CRS-32 mission is SpaceXs 32nd commercial resupply services mission for NASA to the International Space Station. EDT. Credit: Ken Kremer/Space Upclose.com
CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION, FL – In the dead of night another NASA SpaceX Dragon cargo resupply craft was hurled to orbit on a recycled Falcon 9 rocket putting on a spectacular Middle of the Night sky show on the CRS-32 mission bound for the International Space Station (ISS) – soaring on a northeast trajectory at 415 AM ET Mon April 21 from pad 39a NASA’s Kennedy Space Center
The Cargo Dragon was loaded with 3.4 tons NASA science & supplies.
Enjoy our photo gallery on site from the Space UpClose team of Ken Kremer and Jean Wright.
My Timelapse image above includes NASA’s VAB & Countdown Clock/US Flag
Eight and a half minutes later the F9 B1092.3 1st stage launched & landed for the 3rd time sending screaming sonic booms across the Florida Space Coast and beyond
This marked SpaceX’s 32nd commercial resupply services mission for NASA to the earth orbiting International Space Station.
The spacecraft is scheduled to autonomously dock at approximately 8:20 a.m. to the zenith, or space-facing, port of the space station’s Harmony module.
The resupply mission will support dozens of research experiments during Expedition 73. Along with food and essential equipment for the crew, Dragon is delivering a variety of science experiments, including a demonstration of refined maneuvers for free-floating robots. Dragon also carries an enhanced air quality monitoring system that could help protect crew members on exploration missions to the Moon and Mars, and two atomic clocks to examine fundamental physics concepts, such as relativity, and test global synchronization of precision timepieces.
These are just a sample of the hundreds of investigations conducted aboard the orbiting laboratory each year in the areas of biology and biotechnology, physical sciences, and Earth and space science. Such research benefits humanity and helps lay the groundwork for future human exploration through the agency’s Artemis campaign, which will send astronauts to the Moon to prepare for future missions to Mars.
The Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to remain at the orbiting laboratory until May, when it will depart and return to Earth with time-sensitive research and cargo, splashing down off the coast of California.
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