A little while ago, SpaceX’s Dragon 2 spacecraft docked with the International Space Station’s Harmony module completing the first part of its CRS-30 mission. Astronauts Loral O’Hara and her colleague Mike Barratt monitored the operation but the cargo spacecraft, which blasted off when it was Thursday afternoon in the USA, completed the maneuvers automatically without any problem.
The Dragon spacecraft’s approach to the International Space Station follows a procedure that has become routine but remains long and delicate. The Station’s safety is the top priority so every little step of the Dragon gets checked. Only if all goes well in the spacecraft’s position and velocity they proceed with the next step and in case of any problems can be aborted at every step. The Dragon 2 carries out all the maneuvers automatically up to the docking and the procedure can be interrupted until the last moment.
Previous missions already provided positive feedback regarding the possibility of reusing the new version of the Dragon cargo spacecraft. In SpaceX and NASA’s initial plans, each Dragon should be used up to 5 times but the new goal for SpaceX is to use each spacecraft up to 15 times. The newly arrived cargo spacecraft is on its fourth mission.
The CRS-30 mission will end in about a month with the return to Earth. The second version of the Dragon cargo spacecraft can stay in space much longer than the first version but for now, NASA hasn’t extended its missions.
The Dragon cargo spacecraft continues to be the only space freighter capable of returning cargo to Earth. However, a few months ago, news started arriving from Sierra Nevada Corporation regarding its Dream Chaser, the spaceplane capable of landing on runways for normal airplanes that was selected by NASA in the second phase of the Commercial Resupply Service program. The project has accumulated several delays and now its development program overlaps with that of ULA’s new Vulcan rocket, which will be used to launch it. The latest news indicates that the first mission could take place in June 2024.
