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After launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida earlier in the evening, NASA and JAXA astronauts are on their way to the International Space Station (ISS). After the Dragon spacecraft separated from the second stage and started to configure itself for flight and alignment with the ISS, the spacecraft’s thermal control system started to show off-nominal readings, which would mark the start of minor problems for the next couple of hours.
SpaceX Crew Dragon’s Thermal Control Systems Show Pressure Pump Problems Early In Flight
Soon after Crew Dragon was on its way to its destination, it started what is called the ‘activation and rendevous operation phase’. During this, a pressure increase in a pump caused some alarm at mission control. Following this, the operator communicated with the spacecraft to inform the commander that:
Crew Dragon has two fault tolerances built into the system, and mission controllers were confident that the spacecraft would still be able to commence its engine firing (‘burns’) to maneuver its orbit for alignment with the ISS.
Soon after, mission control at Hawthorne, California confirmed that the problem was minor:
When questioned about the problem at the agency’s post-launch press conference, NASA’s associate administrator for Human Exploration and Operations Kathy Lueders replied:
When pressed for more details in a follow-up, she elaborated:
Crew Dragon’s Propellant Heaters Shut Down Before Company Tinkers Resistance Limits
The second problem appeared to be more serious initially. An hour or so after the initial problem, mission control informed Crew Dragon that propellant (fuel) heaters for the vehicle’s Super Draco thrusters were not functioning properly, with three of the four for one quadrant being disabled.
Specifically, according to the operator:
Later on, mission control confirmed that the problem, which was related to the heaters that warm the fuel fed to Crew Dragon’s Super Draco thrusters did not only affect docking, but it would also affect free flight. He then informed the astronauts that SpaceX had a full team working on the problem.
Dragon: Okay, go ahead we’re ready to copy.
Operator: Okay, we did see three line-heaters are reading high-resistance. So they are currently marked [inaudible technical jargon] by the software. We do have a team looking into it to look at recovery options. The implication here is there is a flight rule that requires us to have at least two of four working. Currently, three of four of the same quad are disabled. Temperature margins are looking okay. But that is something we are investigating.
Following this discovery, SpaceX’s teams worked on the problem and once the issue had been resolved, mission control confirmed to Crew Dragon that things were back to normal. During this process, the company’s engineers also enabled the heaters with higher resistance limits for gathering additional data to solve the problem. During this time, the astronauts reported that fuel temperature stayed at 75˚F and SpaceX mission control corroborated the readings.
Once the problem was solved, the controller, who also referred to another TCS bug during his message informed Dragon that:
NASA’s communications specialist Leah Cheshier stated that a “conservatively set limit” that was adjusted later on was the cause of the propellant heater problem. She confirmed that the propellant temperatures never dipped below normal values and were above certified limits, therefore ensuring that the astronauts were safe at all times during the flight.
