SpaceX CRS-5, also known as SpX-5, was a Commercial Resupply Service mission to the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest Modular design, modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos ( ...

(ISS), conducted by

SpaceX Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) is an American spacecraft manufacturer, launcher, and a satellite communications corporation headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with the stated goal of ...

for

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedi ...

, and was launched on 10 January 2015 and ended on 11 February 2015. It was the seventh flight for SpaceX's uncrewed Dragon

cargo spacecraft Cargo spacecraft are robotic spacecraft that are designed to carry cargo, possibly to support space stations' operation by transporting food, propellant and other supplies. This is different from a space probe, whose missions are to conduct scien ...

and the fifth SpaceX operational mission contracted to

under an ISS resupply services contract.

Launch history

Launch of Falcon 9 carrying CRS-5 (KSC-2015-1038, crop)

By July 2014, the launch was scheduled by NASA for December 2014, with docking to the station projected to occur two days after launch. Originally scheduled for a 16 December 2014 launch, the mission was changed to 19 December 2014, in order to give SpaceX more preparation time for a successful launch. The launch was postponed again to 6 January 2015, in order to allow more tests before committing to a firm launch date. On 6 January 2015, the launch attempt was placed on hold at 1 minute 21 seconds prior to scheduled lift-off after a member of the launch team noticed

actuator An actuator is a component of a machine that is responsible for moving and controlling a mechanism or system, for example by opening a valve. In simple terms, it is a "mover". An actuator requires a control device (controlled by control signal) a ...

drift on one of two thrust vector control systems of the Falcon 9 second stage engine. As this launch had an instantaneous launch window, meaning no delays are possible in the launch sequence, the flight was postponed to 9 January 2015. On 7 January 2015, the flight was rescheduled for 10 January 2015. The

Falcon 9 Falcon 9 is a partially reusable medium lift launch vehicle that can carry cargo and crew into Earth orbit, produced by American aerospace company SpaceX. The rocket has two stages. The first (booster) stage carries the second stage and pa ...

launch vehicle carrying the CRS-5 Dragon spacecraft successfully launched on 10 January 2015 at 09:47:10 UTC. Dragon reached the station on 12 January 2015. It was grappled by the

Mobile Servicing System The Mobile Servicing System (MSS), is a robotic system on board the International Space Station (ISS). Launched to the ISS in 2001, it plays a key role in station assembly and maintenance; it moves equipment and supplies around the station, supp ...

(Canadarm2) at 10:54 UTC and berthed to the ''

Harmony In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. Howev ...

'' module at 13:56 UTC.

Primary payload

The Dragon spacecraft for CRS-5 carried of cargo to the ISS. Included in this was of provisions and equipment for the crew, of station hardware, of science equipment and experiments, and the

Cloud Aerosol Transport System The Cloud Aerosol Transport System (CATS) was a light detection and ranging remote sensing instrument designed to measure the location, composition and distribution of pollution, dust, smoke, aerosols and other particulates in the atmosphere. CATS ...

(CATS). CATS is a

LIDAR Lidar (, also LIDAR, or LiDAR; sometimes LADAR) is a method for determining ranges (variable distance) by targeting an object or a surface with a laser and measuring the time for the reflected light to return to the receiver. It can also be ...

remote sensing instrument designed to measure the location, composition and distribution of pollution, dust, smoke, aerosols and other particulates in the atmosphere. CATS is to be installed on the Kibō module external facility and is expected to run for at least six months, and up to three years. Upon completion of its stay, Dragon was loaded with of outgoing cargo, returning it back to

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surf ...

Post-launch flight test

CRS-5 Dragon recovery aboard ship (16511391418)

In an unprecedented

test flight Flight testing is a branch of aeronautical engineering that develops specialist equipment required for testing aircraft behaviour and systems. Instrumentation systems are developed using proprietary transducers and data acquisition systems. D ...

, SpaceX attempted to return the first stage of the Falcon 9 through the atmosphere and land it on a floating platform called the ''

autonomous spaceport drone ship An autonomous spaceport drone ship (ASDS) is an ocean-going vessel derived from a deck barge, outfitted with station-keeping engines and a large landing platform and is autonomously controlled when on station for a landing. Construction of ...

''. In October 2014, SpaceX had revealed that the ship was being built for SpaceX in

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a U.S. state, state in the Deep South and South Central United States, South Central regions of the United States. It is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 20th-smal ...

, and by mid-December 2014, the ship was docked in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

, ready to go to sea to support the test flight landing attempt.

Results of first landing attempt

SpaceX attempted a landing on the drone ship on 10 January 2015. Many of the

test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

objectives were achieved, including precision control of the first stage's descent to land on the platform at a specific point in the south

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Afr ...

and a large amount of test data was obtained from the first use of

grid fin Grid fins (or lattice fins) are a type of flight control surface used on rockets and bombs, sometimes in place of more conventional control surfaces, such as planar fins. They were developed in the 1950s by a team led by and used since the 1970 ...

control surfaces used for more precise reentry positioning. However, the first stage was destroyed due to a

hard landing A hard landing occurs when an aircraft or spacecraft hits the ground with a greater vertical speed and force than in a normal landing. Landing is the final phase in flight, in which the aircraft returns to the ground. The average vertical spe ...

. Musk said that one of the possible problems was the grid fins running out of

hydraulic fluid A hydraulic fluid or hydraulic liquid is the medium by which power is transferred in hydraulic machinery. Common hydraulic fluids are based on mineral oil or water. Examples of equipment that might use hydraulic fluids are excavators and backhoe ...

. The SpaceX webcast indicated that the boostback burn and re-entry burns for the descending first stage occurred, and that the descending then went "below the horizon", as expected, which eliminated the live telemetry signal. Shortly thereafter, SpaceX released information that the first stage did get to the drone spaceport ship as planned, but "landed hard ... Ship itself is fine. Some of the support equipment on the deck will need to be replaced". SpaceX made a video of the landing attempt available on

Vine A vine ( Latin ''vīnea'' "grapevine", "vineyard", from ''vīnum'' "wine") is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners thems ...

References

External links

NASA Commercial Resupply launch hub

SpaceX CRS-5 mission press kit
{{Orbital launches in 2015 SpaceX Dragon Spacecraft launched in 2015 Spacecraft which reentered in 2015 SpaceX payloads contracted by NASA Supply vehicles for the International Space Station