“The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off on June 3 from Launch Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, carrying the uncrewed Dragon cargo ship to orbit for the start of a delivery run to the residents of the International Space Station. Loaded with about 6,000 pounds of supplies and science experiments, Dragon is scheduled to arrive at the station on June 5, where it will be captured by Expedition 52 Flight Engineer Jack Fischer of NASA using the station’s Canadian-built robotic arm. Dragon is scheduled to remain at the station for a month before it is unberthed and deorbited for a parachute-assisted splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.”
“SpaceX CRS-10, also known as SpX-10 or simply CRS-10, is a cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station. The mission was contracted by NASA and was launched by SpaceX aboard a Dragon spacecraft on 19 February 2017. The mission is currently active, with the Dragon spacecraft in orbit adjusting and preparing for docking to the ISS, which is expected between 21 February and 22 February 2017. CRS-10 is part of the original order of twelve missions awarded to SpaceX under the Commercial Resupply Services contract. As of June 2016, a NASA Inspector General report had this mission manifested for November 2016. The launch was put on hold pending investigation of the pad explosion in September 2016, with a tentative date no earlier than January 2017, subsequently set for 18 February.
CRS-10 was launched from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39 Pad A, the first launch from the complex since STS-135 on 8 July 2011, the last flight of the Space Shuttle program; this complex is also where the Apollo missions were launched. On 12 February 2017, SpaceX successfully completed a static fire test of the Falcon 9 engines on Pad 39A. An initial launch attempt on 18 February 2017 was scrubbed 13 seconds before its 15:01 UTC launch due to a thrust vector control system issue, resulting in a 24-hour hold for launch no earlier than 19 February at 14:38:59 UTC.
Following the successful Launch on 19 February, the first stage returned and landed safely in landing Zone 1.
NASA has contracted for the CRS-10 mission from SpaceX and therefore determines the primary payload, date/time of launch, and orbital parameters for the Dragon space capsule. CRS-10 is expected to carry 1,530 kg (3,373.1 lb) of pressurized mass and 960 kg (2,116.4 lb) unpressurized. External payloads on the CRS-10 spacecraft are the SAGE III Earth observation experiment and its Nadir Viewing Platform (NVP), and the U.S. Department of Defense’s Space Test Program H5 (STP-H5) package, including the Raven navigation investigation and the Lightning Imaging Sensor. Some science payloads include ACME, LMM Biophysics, ZBOT, and CIR/Cool Flames.”
“The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft launched on the company’s Falcon 9 rocket on July 18 from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) in Florida, carrying science research, crew supplies and hardware in support of the Expedition 48 and 49 crew aboard the International Space Station. About 10 minutes after launch, Dragon reached its preliminary orbit, deployed its solar arrays and began a carefully choreographed series of thruster firings to begin its two-day journey to the station. […]
On July 20, two days after launching from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) in Florida , the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station, carrying science research, crew supplies and hardware in support of the station’s Expedition 48 and 49 crews. NASA astronaut Jeff Williams used the station’s robotic arm, which he controlled from the station’s cupola, to capture the Dragon. Ground controllers in Houston then sent commands instructing the robot arm to install Dragon on the Earth-facing side of the station’s Harmony module. During the next five weeks, crew members will unload the spacecraft and reload it with cargo to return to Earth. About five-and-a-half hours after it departs the station Aug. 29, it will splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja California.”
“SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket will launch the Dragon spacecraft to low Earth orbit to deliver critical cargo to the International Space Station (ISS) for NASA. SpaceX is targeting an afternoon launch of its eighth Commercial Resupply Services mission (CRS-8) from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The instantaneous launch window opens on April 8th at 8:43pm UTC, and a backup launch window opens at 8:20pm UTC on April 9th. Dragon will be deployed about 10 minutes after liftoff and attach to the ISS about two days after launch. Following stage separation, the first stage of the Falcon 9 will attempt an experimental landing on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship in the Atlantic Ocean.”
“Jason-3, a U.S.-European oceanography satellite mission with NASA participation that will continue a nearly quarter-century record of tracking global sea level rise, lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California Sunday, Jan. 17, at 1:42 p.m. EST aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Jason-3 is an international mission led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in partnership with NASA, the French space agency CNES, and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites.”
NASA JPL dixit:
“Jason-3 is the fourth mission in U.S.-European series of satellite missions that measure the height of the ocean surface. Launched on January 17, 2016, the mission will extend the time series of ocean surface topography measurements (the hills and valleys of the ocean surface) begun by the TOPEX/Poseidon satellite mission in 1992 and continuing through the Jason-1 (launched in 2001) and the currently operating OSTM/Jason-2 (launched in 2008) missions. These measurements provide scientists with critical information about circulation patterns in the ocean and about both global and regional changes in sea level and the climate implications of a warming world.
The primary instrument on Jason-3 is a radar altimeter. The altimeter will measure sea-level variations over the global ocean with very high accuracy (as 1.3 inches or 3.3 centimeters, with a goal of achieving 1 inch or 2.5 centimeters). Continual, long-term, reliable data of changes in ocean surface topography will be generated and will be used by scientists and operational agencies (NOAA, European weather agencies, marine operators, etc.) for scientific research and operational oceanography for the benefit of society.
TOPEX/Poseidon and Jason-1 were cooperative missions between NASA and the French space agency, CNES. Additional partners in the Jason-2 mission included NOAA and Eumetsat. Jason-3 continues the international cooperation, with NOAA and Eumetsat leading the efforts, along with partners NASA and CNES.”
“A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station carrying 11 satellites for ORBCOMM. The first stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket returned to Earth and landed safely six miles from its launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station […]. It was the first time a booster of its kind was successfully recovered in such a manner.”
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