SpaceX CRS-13, also known as SpX-13, was a Commercial Resupply Service mission to the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was Assembly of the International Space Station, assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United ...

launched on 15 December 2017. The mission was contracted by

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

and is flown by

SpaceX Space Exploration Technologies Corp., commonly referred to as SpaceX, is an America, American space technology company headquartered at the SpaceX Starbase, Starbase development site in Starbase, Texas. Since its founding in 2002, the compa ...

. It was the second mission to successfully reuse a

Dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...

capsule, previously flown on CRS-6. The first stage of the

Falcon 9 Full Thrust Falcon 9 Full Thrust (also known as Falcon 9 v1.2) is a Reusable launch system#Partial reusable launch systems, partially reusable, two-stage-to-orbit, medium-lift launch vehicle when reused and Heavy-lift launch vehicle when expended designed an ...

rocket was the previously flown, "flight-proven" core from CRS-11. The first stage returned to land at Cape Canaveral's

Landing Zone 1 Landing Zone 1 and Landing Zone 2, also known as LZ-1 and LZ-2 respectively, are landing facilities at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station used by SpaceX. They allow the company to land the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket or the two side boost ...

after separation of the first and second stage.

Mission overview

In early 2015, NASA awarded a contract extension to SpaceX for three CRS additional missions (CRS-13 to CRS-15). In June 2016, a NASA Inspector General report had this mission manifested for September 2017. The flight was then delayed from 13 September, 1 November, 4 December, 12 December, and 13 December 2017. SpaceX pushed off the launch to 15 December due to the detection of

particulates Particulate matter (PM) or particulates are microscopic particles of solid or liquid matter suspension (chemistry), suspended in the atmosphere of Earth, air. An ''aerosol'' is a mixture of particulates and air, as opposed to the particulate ...

in the second stage fuel system, taking the time to completely flush out the fuel and liquid oxygen tanks on the first and second stages as a precautionary measure. The CRS-13 mission launched aboard a

rocket on 15 December 2017 at 15:36:09

UTC Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the primary time standard globally used to regulate clocks and time. It establishes a reference for the current time, forming the basis for civil time and time zones. UTC facilitates international communica ...

from the

Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) is an installation of the United States Space Force's Space Launch Delta 45, located on Cape Canaveral in Brevard County, Florida. Headquartered at the nearby Patrick Space Force Base, the sta ...

Space Launch Complex 40. The

spacecraft rendezvoused with the International Space Station on 17 December 2017; the vehicle was captured by the

Canadarm2 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, suppo ...

at 10:57 UTC and was berthed to the ''

Harmony In music, harmony is the concept of combining different sounds in order to create new, distinct musical ideas. Theories of harmony seek to describe or explain the effects created by distinct pitches or tones coinciding with one another; harm ...

'' module's nadir docking port at 13:26 UTC. Dragon spent just under a month at the ISS: it was unberthed on 12 January 2018 at 10:47 UTC and was released from Canadarm2 on 13 January 2018 at 09:58 UTC. The spacecraft deorbited a few hours later, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean at 15:37 UTC carrying of equipment and science experiments.

Payload

NASA has contracted for the CRS-13 mission from SpaceX and therefore determines the primary payload, date/time of launch, and

orbital parameters Orbital elements are the parameters required to uniquely identify a specific orbit. In celestial mechanics these elements are considered in two-body systems using a Kepler orbit. There are many different ways to mathematically describe the same o ...

for the Dragon

space capsule A space capsule is a spacecraft designed to transport cargo, scientific experiments, and/or astronauts to and from space. Capsules are distinguished from other spacecraft by the ability to survive reentry and return a payload to the Earth's surfa ...

. CRS-13 carried a total of of material into orbit. This includes of pressurised cargo with packaging bound for the International Space Station, and of unpressurised cargo composed of two external station experiments: the Total and Spectral Solar Irradiance Sensor (TSIS) and the Space Debris Sensor (SDS). The following is a breakdown of cargo bound for the ISS: * Science investigations: * Crew supplies: * Vehicle hardware: * Spacewalk equipment: * Computer resources: * External payloads: ** Total and Spectral Solar Irradiance Sensor (TSIS) ** Space Debris Sensor (SDS)

Gallery

References

External links

*
Dragon website
at SpaceX.com
Commercial Resupply Services
at NASA.gov {{DEFAULTSORT:CRS 013 SpaceX Dragon Spacecraft launched in 2017 Spacecraft which reentered in 2018 SpaceX payloads contracted by NASA Supply vehicles for the International Space Station

Mission overview

Payload

Gallery

See also

References

External links