SpaceX unveils Dragon V2, an upgraded capsule to uplift astronauts to space - Video

The interior of SpaceX's new seven-seat Dragon V2 spacecraft, the company’s next generation version of the Dragon ship designed to carry astronauts into space, as seen at a press conference in Hawthorne, California, on May 29, 2014

A sleek, white gumdrop-shaped space capsule that aims to carry up to seven astronauts to the International Space Station and return to land anywhere on Earth was unveiled Thursday by SpaceX.

The Dragon V2, short for version two, is the first attempt by a private company to restore Americans' ability to send people to the orbiting space station in the wake of the space shuttle program's retirement in 2011.

"It's all around, I think, really a big leap forward in technology. It really takes things to the next level," said SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.



SpaceX is competing with other companies, including Boeing, Sierra Nevada and Blue Origin, to be the first commercial outfit to take astronauts to space, possibly as early as 2017.

Until then, the world's astronauts must rely on Russian Soyuz spacecraft at a cost of $70 million per seat.

The Dragon V2 was shown for the first time at a jam-packed evening press conference in Hawthorne, California.

The shiny Dragon V2 sat on a white stage floor, as a scorched Dragon cargo capsule was suspended above, bearing the blackened markings of a capsule that had returned to Earth from orbit.

SpaceX's Dragon capsule in 2012 became the first private spacecraft to carry supplies to the ISS and back.

Since then, Orbital Sciences has followed with its Cygnus, a capsule shaped like a beer keg that can carry supplies to the space station but burns upon re-entry to Earth's atmosphere.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk introduces SpaceX's Dragon V2 spacecraft, the company's next generation version of the Dragon ship, designed to carry astronauts into space, at a press conference in Hawthorne, California, on May 29, 2014

Musk said a key feature of the Dragon V2 is that it will be able to "land anywhere on Earth with the accuracy of a helicopter."

The crew spacecraft will be able to use rocket propulsion and deploy legs to land, instead of using parachutes to make an ocean splash-landing the way the cargo capsule does.

It will however still have parachutes that it can use for a landing in case any engine problems are detected before touchdown on Earth.

The V2 also carries an improved heat shield and will be able to autonomously dock with the space station, instead of needing the space station's robotic arm to catch it and pull it in.

"That is a significant upgrade as well," Musk said.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk introduces SpaceX's Dragon V2 spacecraft, the company's next generation version of the Dragon ship designed to carry astronauts into space, at a press conference in Hawthorne, California, on May 29, 2014

Musk touted the reusability of the Dragon V2, allowing it to cut back on expensive space journeys.

"You can just reload propellant and then fly again. This is extremely important for revolutionizing access to space," Musk said.

"Because as long as we continue to throw away rockets and spacecraft, we will never have true access to space. It will always be incredibly expensive," he added.

"If aircraft were thrown away with each flight, nobody would be able to fly."

The Internet entrepreneur and billionaire co-founder of PayPal did not say when the Dragon V2's first test flight would take place.

Water Leak Inside SpaceX Dragon Capsule After Splashdown

SpaceX's Dragon capsule splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on May 18, 2014 after about one month in space.

Credit: SpaceX

Water was discovered in the Space Exploration Technologies Corp. Dragon spacecraft that recently returned to Earth from a month-long stay at the international space station, but so far as NASA knew May 21, none of the agency’s cargo was damaged.

The presence of water in the spacecraft, which splashed down May 18 after a month-long mission to the station “did not cause us any impacts that we know of,” Dan Hartman, deputy program manager for the International Space Station, said in a webcast briefing from the Johnson Space Center in Houston May 21.

Some early return cargo had already been rushed back to Houston by May 21, and the rest of Dragon’s cache was due to arrive May 23, Hartman said during the briefing.

SpaceX spokeswoman Emily Shanklin did not reply to emails requesting comment May 21 and May 22.

Hartman said SpaceX will investigate the cause of the water incursion at its rocket test facility in McGregor, Texas, where all Dragon spacecraft are taken for postmission processing.

Dragon returned from the space station May 18, splashing down about 480 kilometers off the coast of Baja California, Mexico, according to a NASA press release issued that day. The spacecraft arrived May 20 at the Port of Long Beach in California, Hartman said.

News that water had been discovered in Dragon was first reported by Aviation Week and Space Technology.

The cargo-delivery mission just completed was the third of 12 that SpaceX owes NASA under the $1.6 billion Commercial Resupply Services contract the Hawthorne, California-based company signed in 2008 to haul 20 metric tons of cargo to station through 2015.

NASA plans to extend that contract to cover deliveries through 2018, and to issue a follow-on Commercial Resupply Services contract for deliveries through at least 2020. SpaceX and Orbital Sciences Corp., NASA’s other contract cargo hauler, are well positioned to get the follow-on contracts.

SpaceX's Dragon: Robotic Capsule Undocks from Canadarm on Space Station

SpaceX's Dragon capsule was released from the International Space Station's robotic arm at 9:26 a.m. EDT (1326 GMT) on May 18, 2014.
Credit: NASA TV

SpaceX's Dragon robotic, unmanned, capsule departed the International Space Station today, putting it on a path back to Earth after about one month attached to the orbiting outpost.

The robotic spacecraft is loaded down with more than 3,500 lbs. (1,587 kg) worth of science samples and supplies which should be safely delivered to Earth once the SpaceX capsule splashes down in the Pacific Ocean later today (May 18).

Splashdown is expected to occur at about 3:02 p.m. EDT (1902 GMT) off the coast of Baja California where officials can recover the supply craft.

The SpaceX Dragon capsule orbits with the International Space Station before its release on May 18, 2014.

Credit: NASA TV

Ground controllers maneuvered the space station's robotic arm to pluck Dragon from the Harmony module and move it into position for release.

The spacecraft was let go from the station at 9:26 a.m. EDT (1326 GMT) as both flew 266 miles (428 kilometers) above the ocean south of Australia, according to NASA.

SpaceX's Dragon also performed a series of thruster burns to move a safe distance from the station before it is expected to execute its deorbit burn at about 2:12 p.m. EDT (1812 GMT).

Dragon has been attached to the space station since April 20, after its launch atop the private spaceflight company's Falcon 9 rocket on April 18 from Florida.

SpaceX successfully performed a daring reusable rocket test during the April 18 launch.

The spaceflight company brought the boost stage of the Falcon 9 rocket back to Earth, landing it upright in the ocean, after delivering Dragon to the proper orbit.

SpaceX's Dragon capsule flies above Angola while attached to the International Space Station just before its release on May 18, 2014. 

Credit: NASA TV

World View Enterprises design for near-Space Balloon and Capsule

This artist's rendering provided by World View Enterprises on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2013 shows their design for a capsule lifted by a high-altitude balloon up 19 miles into the air for tourists. 

WWE CEO Jane Poynter said people would pay $75,000 to spend a couple hours looking down at the curve of the Earth. 

AP Photo/World View Enterprises

The latest space tourism venture depends more on hot air than rocket science.

World View Enterprises announced plans Tuesday to send people up 19 miles in a capsule, lifted by a high-altitude balloon.

Company CEO Jane Poynter said the price for spending a couple of hours looking down at the curve of the Earth will be $75,000.

But it's not quite space. Space starts at 62 miles.

Still, the plan requires approval from the Federal Aviation Administration, which oversees commercial space. She said it uses existing technology and the first launch could be as early as the end of 2016.

The same team last February proposed a private venture to send a married couple to Mars in 2018.

Artist's rendering provided by World View Enterprises on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2013 showing their design for a capsule. 

Credit: AP Photo/World View Enterprises

SpaceX Dragon capsule returns from International Space Station

The SpaceX Dragon capsule is captured by the crew of the International Space Station using its robotic arm in this screen capture from NASA handout video released March 3, 2013. 

Credit REUTERS/NASA/Handout

A Space Exploration Technologies' Dragon cargo capsule splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on Tuesday, bringing back science experiments and gear from the International Space Station (ISS).

The spacecraft left the orbital outpost at 6:56 a.m. ET, and parachuted into the ocean about 225 miles west of Mexico's Baja California at 12:34 p.m. ET.

"Recovery ship just heard the sonic booms from Dragon re-entry and has data transmission lock," Elon Musk, founder and chief executive of the privately held company known as SpaceX, wrote on Twitter just before splashdown.

A minute later, recovery ship personnel reported seeing Dragon's parachutes, Musk said.

"Recovery ship has secured Dragon," Musk wrote. "Cargo looks A-OK."

The ship will take the capsule to the Port of Los Angeles, near the company's Hawthorne, California, headquarters, a journey expected to take about 30 hours.

Dragon's return began 252 miles above Earth when astronauts aboard the station used a robotic crane to pluck the capsule from its berthing port and set it into orbit.

SpaceX flight controllers then stepped in and remotely commanded Dragon to fire its steering thrusters and begin the 5.5-hour journey home.

Thomas Marshburn

"It looks beautiful from here," station flight engineer Thomas Marshburn radioed to Mission Control in Houston as the capsule flew away.

"Sad to see the Dragon go. Performed her job beautifully, heading back to her lair. Wish her all the best for the splashdown today," Marshburn said.

The Dragon cargo ship reached the station on March 3 with more than 2,300 pounds (1,043 kg) of science equipment, spare parts, food and supplies. It was the second of 12 planned cargo runs for NASA under a $1.6 billion contract.

A second freighter, built and operated by Orbital Sciences Corp, is expected to debut this year.

The U.S. space agency hired both firms to fill the gap left by the retirement of its space shuttle fleet in 2011.

Dragon's arrival was delayed a day while SpaceX engineers grappled with a thruster pod problem that had threatened to derail the mission.

"I don't want to go through that again. That was hard-core," Musk said during a keynote speech at the South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas, earlier this month.

PRECISION RENDEZVOUS
Engineers believe the glitch was caused by a blockage in a pressurisation line or a stuck valve. It was cleared and the capsule made a precision rendezvous with the station with no problems.

Dragon returned to Earth with 2,668 (1,210 kg) of cargo, including a freezer filled with biological samples from the crew for medical research.

While Russian (Progress), European (ATV) and Japanese (HTV) freighters also service the station, only the SpaceX vessel is designed to return cargo to Earth, a critical transportation link that had been lost with the retirement of the shuttles.

SpaceX is working to upgrade the Dragon capsule to fly people as well. A test flight with company astronauts is targeted for 2016.

SpaceX Capsule: AMES Big Science for International Space Station

The NanoRacks Plate Reader, shown here, will enable in orbit analysis of research samples for certain studies aboard the International Space Station. 

CREDIT: NASA

The International Space Station is now home to more than 1,200 pounds (544 kilograms) of supplies delivered by an unmanned, privately built space capsule that reached the orbiting science laboratory on Sunday (March 3).

Among the goods SpaceX's Dragon capsule transported to the station were science experiments primed and ready for the six international residents of the space station.

See our previous Post on the SpaceX AMES experiment container /payload

"Dragon is scheduled to return to Earth on March 25, bringing home nearly double the amount of supplies it brought up, about 2,668 pounds (1,210 kilograms)," NASA officials said in a statement.

"Returning investigation samples will demonstrate how life in microgravity affects the growth of plant seedlings, changes to the human body, the behavior of semiconductors and detergents, and more."

Some of the experiments will only stay on board for three weeks, making a round trip back to Earth with Dragon when the capsule detaches from the station.

One of those experiments involves thale cress, a plant used in many experiments because of its small, relatively easy-to-map genome.

Scientists affiliated with NASA and the European Space Agency sent up one experiment called "Seedling Growth-1," designed to investigate how well plants grow amid stresses such as low oxygen.

"The experiment will study how plants adapt to micro- and low-gravity environments," NASA officials wrote in a statement.

"Researchers hope to determine the ability of vegetation to provide a complete, sustainable, dependable and economical means for human life-support in space."



Beyond helping scientists learn how to grow food in space, the research might contribute to better agricultural practices back on Earth.

Understanding how these plants react to a stressful environment could lend insight into how farmers could mitigate those taxing situations back on the planet's surface.

Some of the experiments sent to the International Space Station will play a role in education, as well.

The Experiment Container with Plant Seedling Seed Cassettes (seedlings, inset lower right) is an example of the samples returning aboard the SpaceX Dragon vehicle for ground analysis.

CREDIT: NASA

"Students from several California schools developed investigations to study bacteria, iron corrosion, battery performance and carbon dioxide levels aboard the station, all of which will be delivered by Dragon," NASA officials wrote in a statement.

Personal product manufacturer Procter & Gamble sent up another experiment that will study how to better preserve toothpaste, gels and creams.

SpaceX Optimistic about Launch Despite Thruster Outage

SpaceX said it was "optimistic" Friday after a thruster outage delayed the latest resupply mission of its unmanned Dragon capsule en route to the International Space Station.

SpaceX and NASA officials said the cargo resupply mission was still on track, but the technical mishap could fuel concerns about the US agency's ambitious plans to cut costs by privatizing elements of the space program.

SpaceX's billionaire founder Elon Musk said the failure of three out of four thruster pods to fire up was a "little frightening" but that two pods were back online within a few hours and the others should be working again shortly.

"I'm optimistic that we will be able to turn all four thruster pods on and restore full control," he told reporters.
Musk later tweeted: "Thruster pods one through four are now operating nominally. Preparing to raise orbit. All systems green."

SpaceX and NASA officials said once the pods are back online, they would carry out a number of checks before clearing the vessel to dock at the space station in the coming days, perhaps as early as Sunday.

The original rendezvous had been planned for 1130 GMT Saturday, but Mike Suffredini, NASA program manager for the International Space Station, said there was "quite a bit of flexibility" in the berthing date.

SpaceX capsule not allowed to dock with ISS

The U.S. private space capsule Dragon will conduct a flight near the International Space Station (ISS), but docking between them is not planned, Vladimir Solovyov, head of the Russian segment of the ISS mission control center said on Friday.

The California-based Space Exploration Technologies company, better known as SpaceX, has earlier announced plans to launch its Dragon capsule toward the orbiting lab on November 30, with a historic docking slated for nine days later.

"Over the last several months, SpaceX has been hard at work preparing for our next flight - a mission designed to demonstrate that a privately-developed space transportation system can deliver cargo to and from the International Space Station (ISS)," the company said.

"A flight by the Dragon to the ISS, but without berthing, has tentatively been scheduled for the end of this year. Though, I do not know, whether it'll fly or not," Solovyov said.

SpaceX and other companies have been given funds out of NASA's special commercial package to provide cargo resupply and human spaceflight capabilities. SpaceX, widely considered to be the frontrunner in this endeavor, has already sent its Dragon capsule into orbit, proving that its space launch infrastructure is viable.

Earlier Russia said it will not allow the SpaceX vehicle to dock with the ISS unless its safety is fully tested.

"We will not issue docking permission unless the necessary level of reliability and safety is proven," said Alexei Krasov, head of the human spaceflight department of Roscosmos. "So far we have no proof that this spacecraft duly comply with the accepted norms of spaceflight safety."

SpaceX Dragon lands in Florida

A history-making space capsule has landed at Cape Canaveral's museum.

The Dragon Capsule by SpaceX -- the first commercial enterprise to launch, fly, land and recover a spacecraft from Earth orbit -- is now on display at the Air Force Space and Missile History Center.

Flown on a SpaceX rocket last December and unveiled for the first time to the public on Friday, the capsule is the forerunner to a NASA demonstration flight slated for this fall.

"Dragon, the first commercially manufactured, human-rated transport vehicle, may serve as a critical asset in the country's next-generation manned space exploration initiatives," SpaceX said in a statement.

Dragon is a free-flying, reusable spacecraft being developed by SpaceX under NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program. Initiated internally by SpaceX in 2005, the Dragon spacecraft is made up of a pressurized capsule and unpressurised trunk used for Earth to LEO transport of pressurised cargo, unpressurized cargo, and/or crew members.

The Dragon spacecraft is comprised of 3 main elements: the Nosecone, which protects the vessel and the docking adaptor during ascent; the Spacecraft, which houses the crew and/or pressurised cargo as well as the service section containing avionics, the RCS system, parachutes, and other support infrastructure; and the Trunk, which provides for the stowage of unpressurized cargo and will support Dragon’s solar arrays and thermal radiators.

Space Exploration Technologies Corporation - Dragon

Gagarin's Soyuz capsule - Mockup

Full-size mockup of Gagarin's Soyuz capsule at the Musee de l'Air et Espace at Le Bourget

Russian Soyuz capsule lands safely in Kazakhstan

A Russian Soyuz capsule with Russian cosmonauts Oleg Skripochka and Alexander Kaleri and US astronaut Scott Kelly on board lands near the town of Arkalyk in northern Kazakhstan

JAXA Hayabusa capsule recovered in Australian Outback

A helicopter found the capsule about an hour after the return Japanese scientists began the process on Monday of retrieving the Hayabusa capsule from the Australian Outback.

The canister and its delivery spacecraft fell to Earth during the night, the culmination of a seven-year round trip to asteroid Itokawa.

The first photo of the capsule, which landed in the Woomera Prohibited Area, shows it still attached to a parachute.

The researchers will prepare the canister for evacuation to Japan. They will hope it holds samples of Itokawa.

If that is confirmed, it would be the first time fragments of rock had been picked up off the surface of an asteroid and returned to Earth.

But scientists caution it could be some weeks before they are able to confirm the presence of Itokawa dust. For the moment, the Japanese space agency (Jaxa) is simply celebrating the success of bringing Hayabusa home.

The re-entry produced a remarkable fireball in the Australian sky. The main spacecraft broke apart in a shower of light. As these bright streaks faded, a single point could be seen heading to the ground. This was the capsule protected against the intense heat generated in the fall by its carbon shield.

It took about an hour to locate the capsule by helicopter, its position tracked by radar and a beacon that was transmitting from inside the canister. It was only when daylight came up on Monday that recovery teams began to approach the capsule.

"We will package the capsule and then send it back by aircraft - it's a special aircraft - from the Woomera range to Tokyo International Airport, to go to our facility, our laboratory, where we will analyse the samples," Yoshiyuki Hasegawa, the associate executive director of Jaxa, told BBC News.

Even now, there is still some uncertainty as to whether the capsule really does contain pieces of Itokawa.

Analysis has shown the Hayabusa spacecraft's capture mechanism malfunctioned at the moment it was supposed to pick up the asteroid rock fragments.

However, Jaxa officials remain confident of success.

They say a lot of dust would have been kicked up when Hayabusa landed on the space rock to make the grab, and some of this material must have found its way inside the probe.