SpaceX Dragon Cargo docks into the international space stations as the launch is successful. The spacecraft is carrying cargo weighing over 5,8000 pounds consisting of science experiments and other crew supplies. The launch was scheduled for 11:13 AM ET on Saturday.
At 11:20 AM the docking to the ISS was confirmed. It was autonomously docked. By then the Falcon 9 first stage landed on the drone ship, A Shortfall of Gravitas.
Dragon separation confirmed; autonomous docking to the @space_station Saturday, July 16 at ~11:20 a.m. ET pic.twitter.com/Lf0WJn6jKr
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) July 15, 2022
As the spacecraft was launched, beautiful pictures were clicked and shared by many. SpaceX share two of them, taken while the rocket was lifting off to space.
Falcon 9 launches Dragon to the @space_station pic.twitter.com/d02wuzLnan
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) July 15, 2022
Undocking
As the dragon successfully docked to the ISS, the crew will begin taking out the cargo. After the dragon is around a month attached to the space station, it will be returned to earth. By then all the cargo will be emptied by the astronauts currently in the ISS.
The various science experiments that were delivered are mapping earth’s dust, speedier immune system aging, soil in space, high school student weather study, genes- no cells, and better concrete. These are among the few hundred investigations that are already conducted and are going on currently. The fields in which these are involved include science, biotechnology, physical sciences and earth, and space.
ISS
The astronauts working at ISS will also receive a special delivery of food they enjoy. “We’re sending up apples, oranges, cherry tomatoes, some onion, baby carrots, garlic, tahini, cheese and dry sausage. So, a really nice mix of fresh fruit for the crew,” shared ISS deputy program manager Dana Weigel during a press conference.
“We’re excited to continue to help transport this kind of cargo for NASA and also to carry the crew members who are the key component for doing research and managing things on station,” said Benjamin Reed, senior director of Human Spaceflight Programs at SpaceX. “All of this, of course, is not possible without our partnerships with NASA, with the Space Force, and all of our customers. We can’t thank you enough for the opportunity to be a part of this and be a part of this great science community.”
Expedition 67 astronauts will unpack all the cargo from Dragon when it arrives and monitors all the vital scientific research. Dragon CRS-25 will stay docked to the Space Station for around one month before autonomously undocking and returning to Earth the results of the scientific research and other cargo. When it returns it is expected to splash down in the Atlantic Ocean near NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
