science

SpaceX CRS-8

SpaceX CRS-8 is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand SpaceX CRS-8 rather than just read about it. In short: SpaceX CRS-8, also known as SpX-8, was a Commercial Resupply Service mission to the International Space Station (ISS) which was launched on April 8, 2016, at 20:43 UTC. It was the 23rd flight of a Falcon 9 rocket, the tenth flight of a Dragon cargo spacecraft and the eighth operational mission contracted to SpaceX by NASA under the Commercial Resupply Services program.

Key takeaways

SpaceX CRS-8 belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect SpaceX CRS-8 to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of SpaceX CRS-8 from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

SpaceX CRS-8, also known as SpX-8, was a Commercial Resupply Service mission to the International Space Station (ISS) which was launched on April 8, 2016, at 20:43 UTC. It was the 23rd flight of a Falcon 9 rocket, the tenth flight of a Dragon cargo spacecraft and the eighth operational mission contracted to SpaceX by NASA under the Commercial Resupply Services program. The capsule carried over 3,100 kilograms (6,800 lb) of cargo to the ISS including the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM), a prototype inflatable space habitat delivered in the vehicle's trunk, which was attached to the station and, as of May 2022, is expected to remain so for five more full years of in-orbit viability tests. After boosting the payload on its orbital trajectory, the rocket's first stage re-entered the denser layers of the atmosphere and landed vertically on the ocean landing platform Of Course I Still Love You nine minutes after liftoff. The recovered Falcon 9 first stage (B1021) from this mission became the first one to be flown again, launching the SES-10 satellite on March 30, 2017.

Launch schedule history

The launch was initially scheduled by NASA to occur no earlier than September 2, 2015. The launch date went under review pending the outcome of the analysis of the failure of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle in SpaceX CRS-7, a June 2015 flight. The return-to-flight (RTF) project included additional improvements. With additional manifest changes announced by SpaceX in mid-October, CRS-8 was scheduled to be the third launch of the upgraded Falcon 9 Full Thrust rocket. By March 2016, the launch date was set to April 8, 2016, with a backup launch window the next day. The spacecraft was finally launched on schedule, at 20:43 UTC on April 8, 2016. The rocket first stage separated around 2 minutes 40 seconds after liftoff, and the second stage separated around ten minutes 30 seconds after liftoff.

Primary payload NASA has contracted for the CRS-8 mission from SpaceX and therefore determines the orbital parameters for the primary payload – the Dragon space capsule. The mission delivered 3,136 kilograms (6,914 lb) of supplies, experiments, and hardware to the ISS. These include the station's first expandable module, called the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM), which is expected to remain on the station for at least five more full years of observation and testing. Also delivered in the Dragon were sixteen Flock 2d 3U CubeSats for the Earth-observing Flock constellation, built and operated by Planet Labs, which will be deployed by the NanoRacks CubeSat Deployer. After splashdown, the mission returned more than 3,700 lb (1,700 kg) of cargo from the station back to Earth.

First stage landing

After placing the CRS-8 cargo on its way to the International Space Station, the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket conducted an experimental boostback and re-entry maneuver over the Atlantic Ocean. Nine minutes after liftoff, at 20:52:10 UTC, the booster landed vertically on the autonomous spaceport drone ship Of Course I Still Love You, 300 kilometers (190 mi) from the Florida coastline, achieving a long-sought-after milestone for the SpaceX reusable launch system development program. This was the second successful landing achieved by a SpaceX orbital launch vehicle and the first vertical landing by any organization on a floating platform. SpaceX first landed a Falcon 9 on solid ground at Cape Canaveral with flight 20 on December 22, 2015.

Port arrival The drone ship carried the stage to Port Canaveral, Florida, arriving on April 12, 2016 (UTC), where it was offloaded. SpaceX plans to keep this first stage in Cape Canaveral and conduct a series of test fires to ensure that the vehicle is ready for a future operational mission. According to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, the rocket will likely be test-fired at Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39. Musk noted that assuming the test fires went well, the stage would likely be reflown for a mission in June 2016.

First stage reflight The first stage of the CRS-8 launch was selected to be reflown first, in early 2017. Additional tests were conducted prior to SpaceX certifying the stage's suitability for reuse on subsequent launch. On January 31, 2017, SpaceX posted a photo of a static fire test of this stage in Texas. It was launched again on March 30, 2017, as part of Falcon 9 Flight 32 carrying the SES-10 communications satellite. The stage was also recovered a second time after landing on the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You. As part of a multi-month multi-vehicle test process to reuse Falcon 9 boosters, another first stage — from flight 24 which carried JCSAT-14 — was designated a "reference vehicle" for further testing, because it encountered "extreme temperatures during its reentry into Earth atmosphere" in May 2016 from a more energetic GTO trajectory. This booster underwent a series of tests, including a 150-second full-duration engine firing which was completed on July 28, 2016.

Gallery

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with SpaceX CRS-8

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what SpaceX CRS-8 claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to SpaceX CRS-8 before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about SpaceX CRS-8 ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of SpaceX CRS-8

In research: SpaceX CRS-8 appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses SpaceX CRS-8 in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: SpaceX CRS-8 is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics SpaceX Dragon 1, SpaceX payloads contracted by NASA, Spacecraft launched by Falcon 9 Full Thrust rockets, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for SpaceX CRS-8 outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study SpaceX CRS-8 in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what SpaceX CRS-8 means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain SpaceX CRS-8 out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is SpaceX CRS-8 in simple terms?

Why does SpaceX CRS-8 matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study SpaceX CRS-8?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on SpaceX CRS-8.