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SpaceX Dragon Delivers NASA Cargo to Space Station - Space.com

A SpaceX Dragon cargo ship arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) today (May 6) to deliver nearly 3 tons of NASA supplies to the orbiting laboratory. 

Astronauts on the station captured the uncrewed Dragon cargo ship with a robotic arm at 7:01 a.m. EDT (1101 GMT) as both spacecraft sailed 254 miles (508 kilometers) above the north Atlantic Ocean. The spacecraft is carrying about 5,500 lbs. ( 2,495 kilograms) of experiments and other supplies for the station's six-person Expedition 59 crew.

"We welcome to ISS the Dragon spacecraft as part of the SpaceX-17 cargo mission," station astronaut David Saint-Jacques of the Canadian Space Agency radioed Mission Control making the catch with the station's Canadian-built Canadarm2 robot arm.

Related: See the Evolution of SpaceX's Rockets in Pictures 

"As a Canadian, I'm proud every time we use Canadarm2 for free-flyer capture," Saint-Jacques added. "My crew and I are proud to be part of this today, representing the dedicated teams of talented people who every day make the seemingly impossible a reality." 

Later today, flight controllers on Earth will wield the station's robotic arm remotely to attach Dragon to an open berth on the station so astronauts can begin unloading supplies.

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An uncrewed SpaceX Dragon cargo ship makes its second trip to the International Space Station for NASA on the CRS-17 mission in this view captured during rendezvous operations on May 6, 2019.

A SpaceX Dragon cargo ship arrived at the International Space Station on Monday, May 6, 2019 to deliver 5,500 lbs. of supplies.
(Image: © NASA TV)
Image 2 of 8

An uncrewed SpaceX Dragon cargo ship makes its second trip to the International Space Station for NASA on the CRS-17 mission in this view captured during rendezvous operations on May 6, 2019.

Mottled clouds and a shoreline form a spectacular background for SpaceX's Dragon cargo ship arrival.
(Image: © NASA TV)
Image 3 of 8

An uncrewed SpaceX Dragon cargo ship makes its second trip to the International Space Station for NASA on the CRS-17 mission in this view captured during rendezvous operations on May 6, 2019.

SpaceX's Dragon soars over a desert region on Earth just before arriving at the International Space Station on May 6, 2019.
(Image: © NASA TV)
Image 4 of 8

An uncrewed SpaceX Dragon cargo ship makes its second trip to the International Space Station for NASA on the CRS-17 mission in this view captured during rendezvous operations on May 6, 2019.

SpaceX's Dragon is seen in darkness in this nighttime view from the International Space Station during rendezvous activities on May 6, 2019. SpaceX Dragons have red and green indicator lights.
(Image: © NASA TV)
Image 5 of 8

An uncrewed SpaceX Dragon cargo ship makes its second trip to the International Space Station for NASA on the CRS-17 mission in this view captured during rendezvous operations on May 6, 2019.

Sunrise is coming as the Earth's limb shines blue while SpaceX's Dragon is bathed in light. Space station astronauts waited until sunrise for a better view of the Dragon capture.
(Image: © NASA TV)
Image 6 of 8

An uncrewed SpaceX Dragon cargo ship makes its second trip to the International Space Station for NASA on the CRS-17 mission in this view captured during rendezvous operations on May 6, 2019.

A stunning view of Dragon and Earth's clouds painted different colors by an orbital sunrise.
(Image: © NASA TV)
Image 7 of 8

An uncrewed SpaceX Dragon cargo ship makes its second trip to the International Space Station for NASA on the CRS-17 mission in this view captured during rendezvous operations on May 6, 2019.

This close-up of the SpaceX-17 Dragon cargo ship shows its lineage. The International Space Station emblem visible just under the "P" in the SpaceX logo indicates it has flown to the station before on the 2017 SpaceX-12 mission.
(Image: © NASA TV)
Image 8 of 8

An uncrewed SpaceX Dragon cargo ship makes its second trip to the International Space Station for NASA on the CRS-17 mission in this view captured during rendezvous operations on May 6, 2019.

Capture! Canadian Space Agency astronaut David Saint-Jacques captured the Dragon spacecraft with the station's Canadarm2 at 7:01 a.m. EDT (1101 GMT) on May 6, 2019.
(Image: © NASA TV)

SpaceX launched the Dragon cargo ship early Saturday (May 4) atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida following just over a week of delays. As the spacecraft neared the station today, astronauts spotted a small cable on the craft that was supposed to detach during launch, but it posed no problem for docking, NASA officials said. 

"It's noteworthy that this is the second flight of this particular capsule, which flew the SpaceX-12 mission," Saint-Jacques said. The spacecraft has a small space station emblem on its side indicating that previews flight in 2017.

Dragon's current delivery mission is called CRS-17 by NASA and SpaceX-17 by the company. As that name suggests, it is the seventeenth cargo run for NASA by SpaceX since commercial resupply flights began in 2012.

The spacecraft is carrying a host of new science payloads for use inside and outside the International Space Station.

Among those experiments are NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-3, an instrument to be installed on the station's exterior to track carbon dioxide levels in Earth's atmosphere. The spacecraft is also carrying so-called "tissue chips" to simulate the behavior or human organs in space, as well series of student-designed Genes in Space experiments to study you yeast DNA repairs itself in space.

Dragon will stay linked to the station for about a month before being packed up with experiment samples and other gear and returning to Earth. The spacecraft has a heat shield and parachutes that allow it to survive reentry.

SpaceX is also developing a crewed version of the Dragon spacecraft. The company launched its first Crew Dragon capsule test flight earlier this year and hopes to begin astronaut flights by the end of 2019.

But before those crewed flights can begin, SpaceX must complete an investigation into why its Crew Dragon spacecraft exploded during a ground test of its emergency abort system last month. The April 20 test at a SpaceX landing pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station was uncrewed and no injuries were reported. 

Once SpaceX completes that investigation, the Hawthorne, California-based company also plans to launch an in-flight abort test of an uncrewed Crew Dragon spacecraft before attempting its first astronaut mission test flight for NASA.

 Email Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com or follow him @tariqjmalik. Follow us @Spacedotcom and Facebook.  

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