NASA and SpaceX are targeting a mid-May launch to deliver scientific investigations, supplies, and equipment to the International Space Station.
Loaded with about 6,500 pounds of supplies, the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft will lift off aboard the company's Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Following its arrival to the orbital complex, Dragon will dock autonomously to the forward port of the space station's Harmony module.
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For more than 25 years, the International Space Station has provided research capabilities used by scientists from more than 110 countries to conduct more than 4,000 experiments in microgravity. Research conducted aboard the station helps advance long-duration missions to the Moon as part of the Artemis program and to Mars, while providing multiple benefits to humanity.
In addition to cargo for the crew aboard the space station, Dragon will deliver several new science experiments, including:
ODYSSEY will evaluate how well Earth-based microgravity simulators recreate space conditions. Researchers will examine bacterial behavior in space and compares the results to experiments conducted in microgravity simulators on Earth.
STORIE will monitor charged particles in orbit around the Earth, which respond to space weather and can affect assets like power grids and satellites. The instrument could help researchers gain knowledge to better predict and respond to these changes.
