SpaceX Dragon heads to space station with Nasa Science

A SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft has been launched on a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, US.

Filled with supplies and payloads, the Nasa-contracted Dragon spacecraft will deliver more than 4,300lb of Nasa cargo and science investigations to the International Space Station (ISS) and its crew of astronauts.

It will also have critical materials to directly support various science and research investigations that will be undertaken during Expeditions 62 and 63.

The spacecraft will also deliver cargo to the Bartolomeo facility, which will be built outside the space station later this year, offering views both towards Earth and into space.

The facility serves as a new commercial research platform from the European Space Agency and will be installed on the exterior of the orbiting laboratory.

It is designed to offer new scientific opportunities on the outside of the space station for commercial and institutional users, with potential applications such as Earth observation, robotics, material science and astrophysics.

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The SpaceX Dragon will join three other spacecraft currently at the station and marks SpaceX’s 20th and final delivery for Nasa under its first commercial resupply services contract.

After its arrival at the space station, the station crew will monitor Dragon’s vehicle functions during rendezvous.

Following the spacecraft’s capture, ground commands will be sent from mission control in Houston for the ISS’ arm to rotate and install it on the bottom of the station’s Harmony module.

The cargo spacecraft is scheduled to remain at the space station for four weeks. It will return to Earth with research and cargo.