This Thursday (9), after a series of postponements, SpaceX launched its 29th robotic resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS) under a contract with NASA. Among the payload on board the spacecraft is a device that will complement the agency’s revolutionary laser communications system.
The CRS-29 Dragon capsule took off aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC), in Florida, at 10:28 pm (Brasilia time). A few minutes later, the first stage of the vehicle made a successful landing at Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
If all goes according to plan, the spacecraft will arrive at the ISS around 7:20 a.m. on Saturday (11), and will be broadcast live on NASA TV, on to request For the agency on the official channel Youtube Or in locationIn addition to SpaceX channel.
Key experiences included in the payload include:
- NASA’s ILLUMA-T investigation, which consists of an innovative laser communications system;
- An infrared imager to measure the properties, distribution and motion of atmospheric gravity waves (AGWs);
- European water purification technology;
- Two studies focused on the effects of spaceflight on the human body.
In total, the spacecraft contains 2,950 kg of scientific supplies and equipment. Learn more details about the research here.
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The SpaceX CRS-29 capsule returns to Earth in a month
After about a month of docking at the orbital laboratory, the spacecraft returns to Earth carrying research and returning cargo, and lands with the help of a parachute in the sea off the coast of Florida.
SpaceX’s Dragon capsule is one of three robotic spacecraft currently carrying cargo to the orbiting laboratory. However, it is also the only one capable of returning equipment from the International Space Station to Earth.
While this vehicle is reusable, the other two cargo ships (the Cygnus spacecraft, from the US company Northrop Grumman, and the Progress, from the Russian Space Agency) are designed to burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere when their time in orbit ends.
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