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SpaceX Dragon Cargo Ship Arrives at Space Station for Record 3rd Time
The craft is delivering more than 5,000 lbs. of science gear and supplies.
SpaceX's robotic Dragon cargo capsule arrived at the International Space
Station today (July 27), ending a two-day orbital chase and setting a new
record for SpaceX's reusable spacecraft.
The Dragon, which launched Thursday (July 25) from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air
Force Station atop a two-stage Falcon 9 rocket, was captured by the space
station's huge robotic arm at 9:11 a.m. EDT (1311 GMT) as both spacecraft
sailed 267 miles (430 kilometers) above the coast of southern Chile in South
America.
"We want to congratulate the team spread across the globe that makes
delivering a vehicle like this. It's pretty looking at it out the window,"
astronaut Nick Hague radioed to NASA's Mission Control in Houston after
capturing Dragon with the station's robotic arm. "It's full of science and
cargo and things to keep us busy. So, the mission continues."
This is the record third cargo delivery mission to the International Space
Station (ISS) for this particular Dragon, which also ferried cargo to the
station in April 2015 and December 2017. The Falcon 9 was preflown as well; the
rocket's first stage had one mission under its belt before Thursday's launch.
Such reuse is key to SpaceX's quest to slash the cost of spaceflight, thereby
making ambitious exploration feats such as Mars colonization achievable.
Dragon is carrying more than 5,000 lbs. (2,268 kilograms) of supplies and
equipment up to the ISS on this trip, including 2,500 lbs. (1,135 kg) of
science gear that will enable dozens of experiments aboard the orbiting lab.
Later today, flight controllers on Earth will attach Dragon to an open berthing
port on the space station by remotely controlling the outpost's robotic arm.
Astronauts will then be able to open the spacecraft and begin unloading its
bounty.
Big science aboard
One of those experiments will study how microbes interact with rocks in a
low-gravity environment, possibly paving the way for space
"biomining" down the road. Another will attempt to fabricate human
tissue using a 3D printer, and another will gauge how microgravity affects the
processes of healing and tissue regeneration.
Yet another experiment will use Nickelodeon's famous green slime to study the
behavior of fluids in microgravity. ISS crewmembers will also play "slime
pong" and do other fun things with the stuff, and film the activities for
our viewing pleasure down here on Earth.
Dragon also toted up another International Docking Adapter (IDA), which is
designed to allow a variety of spacecraft to link up with the ISS. Such
visitors will include the crew version of Dragon and Boeing's CST-100 Starliner
capsule, both of which are scheduled to start carrying astronauts in the next
year or so.
The ISS already has one IDA, which a different Dragon brought up in 2016.
Dragon is scheduled to remain attached to the ISS for about a month, NASA
officials said. It will then return to Earth for a Pacific Ocean splashdown,
bearing a variety of science samples for researchers to study.
The current cargo mission is the 18th that SpaceX has flown under a contract
with NASA.
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