SpaceX Falcon 9 launches CRS-31 Cargo mission to Space Station

On November 4, 2024, SpaceX and NASA launched a CRS-31 cargo mission to the International Space Station using the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft.

The 31st SpaceX commercial resupply services mission lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The rocket maker claimed the first launch window for this cargo flight.

This 31st SpaceX commercial resupply services mission launched as the 11th SpaceX launch under the Commercial Resupply Services-2 contract. The first 20 launches were under the original resupply services contract.

Cargo

The cargo includes scientific research including studies of the solar wind, radiation-tolerant moss, spacecraft materials, and cold welding in space.

Measuring Solar Wind:

CODEX (COronal Diagonistic EXperment) will observe the solar wind to know more about the cause of heat within the solar wind.

Antarctic Moss in Space

This is a radiation tolerance experiment, which uses a live antarctic moss, Caratodon purpureus to learn how some plants tolerate exposure to radiation and to examine the physical and genetic response of biological systems to the combination of cosmic radiation and microgravity.

Exposing materials to Space

European Space Agency has sent two experiments with this mission to study certain materials’ exposure to space.

First Stage

SpaceX’s CRS-31 mission includes a booster completing its fifth mission. It previously supported Crew-8, Polaris Dawn, and two Starlink flights. After stage separation, the booster returned to Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station after completing the final burn.

Docking

Following its arrival at the orbiting laboratory, the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft will dock autonomously at the forward port of the Harmony module at around 10:15 a.m. on Tuesday, November 5. NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Nick Hague will observe the arrival and monitor its docking.

It will stay docked at Space Station for one month before it departs and splashes down in the sea.