SpaceX confirmed the docking of the Dragon capsule to the International Space Station

SpaceX confirmed the docking of its cargo capsule Dragon to the International Space Station on Twitter. The whole orbital action of the Dragon capsule is being live streamed on NASA TV right now.

The robotic Dragon capsule has been launched on July 14 atop a two-stage Falcon 9 rocket which lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The Dragon capsule has been launched into the low Earth orbit from Falcon 9 while the rocket’s first stage came back down on Earth safely for re-use.

The cargo capsule Dragon is carrying 5,800 pounds of cargo including supplies for 40 ongoing research at the ISS, fresh food deliveries for astronauts, more research supplies, and the Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT) which is a device fitted in the cargo’s trunk that will be added to the ISS’s external payload to help in measuring the mineral composition of the dust. The external orbital lab will also study a biopolymer concrete investigation for the construction of buildings in a microgravity system using “in-situ” resources. The lab will conduct a study on the immunosenescence investigation which will look into the effect of aging on cells and the ability to repair damaged tissues in post-spaceflight astronauts.

The EMIT will be pulled from its stow using an ISS robotic arm and will also be mounted to the ExPRESS Logistics Carrier 1, which is an exposed external payload bay used for experiments and storage. Dragon is also carrying materials like Dose pumps used to treat urine to convert it back into potable water.

Dragon will remain docked to the ISS for about a month meanwhile it will be packed with gear to be returned to Earth on the coast of Florida.

Docking confirmed – Dragon has arrived at the @space_station!

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) July 16, 2022