NASA and SpaceX are targeting 7:16 p.m. EDT Tuesday, May 12, for the next launch to deliver science, supplies, and equipment to the International Space Station. This will be the 34th SpaceX commercial resupply services mission to the orbital outpost for NASA.
Carrying about 6,500 pounds of cargo, a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft will lift off aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Dragon is scheduled to dock autonomously at about 9:50 a.m. Thursday, May 14, to the forward port of the station's Harmony module.
Watch NASA's launch and arrival coverage on NASA+, Amazon Prime, and the agency's YouTube channel. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of online platforms, including social media.
In addition to cargo for the crew aboard the space station, Dragon will deliver several new experiments, including a project to determine how well Earth-based simulators mimic microgravity conditions, a bone scaffold made from wood that could produce new treatments for fragile bone conditions like osteoporosis, and equipment to evaluate how red blood cells and the spleen change in space to protect future astronauts. The Dragon spacecraft also will carry a new instrument to study charged particles around the Earth that can impact power grids and satellites, an investigation that could provide a fundamental understanding of how planets form, and an instrument designed to take highly accurate measurements of sunlight reflected by Earth and the Moon.
The Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to remain at the space station until mid-June when it will depart the orbiting laboratory and return to Earth with time-sensitive research and cargo, ahead of splashing down off the coast of California.
NASA's mission coverage is as follows (all times Eastern and subject to change based on real-time operations):
Monday, May 11
11 a.m.: Prelaunch media teleconference with the following participants:
- Bill Spetch, operations and integration manager, NASA's International Space Station Program
- Dr. Liz Warren, deputy chief scientist, NASA's International Space Station Program
- Lee Echerd, senior mission manger, Government and Commercial Mission Management, SpaceX
- Brian Cizek, launch weather officer, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station's 45th Weather Squadron
