The Falcon 9 design has evolved significantly over its career, with the current Block 5 configuration – which SpaceX considers to be the final, definitive, version – having been introduced in 2018.įalcon 9’s first stage, known as the booster, was designed to be recovered and re-used for multiple launches. Propellant load complete Falcon 9 to internal powerįirst stage Merlin 1D engine start commanded Stage 2 engine Thrust Vector Control gimbal checks Stage 2 densified liquid oxygen loading begins Launch Director verifies go for propellant loading Go/No Go for Dragon propellant tank pressurization First flown in 2010, the two-stage Falcon 9 has completed over 100 successful launches in the last 10 years and quickly became a workhorse for the American space industry.ĭragon IMU alignment & configuration for launch The IDAs, which convert the PMAs from the APAS-95 standard that was used by the Shuttle to the International Docking System Standard (IDSS) used by NASA’s Commercial Crew vehicles, were delivered on previous cargo Dragon missions.Įndeavour will initially dock to PMA-2/IDA-2 at the forward end of the Harmony/Node-2 module before being relocated to PMA-3/IDA-3 on the Harmony’s zenith, or space-facing, port during its stay.Įndeavour and her crew rode to orbit aboard SpaceX’s semi-reusable Falcon 9 rocket. The Dragon v2 fleet (both human and cargo versions) docks with the ISS using one of two International Docking Adaptors (IDAs) connected to a Pressurised Mating Adaptor (PMA) that formerly supported Space Shuttle missions. This is the first time since Project Gemini in the 1960s that two US crewed missions have been in orbit at the same time and the first time in history that two US human spacecraft will be docked at the Station at the time. Dragon Endeavour will arrive at the ISS while her sister ship Resilience, which launched last November with Crew-1, is still docked at the outpost. Unlike the Shuttle, however, Dragon Endeavour is designed to remain in orbit for extended stays at the Space Station. It was named specifically after and in honor of the Space Shuttle Endeavour, the last of NASA’s Space Shuttle orbiters to be built and the first spacecraft aboard which both of the Demo-2 astronauts flew. The first crews to fly on a new Dragon v2 have the honor of choosing the craft’s name – with Endeavour’s being announced by her first crew shortly after she reached orbit on the Demo-2 mission. The Crew-2 mission marks the second flight to orbit for Endeavour, spacecraft C206, which flew the historic Demo-2 mission in May 2020. Like the Space Shuttle before it, Crew Dragon is reusable – the first reusable human capsule launch and entry system in the world. The third spacecraft used for ISS crew rotation is Russia’s Soyuz. SpaceX was also one of two companies selected to carry US and international crews to the Station under NASA’s Commercial Crew program, with Boeing’s Starliner also chosen. This v2 Dragon can fly in the crewed configuration that is being used for Friday’s mission while an uncrewed version has also been developed to take over cargo missions under the second phase of CRS. This version has now been retired, with the enhanced Dragon v2 spacecraft developed as part of the Commercial Crew Program, taking its place. This version of Dragon first flew in December 2010 and went on to make 20 resupply runs to ISS under a Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract.

SpaceX developed an initial version of the Dragon spacecraft under NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Systems (COTS) program to provide cargo services to the Station. It is the third crewed mission overall for SpaceX and its Crew Dragon vehicle following its Demo-2 flight last year and the Crew-1 mission which remains in orbit. The Crew-2 mission will see Endeavour carry NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency (ESA) and Akihiko Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to join the Expedition 65 crew aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Liftoff, atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center, occurred right on time at 05:49:02 EDT / 09:49:02 UTC on Friday, 23 April 2021. SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Endeavour began its second mission Friday with a crew of four astronauts on a long-duration trip to the International Space Station.

Space shuttle endeavour launch date