NASA said a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched the company’s Dragon cargo spacecraft toward the International Space Station on Friday, May 15, marking the 34th SpaceX commercial resupply mission under contract with the agency.
The launch took place at 6:05 p.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, according to NASA.
Dragon is carrying nearly 6,500 pounds of cargo for the ISS Expedition 74 crew and is scheduled to dock autonomously at about 7 a.m. Sunday, May 17, to the forward port of the station’s Harmony module.
NASA said it will provide live coverage of the spacecraft’s rendezvous and docking beginning at 5:30 a.m. on NASA+, Amazon Prime, and the agency’s YouTube channel.
The mission includes several new experiments, NASA said, including research to assess how well Earth-based simulators replicate microgravity, a wood-based bone scaffold study aimed at treatments for fragile bone conditions such as osteoporosis, and equipment to help researchers evaluate how red blood cells and the spleen change in space.
NASA also said Dragon is carrying a new instrument to study charged particles around Earth that can affect power grids and satellites, an investigation intended to improve understanding of planet formation, and an instrument designed to take highly accurate measurements of sunlight reflected by Earth and the Moon.
Dragon is expected to remain at the station until mid-June before returning to Earth with time-sensitive research and cargo, with a splashdown planned off the coast of California, NASA said.
