On June 6, a SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule successfully arrived at the International Space Station (ISS), carrying approximately 7,000 pounds (3,175 kilograms) of supplies and scientific experiments.
The Dragon was launched on June 5 atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. After an 18-hour orbital chase, it docked with the ISS at 5:50 a.m. EDT (0950 GMT) and will remain attached to the space-facing port of the Harmony module for about three weeks.
This mission is referred to as CRS-28, as it marks the 28th flight of SpaceX’s cargo resupply missions for NASA under the Commercial Resupply Services contracts. One of the primary payloads on this mission includes two International Space Station Roll Out Solar Arrays (iROSAs) that will be installed by spacewalking astronauts on the exterior of the orbiting outpost. The addition of these solar arrays is expected to increase the ISS’ power generation by 20% to 30%.
In addition to the iROSAs, the Dragon capsule delivered various scientific equipment. This includes CLINGER, a technology demonstration for autonomous docking systems on the space station, and Genes In Space-10, which aims to measure the length of telomeres in microgravity. Telomeres are DNA regions at the end of chromosomes that tend to shorten as a person ages, which is associated with certain diseases and age-related decline.
Following its 21-day stay at the ISS, the Dragon capsule will return to Earth. It is the only cargo spacecraft currently capable of making safe returns, as the other operational vehicles, Russia’s Progress and Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus, are designed to burn up in Earth’s atmosphere upon completion of their missions. The Dragon will perform a parachute-aided ocean splashdown to conclude its CRS-28 mission.
