Uncrewed Dragon Spacecraft Will Carry Science Experiments, Equipment And Supplies To ISS

The next launch of an uncrewed Dragon cargo spacecraft to ISS is planned for no earlier than February from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The exact launch date and time still are under review.

This is the tenth mission by SpaceX under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services contract.

In addition to supplies and equipment, Dragon will deliver several science investigations to the space station, including:

• an experiment that will use the microgravity environment to grow stem cells that are of sufficient quality and quantity to use in the treatment of patients with stroke;
• a Merck Research Labs investigation that tests growth in microgravity of antibodies important for fighting a wide range of human diseases, including cancer; and
• two Earth science payloads, NASA’s Stratospheric Aerosol Gas Experiment III mission and Lightning Imaging Sensor, which will provide continuity for key climate observations and data records.

The International Space Station is a convergence of science, technology and human innovation that demonstrates new technologies and makes research breakthroughs not possible on Earth. The space station has been occupied continuously since November 2000. In that time, more than 200 people and a variety of international and commercial spacecraft have visited the orbiting laboratory. The space station remains the springboard to NASA's next great leap in exploration, including future missions to an asteroid and Mars.

(Source: NASA news release. Image from file)

FMI: www.nasa.gov/spacex