| SpaceX Crew-2 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Mission Type: | ISS crew transport | ||||||||||||||||||
| Operator: | SpaceX | ||||||||||||||||||
| Manufacturer: | SpaceX | ||||||||||||||||||
| Launch Mass: | [1] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Crew Size: | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Crew Expedition: | Expedition 65 / 66 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Launch Date: | UTC (5:27:17amEDT) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Launch Rocket: | Falcon 9 Block 5 (B1061.2) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Launch Site: | Kennedy, LC39A | ||||||||||||||||||
| Landing Date: | UTC (10:33:15amEST) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Landing Site: | Gulf of Mexico, near Pensacola, Florida | ||||||||||||||||||
| Orbit Reference: | Geocentric orbit | ||||||||||||||||||
| Orbit Regime: | Low Earth orbit | ||||||||||||||||||
| Orbit Inclination: | 51.66° | ||||||||||||||||||
| Apsis: | gee | ||||||||||||||||||
| Docking: |
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| Insignia: | SpaceX Crew-2 logo.png | ||||||||||||||||||
| Insignia Caption: | Mission patch | ||||||||||||||||||
| Crew Photo: | SpaceX Crew-2 crew.jpg | ||||||||||||||||||
| Crew Photo Caption: | From left: McArthur, Pesquet, Hoshide and Kimbrough | ||||||||||||||||||
| Programme: | Commercial Crew Program | ||||||||||||||||||
| Previous Mission: | SpaceX Crew-1 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Next Mission: | SpaceX Crew-3 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Programme2: | Crew Dragon flights | ||||||||||||||||||
| Previous Mission2: | SpaceX Crew-1 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Next Mission2: | Inspiration4 | ||||||||||||||||||
SpaceX Crew-2 was the second operational flight of a Crew Dragon spacecraft, and the third overall crewed orbital flight of the Commercial Crew Program. The mission was launched on 23 April 2021 at 09:49:02 UTC, and docked to the International Space Station on 24 April at 09:08 UTC.[2]
SpaceX Crew-2 used the same capsule as Crew Dragon Demo-2 (Endeavour) and launched on the same Falcon 9 booster as SpaceX Crew-1 (B1061.1).
With its return to Earth the evening of 9 November 2021, the mission set a record for the longest spaceflight by a U.S. crewed spacecraft, 199 days.[3]
On 28 July 2020, JAXA, ESA and NASA confirmed their astronaut assignments aboard this mission.
German astronaut Matthias Maurer was the backup for Pesquet, while Japanese astronaut Satoshi Furukawa trained as backup to Hoshide.
The second SpaceX operational mission in the Commercial Crew Program launched on 23 April 2021. The Crew Dragon Endeavour docked to the International Docking Adapter (IDA) at the forward port of the Harmony module. This was the first mission with astronauts on board to use a previously flown booster launch vehicle.[4] [5]
All crew members were veteran astronauts, though this was Megan McArthur's first visit to the ISS (as her first spaceflight was STS-125, a mission to the Hubble Space Telescope). McArthur used the same seat on the Crew Dragon Endeavour which her husband, Bob Behnken, used on the Demo-2 mission.[6] Akihiko Hoshide served as the second Japanese ISS commander during his stay. It was the second mission by Thomas Pesquet to the International Space Station and was named Alpha, after Alpha Centauri, the closest star system to Earth.
To prepare for the arrival of a Starliner, the Endeavour docked to ISS at Harmony forward port was undocked at 10:45 UTC and relocated to Harmony zenith port on 21 July 2021, at 11:36 UTC.
With CRS-23, (C208) and Inspiration4 (Resilience), three Dragon spacecraft were in space at the same time, from 16 to 18 September 2021 (UTC).
| MET | Time | Date (UTC) | Event[7] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EDT | UTC | |||
| −6:40:00 | 11:09:00 PM | 03:09:00 | 23 April 2021 | Crew wake |
| −05:30:00 | 0:19:02 AM | 04:19:02 | CE launch readiness briefing | |
| −05:00:00 | 0:49:02 AM | 04:49:02 | Launch shift on console | |
| −04:59:59 | 0:49:03 AM | 04:49:03 | Dragon IMU align and configure for launch. | |
| −04:30:00 | 1:19:02 AM | 04:19:02 | Dragon propellant pressurization | |
| −04:20:00 | 1:29:02 AM | 04:29:02 | Crew weather brief | |
| −04:10:00 | 1:39:02 AM | 05:39:02 | Crew handoff | |
| −04:00:00 | 1:49:02 AM | 05:49:02 | Suit donning and checkouts | |
| −03:20:00 | 2:29:02 AM | 05:29:02 | Crew walk out of Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building | |
| −03:15:00 | 2:34:02 AM | 05:34:02 | Crew transportation to Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) by Tesla Model X with "RECYCLE" license plate | |
| −02:55:00 | 2:54:02 AM | 06:54:02 | Crew arrives at pad | |
| −02:35:00 | 3:14:02 AM | 07:14:02 | Crew ingress | |
| −02:20:00 | 3:29:02 AM | 07:29:02 | Communication check | |
| −02:15:00 | 3:34:02 AM | 07:34:02 | Verify ready for seat rotation | |
| −02:14:00 | 3:35:02 AM | 07:35:02 | Suit leak checks | |
| −01:55:00 | 3:54:02 AM | 07:54:02 | Hatch close | |
| −01:10:00 | 4:39:02 AM | 08:39:02 | ISS state upload to Dragon | |
| −00:45:00 | 5:04:02 AM | 09:04:02 | SpaceX launch director verifies go for propellant load | |
| −00:42:00 | 5:07:02 AM | 09:07:02 | Crew access arm retracts | |
| −00:38:00 | 5:11:02 AM | 09:11:02 | Dragon launch escape system is armed. | |
| −00:35:00 | 5:14:02 AM | 09:14:02 | RP-1 (rocket grade kerosene) loading begins; 1st stage LOX (liquid oxygen) loading begins. | |
| −00:16:00 | 5:33:02 AM | 09:33:02 | 2nd stage LOX loading begins. | |
| −00:07:00 | 5:42:02 AM | 09:42:02 | Falcon 9 begins engine chill prior to launch. | |
| −00:05:00 | 5:44:02 AM | 09:44:02 | Dragon transitions to internal power | |
| −00:01:00 | 5:48:02 AM | 09:48:02 | Command flight computer to begin final prelaunch checks; propellant tank pressurization to flight pressure begins. | |
| −00:00:45 | 5:48:17 AM | 09:48:17 | SpaceX launch director verifies go for launch. | |
| −00:00:03 | 5:48:59 AM | 09:48:59 | Engine controller commands Merlin engine ignition sequence to start. | |
| 00:00:00 | 5:49:02 AM | 09:49:02 | Liftoff | |
| +00:01:02 | 5:50:04 AM | 09:50:04 | Max Q (moment of peak mechanical stress on the launch vehicle) | |
| +00:02:36 | 5:51:38 AM | 09:51:38 | 1st stage main engine cutoff (MECO) | |
| +00:02:39 | 5:51:41 AM | 09:51:41 | 1st and 2nd stages separate | |
| +00:02:47 | 5:51:49 AM | 09:51:49 | 2nd stage engine starts | |
| +00:07:27 | 5:56:29 AM | 09:56:29 | 1st stage entry burn | |
| +00:08:47 | 5:57:49 AM | 09:57:49 | 2nd stage engine cutoff (SECO-1) | |
| +00:09:03 | 5:58:05 AM | 09:58:05 | 1st stage landing burn | |
| +00:09:30 | 5:58:32 AM | 09:58:32 | 1st stage landing | |
| +00:11:58 | 6:01:00 AM | 10:01:00 | Crew Dragon separates from 2nd stage | |
| +00:13:02 | 6:02:04 AM | 10:02:04 | Dragon nosecone open sequence begins | |
| +1/ | 3:31 AM | 07:31 | 24 April 2021 | Dragon starts the final phase of the approach to the ISS.[8] |
| +1/03:33 | 05:08 AM | 09:08 | Soft capture to the ISS.[9] | |
| +1/03:33 | 05:20 AM | 09:20 | Dragon docked to the ISS.[10] | |
| +1/05:34 | 7:15 AM | 11:15 | Hatch opened.[11] | |
NASA began a tradition of playing music to astronauts during the Gemini program, and first used music to wake up a flight crew during Gemini 6; the first song was Hello, Dolly.[12] Each track is specially chosen, often by the astronauts' families, and usually has a special meaning to an individual member of the crew, or is applicable to their daily activities.[13]
Due to weather delays and a minor health problem with one of the SpaceX Crew-3 astronauts,[15] NASA decided to bring home the Crew-2 astronauts from the ISS before launching Crew-3, thus being the first Crew Dragon indirect handover of space station crews. The Crew Dragon undocked from the station at 19:05 UTC on 8 November 2021 and splashed down off the coast of Florida at 03:33 UTC on 9 November 2021.[16] One of four parachutes deployed slower than the others.[17]