SpaceX-launched Dragon cargo spacecraft is carrying ants, avocadoes & more with it to ISS

The Elon Musk-led company SpaceX launched its 23rd rocket for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on Sunday, sending a shipment of ants, avocados and a human-sized robotic arm towards the International Space Station (ISS), reported Associated Press (AP). A two-stage recycled Falcon rocket was launched into the predawn sky from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and it is expected to arrive the station on Monday, August 30. The Dragon cargo capsule is packed with more than 4,800 pounds (around 2,200 kilograms) of supplies, scientific experiments and fresh food including avocados, lemons and even ice cream for the space station’s seven astronauts. Besides, it is also carrying a new robotic arm that will be tested inside the space station's Bishop Airlock.  

Bad weather delayed the launch by 24-hour 

Earlier, it was scheduled to be launched on Saturday, August 28, but the poor weather at the launch site prompted a 24-hour delay.  According to the AP, around eight minutes after the liftoff, the Dragon capsule's first-stage booster landed on SpaceX’s newest drone ships in the Atlantic Ocean, named "A Shortfall of Gravitas." The first-stage booster is known as B1061. It should be mentioned here that SpaceX founder Elon Musk continued his tradition of naming the booster-recovery vessels in tribute to the late science fiction writer Iain Banks and his Culture series. 

NASA resorts to SpaceX and other US companies to deliver cargo and crews 

Speaking to the AP,  Chief technology officer Toyotaka Kozuki said that a Japanese start-up company’s experimental robotic arm, meanwhile, will attempt to put items together in its orbital debut and perform other mundane chores normally done by astronauts. Stating that the first tests will be done inside the space station, he further said that future models of Gitai Inc.’s robot will venture out into the vacuum of space to practice satellite and other repair jobs. He further claimed that by 2025, a squad of these arms could help build lunar bases and mine the moon for precious resources. It is pertinent to mention here that NASA resorted to SpaceX and other US companies to deliver cargo and crews to the space station, once the space shuttle program ended in 2011.

With inputs from AP

(Image Credits: AP)