The American spacecraft manufacturer SpaceX has launched its Falcon 9 rocket into orbit for an important mission on its 25th flight, known as CRS-25, as shared via its official Twitter page.
The rocket lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday at 8.44 p.m. EDT (0044GMT) with a robotic Dragon resupply craft that will replenish the International Space Station’s supplies (ISS).
CRS-25 will deliver more than 2,630 kilograms of science equipment and daily living supplies to the International Space Station, which will support over a dozen ongoing research investigations. The Dragon will spend the next 36 hours in orbit catching up to the ISS. The cargo capsule is scheduled to dock with the space station on July 16 at 11:20 a.m. EDT (15:20 GMT).
CRS-25, so named because it is SpaceX’s 25th cargo mission for NASA, is scheduled to stay docked at the ISS for 33 days. The spacecraft will return to Earth with nearly the same amount of cargo as it left with. Before the vehicle’s ISS departure, samples and equipment from up to 50 research investigations and waste and other circulated station lifecycle supplies will be stowed aboard Dragon.
The Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation is one of the mission’s key experiments (EMIT). According to NASA, the device will measure the mineral composition of dust in the planet’s driest regions.
EMIT will investigate how dust from some of Earth’s arid landscapes is carried across the planet by winds and how it affects the overall climate system in ways that scientists do not fully comprehend. Measuring the minerals in these samples will allow researchers to better understand their composition and role in global climate, which will aid in weather pattern predictions, crop yield improvements, and other climate research.
“We’re sending up apples, oranges, cherry tomatoes, some onions, baby carrots, garlic, tahini, cheese and dry sausage,” said ISS deputy program manager Dana Weigel. “So a really nice mix of fresh fruit for the crew.”
NASA currently has access to approximately 5,000 such measurements, which is only a drop in the bucket of what is to come shortly. Follow TechGenyz for more updates.
