Crew 13 on Dragon Launches, Docks to ISS, Crew Begins Operations
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On Thursday, October 1, SpaceX launched the 21st mission of Crew Dragon, SpaceX's own crewed space capsule. It was the 13th mission of the Dragon to the International Space Station, and sent four new astronauts, two Americans, one Russian, and one Canadian to replace the Crew 12 astronauts that launched to the ISS in February.
They successfully launched aboard a Falcon 9 rocket early Thursday morning, lifting off to an orbit just below the ISS. This allows the capsule to travel faster, as the lower the orbit to Earth, the faster the spacecraft goes. With the increased speed of Crew Dragon compared to the ISS, it "catches up" to the station in orbit, allowing docking procedures to begin.
To dock, Crew Dragon approaches the ISS using its Reaction Control System (RCS) thrusters to move closer to the station. Following close proximity, the docking port on the ISS is marked as a target and is aligned to the proper angle, then thrusters are fired prograde (forward) towards the docking port and they are held into place by rings, holding it from major movement, and absorbing any extra kinetic energy, and this is called "soft docking". There is no pressure seal or mechanical seal, meaning that it is simply like putting a piece of fruit in a bag, but not sealing it.
Following soft-docking, actuators pull the soft-docking ring inwards, where the physical gap between the spacecraft is closed. Then, a mechanical seal forms, followed by an enviromental seal, which allows no gas to escape when it is pressurized. Following confirmation of an enviromental seal, the vestibule (area between docking ports) is pressurized and brought to atmosphere. After checks of the boarding crew, they are allowed to open the hatch and board the space station.
Crew 13 successfuly boarded the ISS later on Thursday, and was welcomed by the crew as Crew 12 prepares to go home.
More updates will follow as Crew 13 starts their science missions.
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