A SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule has arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) this morning (April 22), wrapping up about 28 hours traveling on orbit to close the gap between them.
Elon Musk's company launched its 32nd robotic resupply mission to the ISS for NASA early Monday morning (April 21), sending a Dragon freighter aloft from Florida's Space Coast.
Dragon's off-Earth chase ended early this morning, with the capsule docking with the ISS's Harmony module zenith port at 8:40 a.m. EDT (1238 GMT) as the pair flew over the Indian ocean.
Dragon will deliver about 6,700 pounds (3,040 kilograms) of supplies to the astronauts currently living and working on the orbiting lab.
The cargo haul includes food and other essentials, as well as a variety of scientific experiments. Among the pieces of research gear are "an enhanced air quality monitoring system that could protect crew members on exploration missions to the moon and Mars, and two atomic clocks to examine fundamental physics concepts such as relativity and test worldwide synchronization of precision timepieces," NASA officials said in a statement.
The Dragon will remain docked to the ISS for about a month, when it will return to Earth with a splashdown off the California coast.
The capsule will bring down some trash as well as a load of scientific experiments for researchers to analyze. Dragon is the only currently operational cargo craft with this return-to-Earth capability; the others are designed to burn up in Earth's atmosphere when their missions conclude.
