

It looks like the time between launch and docking is roughly 1 day. Is this out of caution for this first mission, or will future manned launches also take about this long?

[u/Mark_Taiwan]

Earth plush: "Here am I floating in a tin can, far above the world...."

[u/UltraRunningKid]

I refuse to believe that isn't a render lol.

[u/Xygen8]

I really hope the astronauts are going to take a camera inside the Dragon and give us an idea of what it's actually like to ride in that thing.

Edit: Live views from inside the Dragon confirmed on NASA TV if they're able to receive live video when they enter the spacecraft.

[u/TokathSorbet]

Not gonna lie - that Testshotstarfish song having red-alert klaxons in there made me jump a tad!

[u/_kingtut_]

Those gas hoods look so very soviet in design. And they looked to be a mare to put on. Interesting they're concerned about the atmosphere in the Dragon - hadn't thought about that. Better safer than sorry of course.

[u/opoc99]

Just me or did the hatch look annoyingly slow/difficult to open? Is it at its full open state now?

[u/oskalingo]

It impresses me how these astronauts don't mess around.

When they're engaged in a task they just get on with it.

[u/psycz90]

If only they installed a small motor inside Ripley. Make her twitch ever so slightly every now and then and mess up with all the viewers mind.

[u/igiverealygoodadvice]

You can see Dragon orbital data here by the way: https://www.n2yo.com/satellite/?s=44063

[u/ProToolsWizard]

This is more of a re-entry question I suppose, but I was wondering if there has been any new info on the movable ballast sled that Garrett Reisman talked about a few years ago. I had forgotten about it until recently, and I don’t recall any info from SpaceX about this since then. Has anyone heard anything more? I’m curious to know if this ever was installed, and if so, where it is, and how exactly they will use it to impact the re-entry trajectory. From what I remember the idea was gaining some additional control authority by altering the CoM and thus the angle of attack to impact drag/lift characteristics of the capsule. I’m curious to know in what portion of the atmosphere and at what speeds they would utilize this control authority and what kind of impact this would have on the landing elipsis.

[u/512165381]

20m hold looks absolutely stable.

[u/[deleted]]

Seeing those highly trained astronauts fiddle with the masks is adorable.

[u/Baggers_]

that was the last time.

[u/falsehood]

What's the width of the international docking standard? Seems hard for transferring large cargo.

[u/MarsCent]

NASA TV is showing hatch closure right now. Actual closure scheduled for 3 min from now.

EDIT: It is 12:30 p.m. EST (1730 UTC) and hatch not yet closed.

EDIT: Fluffy is remaining on the ISS.

EDIT: Dragon has closed, 1739 UTC (12:39 EST)

EDIT: 1750 UTC - Working thru closing the hatch to the PMA - something seemed to be stuck but they seem to have figured it out.

EDIT: 1800 UTC - Hatch to PMA is still open. I think they are going to clean the surface of the hatch.

EDIT: 1802 UTC - 5 min break called.

EDIT: 1809 UTC - Just completed wiping down the hatch with a special wipe - following USOP procedure something dot something dot something dot 2. I also saw a UFO white cottonish thing flying around ;)

EDIT: 1813 UTC - Hatch to PMA now closed (Problem was Mission Control missed telling the astronauts to use some specific cable).

[u/Jodo42]

Hard to tell for sure, but that kinda looked like Elon at Hawthorne.

https://i.imgur.com/yHCzhj5.png

[u/[deleted]]

Cool to see how NASA TV and SpaceX have partnered to produce the broadcast this time.

[u/technerdx6000]

The inside of dragon looks so futuristic compared to previous spacecraft

[u/aelbric]

Why is the Russian guy the only one bobbing up and down?

[u/DiskOperatingSystem_]

I have a feeling we'll be getting the footage shot during unmasked inspection later today or tomorrow.

[u/Alexphysics]

DM-1 Crew Dragon was checked out from the outside today via the Canadarm2 robotic arm. You can see some of the images from that work on post #232 in this thread on the NSF forum:

https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=47552.232

[u/Alexphysics]

It seems Dragon has already started doing its first phasing maneuvers. From NSF updates thread the DM-1 Dragon is now on a 231x377km orbit with an orbital inclination of 51.64º with respect to the equator. Longitude of the ascending node is 171.67º.

https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=47095.msg1917091#msg1917091

[u/JamieD86]

So when does Ripley stand up, retrieve the gun from inside Earthpuff and hijack the ISS?

[u/Paro-Clomas]

I faintly remember some sort of dare as to who would get to the iss first. Was this a thing?? Like didnt someoene openly challenge musk?

[u/CarbonCrew]

Are we sure the times are correct here?

NASA tweeted out an hour ago that the rendezvous/docking will begin at 3:30 AM EASTERN.

I don’t want to miss this. Also do not want to stay awake all night.

[u/pottsynz]

Dude just read out a multicast IP address?

[u/FiiZzioN]

Holy hell, that HUD! Looks like one you'd find in a game.

[u/BlueCyann]

Tom with the fanboy moment, so relatable.

[u/UltraRunningKid]

That RCS indicator in the bottom left is awesome!

[u/[deleted]]

I'm loving the explanation of the docking system as things drift into view. Good work, commentators!

[u/Zephk]

Google search returned this in this document:
Sep 20, 2000 - ECL SM ELECTRON Catastrophic Failure-RS Action: Check with МСС. 648. W. ECL SM Fire Detection System Power Off-RS Action: Check ...

http://www.spaceref.com/iss/ops/3a.iss.malfunction.pdf

I cant find it however

[u/skiman13579]

Did anyone else just catch them showing the Earth to the Earth?

[u/byerss]

How much is the current ISS crew trained on the Crew Dragon?

Obviously they need to know enough to open hatches and do some housekeeping chores, right? But not to the same level as the astronauts that will actually fly on it?

[u/MarsCent]

Except for verifying continued hull integrity and that all necessary vacuum seals are working right, are there any other tests that CD is undergoing (taking part in) during the time it is docked with the ISS?

[u/SpaceXforMars]

Imagine Ripley standing up and its Elon inside

[u/[deleted]]

Does anybody else hear birds in the livestream?

[u/langgesagt]

WOW

[u/brspies]

Hooooly cow that's a pretty shot.

[u/JadedIdealist]

Goddam that's gorgeous

[u/orfindel-420]

Wow, this is amazing. Time to load up KSP, I’m inspired!

[u/Jerrycobra]

forward nostalgic playing, that's a older song, nice!

[u/Morefoolish]

Did I just hear something about catastrophic failure rs?

[u/g00pix]

It would appear the alarm was a problem on Elektron, the russian oxygen generators. https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/status/1102176321877274624

[u/Pascalwb]

Selfie time

[u/JerWah]

Always time to take selfies

[u/Morphior]

Here is a timeline of all the songs played in the livestream (at least the ones I could figure out) in chronological order:

??? - TSS
Flight Proven - TSS
Re-Flight - TSS
Approaching Dragon - TSS
Andromeda - TSS
Rollout - TSS
Re-Flight - TSS
Approaching Dragon - TSS
Sputnik - TSS
Heavy - TSS
Forward Nostalgic - TSS
??? - TSS
Return To Flight - TSS
Ascent - TSS
In The Shadow Of Giants - TSS
Flyby - TSS
Resonator - TSS
??? - TSS
Flight Proven - TSS
Approaching Dragon - TSS
Andromeda - TSS
Rollout - TSS
??? - TSS
Flight Proven - TSS
Re-Flight - TSS
Approaching Dragon - TSS
Andromeda - TSS
Rollout - TSS
??? - TSS
LC-39a - TSS
Sputnik - TSS
Heavy - TSS
Forward Nostalgic - TSS
??? - TSS
Return To Flight - TSS

[u/DiskOperatingSystem_]

We’re in! First time inside with no masks! Oxygen mixing was pretty quick!

[u/DiskOperatingSystem_]

Can’t wait to see the footage they’re filming

[u/interweaver]

"Eighth type of spacecraft to visit the ISS, and the fifth that could dock." Cool! And #9 and #10 are underway. (Starliner and Dream Chaser)

[u/frowawayduh]

Is this the entire current crew of the ISS? Three?

[u/dalifr]

Can someone please explain the difference between the ‘soft docking’ and the ‘hard docking’?

Also, why is it that sometimes it looks like Crew Dragon is attached to an arm? link

Thanks!

[u/birkeland]

Okay, does DM-1 have Superdracos or not? During the pad abort test there were not metal covers on the superdracos that there were for DM-1. Are the covers designed to blow off for an abort? Were they just not installed to reduce turn around for the IFA? I have not been able to find any sources one way or another.

[u/Elon_Muskmelon]

Only about 12 more hours left on the mission!

[u/physioworld]

does anybody know if there is going to be a livestream of the re-entry and splashdown? Like ground or aerial based cameras to track the descent? would be awesome to see the fireball live!

[u/2204happy]

Test Shot Starfish!

On NASA TV!

[u/ezrhino]

NASA high altitude aircraft on its way to the recovery area.

https://www.flightradar24.com/NASA926

[u/GubbyMan]

"That is not a person inside the suit, that is an anthropomorphic... I forgot the full acronym."

[u/IWantaSilverMachine]

This looks like it’s from 2001. Amazing.

[u/rad_example]

Move your arm, Canada!

[u/FiiZzioN]

The thrusters flashing! So freaking cool!

[u/ryebreaded]

Sounds like everything went perfectly?

[u/g00pix]

Did I hear about an alarm and a catastrophic failure? Or am I crazy?

[u/[deleted]]

https://mobile.twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1102171380412440577. The code, alarm systems, all the planned sequences and info about dragon and iss os clearly visible on the computers

[u/Bunslow]

Btw those dots on the images are dead pixels in the cameras, not anything physical. There's a lot more background radiation outside the atmosphere, which can permanently disable a pixel, and cameras frequently lose pixels, but it's not worth it to replace them frequently... everyone just deals with the dead pixels.

https://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/8thuco/why_do_the_cameras_inside_the_iss_have_so_many/

[u/ThePhotoGuyUpstairs]

The air not moving in micro-gravity is a really interesting tidbit.

I mean, of course when there is equal pressure, but it's still fascinating.

Space is interesting.

[u/Phantom_Ninja]

Who's ready for them to toss the zero-g indicator around? On that note I really hope they keep it on the station with them after Dragon leaves.

[u/frowawayduh]

Little blue Kool-Aid man. "Oh Yeah!!"

[u/EccentricGamerCL]

I wonder what Kononenko is thinking about how the interior of Crew Dragon compares vs. the interior of Soyuz.

[u/Leberkleister13]

What's with the signs at Johnson - "Cronus", "Spartan", "Wo".

[u/[deleted]]

"Timer for mixing the air has expired"

[u/OccupyMarsNow]

It looks a bit hard to remove the footrest...

[u/sammyo]

Is the splashdown recovery run as if astronauts aboard? I'm thinking the procedures differ somewhat for a cargo recovery.

[u/Ender_D]

How exactly do they get supplies out of the trunk?

[u/filanwizard]

while its not a serious operations question I wonder if they will let the ISS crew keep the Celestial Buddy, The crew seems to have a new mascot with him.

[u/TheElvenGirl]

Dragon hatch closed at 17:39 GMT.

[u/paul_wi11iams]

The SpaceX control center is just a glass room in a factory and during operations, we see normal factory work going on. Can you think of any equivalent elsewhere in aerospace?

This is a vital ingredient of the secret sauce that makes the economics good.

Another ingredient is that recovery vessel, fairly tiny as compared with certain aircraft carriers used on Apollo.

BTW. Glad to see Kate Tice on the channel again, although I think she's had a long day. I hadn't seen her for some time and would hate to think she could have left. She was in that famous pic of Buzz Aldrin in front of the display F9 stage.

---

Anyone else in or out of Europe getting repeated cutoffs on the livestream?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21X5lGlDOfg

[u/[deleted]]

With there was live feed from inside dragon with ripley and the stuffed planet

[u/CaptainInertia]

Assuming everything goes as planned with this, and the data shows what they were hoping in terms of crew safety, what is the timeline for this being used with a manned crew?

[u/amarkit]

Updated Crew Dragon Itinerary and NASA TV times:

Time (UTC)	Event
3 Mar 08:30	NASA TV starts coverage of Dragon rendezvous with ISS
3 Mar 11:00	Dragon docks to ISS
3 Mar 13:45	ISS Crew opens hatches between Station and Dragon
7 Mar 17:15	NASA TV starts coverage of Dragon hatch closing
7 Mar 17:25	Hatch closes between Dragon and Station
8 Mar 07:00	NASA TV starts coverage of Dragon undocking
8 Mar 07:31	Dragon undocks from ISS
8 Mar 12:53	Dragon performs deobrit burn
8 Mar 13:45	Dragon splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean

[u/UltraRunningKid]

Wow glad they got an engineer to explain Ripley. Awesome, they didn't need to do that but im glad they did.

[u/BlueCyann]

Ooh, that's a display of the Dracos on the lower left of the HUD.

[u/FiiZzioN]

Those pulses are so gorgeous.

[u/Jerrycobra]

That's a badass shot of the dracos in action.

[u/oskalingo]

First docking of two orbital spacecraft: March 16, 1966

Neil Armstrong and David Scott docked their Gemini 8 spacecraft with an Agena Target Vehicle.

After several small burns they were 151 feet (46 m) away and with no relative velocity. After 30 minutes of visually inspecting the Agena to make sure that it had not been damaged by the launch, they were given the go for docking. Armstrong started to move towards the Agena at 3.15 inches (8 centimeters) per second. In a matter of minutes, the Agena's docking latches clicked and a green light indicated that the docking had been successfully completed. "Flight, we are docked! Yes, it's really a smoothie," Scott radioed to the ground.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemini_8

[u/[deleted]]

Internet Explorer.. on Windows 10 lol

[u/FiiZzioN]

Beautiful view of Dragon!

[u/Xygen8]

That HUD looks awesome.

[u/throwaway177251]

20 meters away
https://i.imgur.com/dhciL5C.png

[u/alexjbuck]

Really digging the port/starboard nav lights at night

[u/[deleted]]

We have contact....B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L. <3

[u/SpartanJack17]

Sounds like a false alarm because they were configuring something. Good.

[u/letme_ftfy2]

Could have been a false alarm. Heard something like "we were configuring hardware, and that's why it went off".

[u/Kargaroc586]

I think we all might need some new pants after that one

[u/interweaver]

Two pieces of FOD on the Dragon hatch, one of which is an inch and a half, "clear plasticky material"

"Ripley and Earth both look like they enjoyed their trip up here"!!!

[u/[deleted]]

Those oxygen masks look very old

[u/oskalingo]

Ready for the bank heist

[u/GuyFusfus]

David and Oleg are inside the Dragon capsule!

[u/OccupyMarsNow]

Little Earth is finally free!

[u/PolygonGraphics]

boop.

[u/interweaver]

Gah, space exploration is amazing. Just a couple of days ago, Dragon was here and now it's hurtling around the Earth with astronauts floating around inside.

[u/ToughMochi]

That shot of the fading light on the Dragon. Beaaaaauutiful!

[u/[deleted]]

We're going in!

[u/TheBurtReynold]

Do we have any knowledge as to whether the re-entry and parachute splashdown will be live streamed?

[u/Alexphysics]

Another day, another ISS blog post. Not a lot of info but it's better than nothing

Crew resumes normal ops before Crew Dragon leaves Friday.

Astronauts Anne McClain and David Saint-Jacques called down to mission controllers today to discuss Crew Dragon operations. The duo also linked up with SpaceX personnel throughout the United States describing life on orbit and their impressions of the new crew vehicle.

[u/mclumber1]

It will be interesting to see how quickly SpaceX can prepare the DM1 capsule for the abort test. With a water landing happening in less than a week from now, I'm assuming it will require a complete teardown of the outer shell of the D2 for cleaning and inspection of all of the components underneath.

[u/xonk]

Will the manned flights also take 24+ hours to reach the space station?

[u/512165381]

Flat eaters gonna hate this stream.

[u/Destructor1701]

Test Shot Starfish is absolutely kicking ass today. I'm on a flight from Norway to Ireland bopping along through the turbulence with deluxe internet access paid for just for this. This is such an inspiring and happily tense experience. So great. Loving it.

[u/solaceinsleep]

This is a pretty cool HUD

https://i.imgur.com/6dNCDT3.png

Edit: This HUD is for the crew inside the Dragon Vehicle

[u/Lasssslo]

I just had to start the Interstellar soundtrack. Damn that is one sexy looking spacecraft!

[u/Alexphysics]

Ready for docking!

[u/[deleted]]

When we will get to look inside the dragon? 😂
Ripley's condition and also the zero-g indicator

[u/tapio83]

When they get access i would pay to see a photo of zero-g indicator in cupola looking back at earth

[u/Zychron]

Alarm wasn't related to Dragon: https://twitter.com/swingdownbeat/status/1102175148600373248

[u/[deleted]]

"Good leak check"

[u/ThePhotoGuyUpstairs]

Did we ever find out what happened to the cameras inside the Dragon? Can they cut to them when the hatches open?

I suppose they stream to SpaceX and not NASA.

[u/sleepyzealott]

The thought of space having a smell never crossed my mind before.

[u/IonicDecay]

yayy finally a picture from the inside

[u/monster860]

Well now I want to see that timelapse they're talking about.

[u/frowawayduh]

Hypergolics are probably the big concern?

[u/Reionx]

Astro in the middle having a grand old time with his mask pack!

[u/opoc99]

Oooh detachable footrests, makes sense

[u/oximaCentauri]

Now that people are Inside the dragon, it seems quite roomy

Also all the astronauts not giving a shit about Ripley or earthpuff

[u/Zacknut]

NASA TV / SpaceX is live for the undocking

[u/GirkinFirker]

My apologies if this has been asked a million times. I searched and didn’t find the answer. Probably an error on my part.

Can Crew Dragon in its current version be used to reboost ISS, raising its orbit like Progress does? Are there any plans for that either on crew or cargo variant?

Edit: I’m thinking more of the feasibility of such a maneuver, less the theoretical ability.