Cargo Dragon C208

Dragon C208 is the first Cargo Dragon 2 spacecraft, and the first in a line of International Space Station resupply craft which replaced the Dragon capsule, manufactured by SpaceX. The mission is contracted by NASA under the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) program. It flew for the first time on the CRS-21 mission on 6 December 2020.[1] This was the first flight for SpaceX under NASA's CRS Phase 2 contract awarded in January 2016. This was also the first time a Cargo Dragon was docked at the same time as a Crew Dragon spacecraft (SpaceX Crew-1). This mission used Booster B1058.4.

Dragon C208
Dragon C208 capsule during rollout to LC-39A for CRS-21 mission
TypeCargo space capsule
ClassDragon 2
ManufacturerSpaceX
Flight history
First flightSpaceX CRS-21
December 6, 2020[1]
Launch siteKennedy, LC-39A
StatusUndergoing Refurbishment

Cargo Dragon

C208 is the first SpaceX Dragon 2 cargo variant. C208 and the other Cargo Dragons are different from the crewed variant by launching without seats, cockpit controls, astronaut life support systems, or SuperDraco abort engines. [2][3] The Cargo Dragon improves on many aspects of the original Dragon design, including the recovery and refurbishment process.[4]

The new Cargo Dragon capsules splashes down under parachutes in the Atlantic Ocean east of Florida, rather than the previous recovery zone in the Pacific Ocean west of Baja California. This NASA preference was added to all CRS-2 awards.[3][4]

Flights
Mission Patch Launch date (UTC) Duration Landing date (UTC) Notes Outcome
CRS-21 6 December 2020, 16:17:08 38 days 14 January 2021, 01:26[5] First time Dragon 2 used for a CRS mission, first launch of phase 2 of CRS missions, first time a Cargo Dragon and Crew Dragon docked to the ISS at the same time. Success

See also

References
  1. Clark, Stephen (23 October 2020). "Launch Schedule". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  2. Ralph, Eric. "Dragon 2 modifications to Carry Cargo for CRS-2 missions". SpaceX/Teslarati. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  3. NASA OIG staff (26 April 2018). Audit of Commercial Resupply Services to the International Space Center (PDF). Office of Inspector General (Report). IG-18-016. NASA. pp. 24, 28–30. Retrieved 29 September 2020. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  4. Clark, Stephen (2 August 2019). "SpaceX to begin flights under new cargo resupply contract next year". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  5. Clark, Stephen. "French wine, live rodents among 2 tons of cargo returned from space station". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 6 February 2021.


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