SpaceX Dragon Delivers NASA Cargo to Space Station

A SpaceX Dragon cargo ship arrived on the Worldwide House Station (ISS) at this time (Could 6) to deliver nearly 3 tons of NASA supplies to the orbiting laboratory. 

Astronauts on the station captured the uncrewed Dragon cargo ship with a robotic arm at 7:01 a.m. EDT (1101 GMT) as each spacecraft sailed 254 miles (508 kilometers) above the north Atlantic Ocean. The spacecraft is carrying about 5,500 lbs. ( 2,495 kilograms) of experiments and different provides for the station’s six-person Expedition 59 crew.

“We welcome to ISS the Dragon spacecraft as a part of the SpaceX-17 cargo mission,” station astronaut David Saint-Jacques of the Canadian House Company radioed Mission Management making the catch with the station’s Canadian-built Canadarm2 robot arm.

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“As a Canadian, I am proud each time we use Canadarm2 for free-flyer seize,” Saint-Jacques added. “My crew and I are proud to be a part of this at this time, representing the devoted groups of proficient individuals who each day make the seemingly not possible a actuality.” 

Later at this time, flight controllers on Earth will wield the station’s robotic arm remotely to connect Dragon to an open berth on the station so astronauts can start unloading provides.

SpaceX launched the Dragon cargo ship early Saturday (Could four) atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Drive Station in Florida following simply over every week of delays. Because the spacecraft neared the station at this time, astronauts noticed a small cable on the craft that was speculated to detach throughout launch, nevertheless it posed no drawback for docking, NASA officers mentioned. 

“It is noteworthy that that is the second flight of this specific capsule, which flew the SpaceX-12 mission,” Saint-Jacques mentioned. The spacecraft has a small house station emblem on its facet indicating that previews flight in 2017.

Dragon’s present supply mission is named CRS-17 by NASA and SpaceX-17 by the corporate. As that identify suggests, it’s the seventeenth cargo run for NASA by SpaceX since industrial resupply flights started in 2012.

The spacecraft is carrying a host of new science payloads to be used inside and out of doors the Worldwide House Station.

Amongst these experiments are NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory-Three, an instrument to be put in on the station’s exterior to trace carbon dioxide ranges in Earth’s ambiance. The spacecraft can also be carrying so-called “tissue chips” to simulate the conduct or human organs in house, as effectively sequence of student-designed Genes in House experiments to review you yeast DNA repairs itself in house.

Dragon will keep linked to the station for a few month earlier than being packed up with experiment samples and different gear and returning to Earth. The spacecraft has a warmth defend and parachutes that permit it to outlive reentry.

SpaceX can also be creating a crewed version of the Dragon spacecraft. The corporate launched its first Crew Dragon capsule check flight earlier this yr and hopes to start astronaut flights by the top of 2019.

However earlier than these crewed flights can start, SpaceX should full an investigation into why its Crew Dragon spacecraft exploded throughout a floor check of its emergency abort system final month. The April 20 test at a SpaceX touchdown pad at Cape Canaveral Air Drive Station was uncrewed and no accidents had been reported. 

As soon as SpaceX completes that investigation, the Hawthorne, California-based firm additionally plans to launch an in-flight abort check of an uncrewed Crew Dragon spacecraft earlier than making an attempt its first astronaut mission check flight for NASA.

 Electronic mail Tariq Malik at tmalik@house.com or comply with him @tariqjmalik. Observe us @Spacedotcom and Facebook.