SpaceX’s Dragon Craft on Resupply Mission to ISS

WASHINGTON: Elon Musk-owned SpaceX has sent its Dragon Spacecraft to the International Space Station. The craft has supplies and equipment in its cargo to be delivered to the International Space Station.

A Falcon 9 propulsion system lifted off from the Launch Complex 39A of the Kennedy Space Center at 8:30 PM (Eastern Time) and is scheduled to dock at the ISS at 7:52 AM (Eastern Time) on March 16. The Dragon spacecraft separated from the Falcon 9 rocket after about 12 minutes of liftoff.

Code named SpX-27, this cargo mission comes under SpaceX’s Commercial Resupply Services 2 contract with NASA. It has 2852 kg cargo on board and more than 40% of the same comprises of equipment for scientific experiments at the station. It includes equipment for the study of the effects of microgravity on heart tissue, tests for carbon dioxide removal techniques and one experiment to expose bacteria and spores to the space environment.

It is also carrying supplies for the crew of the International Space Station and hardware related to the station. The Dragon spacecraft will spend about a month docked to the ISS before returning back to earth after the completion of some of the experiments as well as some of the obsolete hardware.

This version of the Dragon is flying its third mission to the ISS after SpX-22 and SpX-24 missions. The Falcon booster which landed back in the Atlantic completed its seventh successful mission with SpX-27.

NASA was previously discussing the certification of boosters for a maximum of five launches for manned missions and no fixed limits for those on cargo missions. “It’s based on the assessment of the health of the booster and to meet the requirements of a government mission,” Phil Dempsey had mentioned on March 13. He is the ISS transportation integration manager with NASA.

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