SpaceX will be launching a resupply mission to the International Space Station from Florida this week.
NASA
SpaceX and NASA are set to send a Dragon capsule filled with supplies and science to the International Space Station this weekend, and you can follow the journey live here.
A Falcon 9 rocket will launch the cargo ship from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Friday evening if all goes according to plan. The Dragon spacecraft for this mission will make its third trip to the space station and the first-stage booster of the Falcon 9 will make its second flight. Its first mission was the most recent resupply mission to the ISS that launched in December.
You can watch the launch live Friday via the embedded video below. Launch is scheduled for 8:49 p.m. PT, and NASA’s live coverage should start streaming about 20 minutes prior to then.
In addition to supplies to support the astronauts living on the ISS, the Dragon is also carrying scientific experiments that will help researchers learn more about 3D printing in space, test the production of heart cells in microgravity and also study its effects on chemical reactions.
Adidas will also send a payload to see how its Boost shoe technology and the foam that it’s made up of responds to microgravity.
After the launch, the Falcon 9 booster will attempt to return and make a dry ground landing back at Cape Canaveral.
This is the 20th and final Dragon mission of NASA’s original Commercial Resupply Services program, but it has been renewed and the second contract will see SpaceX as well as competitors Sierra Nevada and Northrop Grumman resupplying the ISS in the months and years to come.
The launch is just the beginning of the Dragon’s journey. Once it docks with the ISS, it will spend about a month in orbit there before returning to earth for a splash down sometime in April.
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