SpaceX’s Dragon cargo capsule will arrive on the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday morning (Nov. 27), and you’ll watch the rendezvous reside.
The robotic Dragon is scheduled to dock with the orbiting lab Sunday round 7:30 a.m. EST (1230 GMT). Watch the motion reside right here at Space.com courtesy of NASA TV or directly via the space agency (opens in new tab); protection begins at 6 a.m. EST (1100 GMT).
Sunday’s meetup will finish a short orbital chase for Dragon; the SpaceX freighter launched atop a Falcon 9 rocket on Saturday afternoon (Nov. 26) from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
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Dragon is filled with about 7,700 kilos (3,500 kilograms) of cargo. The manifest contains two extra International Space Station Roll Out Solar Arrays (iROSAs), gear designed to reinforce the orbiting lab’s present solar wings.
The ISS will ultimately characteristic six iROSAs, which collectively will enhance the station’s energy provide by 20% to 30%. Spacewalking astronauts have put in two of the brand new arrays to this point.
Dragon may even ship all kinds of scientific experiments to the ISS on this journey. For instance, one examine sure for the station will develop dwarf cherry tomatoes in a bid to assist ramp up off-Earth meals manufacturing. Another investigation will proceed earlier microgravity research with 3D-cultured heart tissue (opens in new tab), testing potential therapies that would stop or gradual the event of cardiac illness.
Dragon’s present mission is named CRS-26, as a result of it’s the twenty sixth robotic cargo flight that SpaceX is flying to the ISS for NASA. CRS-26 had been scheduled to raise off on Tuesday (Nov. 22) however was pushed back by bad weather.
Cargo Dragons normally keep docked to the ISS for a couple of month, however CRS-26 will stay aloft for 45 days or so, NASA officers have mentioned. The additional time was allotted, partially, to permit for the spacewalks wanted to put in the iROSAs.
CRS-26 will finish with a parachute-aided ocean splashdown. Dragon is the one at the moment operational cargo craft that comes again to Earth in a single piece following its missions. The different two lively freighters — Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus car and Russia’s Progress craft — are designed to fritter away in Earth’s environment when their time in orbit is up.
Mike Wall is the creator of “Out There (opens in new tab)” (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a guide concerning the seek for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall (opens in new tab). Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) or Facebook (opens in new tab).
