NASA and SpaceX are targeting a 7:16 p.m. EDT Tuesday, May 12, liftoff for the 34th commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station, the agency announced.
A SpaceX Dragon spacecraft carrying about 6,500 pounds of cargo will launch aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, NASA said. Dragon is scheduled to dock autonomously at approximately 9:50 a.m. Thursday, May 14, at the forward port of the station’s Harmony module, according to the agency.
The mission will deliver several new scientific investigations to the orbiting laboratory, NASA said. Among them is a project to determine how well Earth-based simulators mimic microgravity conditions, as well as a bone scaffold made from wood that researchers hope could yield new treatments for fragile bone conditions such as osteoporosis, the agency said.
Additional experiments include equipment to evaluate how red blood cells and the spleen change in space — research intended to protect future astronauts — along with a new instrument to study charged particles around Earth that can disrupt power grids and satellites, NASA said. Dragon will also carry an investigation that could advance understanding of how planets form and an instrument designed to take highly accurate measurements of sunlight reflected by Earth and the Moon, according to the agency.
The Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to remain at the station until mid-June, when it will depart the orbiting laboratory and splash down off the coast of California carrying time-sensitive research and cargo, NASA said.
Mission coverage will begin Monday, May 11, with an 11 a.m. prelaunch media teleconference featuring NASA and SpaceX officials, the agency said. Participants are set to include Bill Spetch, operations and integration manager for NASA’s ISS Program; Dr. Liz Warren, deputy chief scientist for the ISS Program; Lee Echerd, senior mission manager for Government and Commercial Mission Management at SpaceX; and Brian Cizek, launch weather officer with the 45th Weather Squadron at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, NASA said.
Launch coverage will begin at 7 p.m. Tuesday on NASA+, Amazon Prime, YouTube and the NASA website, with arrival coverage set to begin at 8:20 a.m. Thursday, NASA said. Members of the public can register to attend the launch virtually through NASA’s virtual guest program, which includes curated resources and a stamp for the NASA virtual guest passport following launch, the agency said.
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