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This long-exposure image shows the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket during a NASA refueling mission to the International Space Station from Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center, as seen from Merritt Island, Fla., On Sunday. (Malcolm Denmark, Florida today via AP)
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla .– A SpaceX shipment of ants, an avocado, and a human-sized robotic arm lifted off to the International Space Station on Sunday.
The delivery – due to arrive Monday – is the company’s 23rd for NASA in just under a decade.
A recycled Falcon rocket took off into the pre-dawn sky from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. After the Dragon capsule lifted, the first stage of the booster landed vertically on SpaceX’s final ocean platform, nicknamed “A Shortfall of Gravitas”. SpaceX founder Elon Musk continued his tradition of naming enhanced salvage ships in honor of the late science fiction writer Ian Banks and his Culture series.
The Dragon carries over 4,800 pounds (2,170 kilograms) of supplies and experiments, fresh food including avocados, lemons, and even ice cream for the seven astronauts on the space station.
Girl Scouts send ants, brine shrimp and plants as test subjects, while scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison sow seeds of mouse watercress, a small flowering plant used in genetic research. Samples of concrete, solar cells and other materials will also be subjected to weightlessness.
In the meantime, a Japanese start-up’s experimental robotic arm will attempt to connect things together when it orbital starts up and perform other routine work that astronauts usually do. The first tests will be carried out inside the space station. Future models from Gitai Inc. You will go into the void of space to perform satellite work and other repair work.
He added that as early as 2025, a combination of these weapons could help build moon bases and mine the moon for valuable resources.
SpaceX had to abandon some experiments due to delays caused by COVID-19.
It was the second launch attempt. Bad weather thwarted Saturday’s offer.
NASA turned to SpaceX and other U.S. companies to deliver cargo and crews to the space station after the space shuttle program ended in 2011.
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