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Update December 6, 11:35 am ET: SpaceX successfully launched its latest mission to the International Space Station, using its upgraded Dragon capsule that will dock to the station tomorrow at approximately 1:30 pm ET.
Original story: This morning, SpaceX is scheduled to launch its latest batch of cargo and supplies to the International Space Station, but the company is using a slightly different spacecraft for this flight than the refueling missions of the past. SpaceX is flying its recently upgraded Dragon capsule to transport the goods into space, the same vehicle the company has been using to carry astronauts to the station.
SpaceX has been refueling the space station since 2012, and for all of its previous 20 missions, the company has used the original version of its Dragon cargo capsule. However, SpaceX began developing a new Dragon capsule to transport people to and from the ISS. Called Crew Dragon, or Dragon 2, the vehicle took its first crew into space in May. With the new version operational, SpaceX decided to discontinue use of its old Dragon capsule and use the upgraded version to carry both crew members. Y load.
The Dragon 2 capsule has a number of improvements over its predecessor; SpaceX says it can carry 50 percent more scientific payloads. The new Dragon is also capable of automatically docking with the space station. The older version had to be docked – it would slowly approach the ISS, while a crew member aboard the station would use a robotic arm to grab the incoming capsule and move it to an open docking port. Dragon 2 does not need human assistance to dock and connect to the ISS.
This mission will bring supplies for the station and astronauts, and will also bring various experiments to the ISS. These include the European Space Agency’s Bioasteroid, which will test how microgravity affects biomining, the process of using microorganisms to extract elements from rocks. The mission will also feature the first COVID-19 drug research experiment in space aboard, to try to improve the efficacy of the antiviral drug remdesivir. Also on board will be Nanorocks’ commercial airlock module, basically a large metal cup that attaches to the exterior of the ISS, designed to carry payloads and other materials from within the pressurized environment of the ISS into space.
Once this capsule reaches the space station, it will not be the only Dragon connected to the ISS. On November 15, SpaceX dispatched a crew of four to the ISS in another Dragon capsule, which docked with the station a day later. That means there will be two Dragons docked on the ISS after this flight takes off. “It will be the first time that there are two Dragons on the space station simultaneously,” Sarah Walker, director of Dragon mission management at SpaceX, said during a pre-flight press conference. “And it really marks the beginning of a season of continued Dragons presence for the near future, at least until the end of 2021.”
The mission was rescheduled due to weather concerns, but is now scheduled for an 11:17 a.m. ET launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. SpaceX is using one of its used Falcon 9 rockets for the mission, a vehicle it has flown three times before. In fact, it’s the same rocket that SpaceX’s first crew of two launched to the station in May. After the flight, the Falcon 9 will attempt to land on one of SpaceX’s drones in the Atlantic. The Dragon capsule is expected to dock with the ISS on December 7.
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