SpaceX Falcon 9 Launches NASA Science And Cargo To ISS

31st CRS Mission Aboard As Dragon Autonomously Docked With Station

On Monday November 4, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket launched the Dragon vehicle on its way to the International Space Station (ISS) with its 31st Commercial Resupply Services mission (CRS-31) carrying a payload of science experiments and cargo for the station crew.

Falcon 9 launched from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida with more than 6,000 pounds of supplies at about 9:29 p.m. EST and autonomously docked with the forward port of the station’s Harmony module at 9:52 a.m. EST Tuesday November 5.

The mission delivered food, equipment, and supplies for the crew, as well as several new experiments. These include the Coronal Diagnostic Experiment to examine solar wind and how it forms; Antarctic Moss to observe the combined effects of cosmic radiation and microgravity on plants.

Additional experiments include a device to test cold welding of cold metals in microgravity and another that studies how space impacts different materials.

There are hundreds of other investigations onboard the station’s orbiting laboratory in areas such as biology, biotechnology, physical science, and Earth and space science. The research benefits humanity as it lays the foundations for future human exploration via the Artemis campaign. Artemis missions will send humans to the Moon to prepare for future missions to Mars.

The Dragon vehicle will remain attached to the station until December when it will return to Earth with research materials and cargo when it splashes down off the coast of Florida.

FMI:  www.spacex.com/