SpaceX
32nd SpaceX commercial resupply mission launching next week on a Falcon 9 rocket
NASA is targeting no earlier than April 21 to launch the 32nd SpaceX resupply services mission to the International Space Station. The launch window will open at 4:15 a.m. EDT from launch complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The company will take a massive amount of cargo weighing more than 6,400 pounds (ca. 2,903 kg) of supplies using a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, and it will liftoff with a Falcon 9 rocket.
Specifically, the cargo includes food and essential equipment for the crew. It will consist of different science experiments, including a demonstration of a refined maneuver for free-floating robots.
The Spacecraft has an enhanced air quality monitoring system that could protect crew members on exploration missions to the Moon and Mars. Its two atomic clocks examine fundamental physics concepts such as relativity and test global synchronization of precision timepieces.
These resupply missions are part of NASA’s commercial Services (CRS) program, designed to deliver important supplies, scientific experiments and equipment to the orbiting laboratory.
NASA has contracted SpaceX and Dragon spacecraft to take cargo to the ISS to support crew operations and research in space. After separating from Falcon 9‘s second stage, the ISS crew uses the station’s robotic arm to capture and dock the Dragon spacecraft, which remains there in space for about a month. In this case, the 32nd SpaceX resupply mission will stay docked to the space station until May.
This time allows the astronauts to unload all the supplies and science experiments and load all the cargo that needs to be sent back to Earth. After departing from the space station, the spacecraft will splash down off the coast of California. SpaceX has been conducting CRS missions since 2012 and continues to do so with its reliable launch service.
NASA will begin launch coverage at 3:55 a.m. on NASA streaming platforms including YouTube and X. The docking coverage will start at 6:45 a.m. Tuesday, April 22.
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