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01Mar19

Safest trajectory selected for Crew Dragon to dock with orbital outpost

The trajectory of the US Crew Dragon spacecraft for approaching and docking with the International Space Station (ISS) has been altered to minimize the risk for both space vehicles to touch each other, Russia's Roscosmos Executive Director for Piloted Programs Sergei Krikalyov told TASS on Friday.

"At the early stage, several trajectory versions were considered and at the final stage a trajectory was chosen that poses the least threat in case of malfunctions," the Roscosmos official said.

The trajectory itself did not pose a threat but some technical faults could make the spacecraft touch the ISS, Krikalyov said.

Such a probability exists when any spacecraft approaches the orbital outpost, he added.

During the docking, the ISS crew will stay in a safe place, the Roscosmos official said.

"At the final stage, the spacecraft will fly to dock with the US docking port in the American segment. Several closed hatches will separate the crew and the docking port. Even if something happens, the crew should stay in safety," Krikalyov emphasized.

Roscosmos earlier reported that the docking of the US Crew Dragon spacecraft with the International Space Station will be halted, if the rendezvous regime deviates from the normal mode. The US spacecraft is scheduled to be launched to the space station on March 2.

The US-based SpaceX unveiled its manned Crew Dragon spacecraft (the Dragon v2 as its other name) in May 2014. NASA and SpaceX signed a $2.6 billion contract in September 2014 on completing the development of the Dragon v2 and certifying it for flights to the ISS.

The Crew Dragon is a modification of the Dragon resupply ship, which is already involved in the program of delivering cargoes to the orbital outpost. The manned spacecraft will be launched by a Falcon-9 rocket developed by SpaceX.

[Source: Itar Tass, Moscow, 01Mar19]
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