SpaceX Dragon arrives safely at ISS
A SpaceX Dragon capsule carrying nearly 5,500 pounds of supplies and science experiments arrived safely at the International Space Station early Thursday, a day later than planned after an aborted rendezvous on Wednesday.
French astronaut Thomas Pesquet steered a 58-foot robotic arm to snare the unmanned Dragon at 5:44 a.m. EST, as the two spacecraft flew 250 miles above northwestern Australia.
"Looks like we got a great capture," radioed Shane Kimbrough, commander of the six-person Expedition 50 crew, to flight controllers in Houston.
"Great job with Dragon capture, and sorry about the delays," responded NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins, who was communicating with the crew from the ground. "Now the real work starts."
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Pesquet said the six-person ISS crew was "very happy" to have Dragon on board and complimented the public-private partnership behind the commercial resupply mission that launched Sunday on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center.
"Such a strong partnership between agencies and commercial entities together with the international partners is without a doubt the future of space exploration, and we’re paving the way every day on the ISS," he said. "So congratulations Dragon on successful journey from Earth and welcome on board."
By 8:15 a.m., robotics teams on the ground had attached the Dragon to the Earth-facing port of the station's Harmony module for a month-long stay.
The crew planned to open the Dragon's hatch later Thursday to begin removing time-sensitive science experiments.
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More than half of the cargo is dedicated to science research, including a pair of NASA science instruments that will monitor Earth's ozone layer and lightning strikes. Another NASA instrument will test guidance systems for missions that would attempt to robotically service satellites.
Other research includes studies of tissue regeneration, involving 20 mice in orbit; of stem cells that could be applied to stroke treatments; and of protein crystals that could improve cancer drugs.
On Wednesday, the Dragon flew within about 1,200 feet of the station before backing out of its approach. NASA said flight computers triggered the abort after recognizing a problem with navigation data calculating the Dragon's position relative to the station.
Following the Dragon's berthing Thursday, a Russian Progress resupply ship, flying for the first time since a failed launch on Dec. 1, 2016, is due to dock at the outpost around 3:30 a.m. EST Friday.
The next U.S. commercial cargo ship in line to fly, Orbital ATK's Cygnus, is being prepared for a March 19 launch from Cape Canaveral on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.
Contact Dean at 321-242-3668 orjdean@floridatoday.com.And follow on Twitter at@flatoday_jdeanand on Facebook atfacebook.com/jamesdeanspace.