posted 10-29-2024 05:25 PM               

SpaceX CRS-31 Mission Overview

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the CRS-31 Dragon spacecraft to deliver cargo to and from the International Space Station for NASA.

The 11th flight under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services-2 contract with SpaceX, the CRS-31 Dragon will carry research, logistics and hardware for the Expedition 72 crew including:

• CODEX (COronal Diagnostic EXperiment) to examine and create a global data set to help scientists validate theories for what heats the solar wind.

• ARTEMOSS to study how live Antarctic moss, Ceratodon purpureus, tolerates exposure to radiation and to examine its response to the combination of cosmic radiation and microgravity.

• The Euro Material Ageing investigation from ESA (European Space Agency) to study how certain materials age while exposed to space.

• Nanolab Astrobeat to investigate using cold welding to repair perforations in the outer shell or hull of a spacecraft from the inside.

The CRS-31 Dragon (C208) previously flew on the CRS-21, CRS-23 CRS-25 and CRS-28 flights. It will return to Earth with research and cargo after spending about four weeks at the space station.

posted 11-04-2024 09:24 PM               

NASA Science, Cargo Launch on 31st SpaceX Resupply Mission to Station

Following a successful launch of NASA's SpaceX 31st commercial resupply mission, new scientific experiments and cargo for the agency are bound for the International Space Station.

The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, carrying more than 6,000 pounds of supplies to the orbiting laboratory, lifted off at 9:29 p.m. EST Monday, on the company's Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The spacecraft is scheduled to autonomously dock at approximately 10:15 a.m. to the forward port of the space station's Harmony module.

The resupply mission will support dozens of research experiments conducted during Expedition 72. In addition to food, supplies, and equipment for the crew, Dragon will deliver several new experiments, including the Coronal Diagnostic Experiment, to examine solar wind and how it forms. Dragon also delivers Antarctic moss to observe the combined effects of cosmic radiation and microgravity on plants. Other investigations aboard include a device to test cold welding of metals in microgravity and an investigation that studies how space impacts different materials.

These are just a sample of the hundreds of investigations conducted aboard the orbiting laboratory in the areas of biology and biotechnology, physical sciences, and Earth and space science. Such research benefits humanity and lays the groundwork for future human exploration through the agency's Artemis campaign, which will send astronauts to the Moon to prepare for future expeditions to Mars.

The Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to remain at the space station until December when it will depart the orbiting laboratory and return to Earth with research and cargo, splashing down off the coast of Florida.

posted 11-05-2024 09:39 AM               

Dragon docks to space station

SpaceX's CRS-31 Dragon spacecraft docked to the forward-facing port of the International Space Station's Harmony module on Tuesday (Nov. 5) at 9:52 a.m. EST (1452 GMT).