Trilok Singh
As per the report, SpaceX successfully launched another load of station supplies for NASA at 11:50 PM (Late Night) ET liftoff, SpaceX nailed 50th rocket landing. Meanwhile, CEO and founder of SpaceX ‘Elon Musk’ stated that, “Rocket will land in highest winds ever at Cape Canaveral tonight, his is intentional envelope expansion”.
SpaceX founder and chief executive Elon Musk mentioned that, it was the windiest conditions ever – 25 mph to 30 mph (40 kph to 48 kph) – for a booster landing at Cape Canaveral, but he wanted to push the envelope. Further, The Falcon rocket blasted off with 4,300 pounds (1,950 kilograms) of equipment and experiments for the International Space Station.
LIVE: @SpaceX‘s cargo resupply mission to @Space_Station is set for an 11:50pm ET liftoff. The #Dragon spacecraft will deliver over 5,600 pounds of @ISS_Research and supplies.
Watch: https://t.co/fHv7DT2KMR https://t.co/fHv7DT2KMR
— NASA (@NASA) March 7, 2020
Moreover, “The Falcon has landed for the 50th time in SpaceX history!” SpaceX engineer Jessica Anderson announced amid cheers at Mission Control. “What an amazing live view all the way to touchdown.” The Dragon capsule, meanwhile, hurtled toward a Monday rendezvous with the space station, PTI news agency remarked.
Read Also, GISAT-1 will be India’s first agile Earth observation satellite, Set to Launch on March 5
Significantly, It’s the 20th station delivery for SpaceX, which has launched nearly 100,000 pounds (45,360 kilograms) of goods to the orbiting outpost and returned nearly that much back to Earth since it began shipments in 2012. Northrop Grumman is NASA’s other commercial shipper.
The landing was the 50th successful touchdown of a SpaceX booster following liftoff, either on land or at sea. “Envelope expanded,” Musk also tweeted that, The company’s first booster landing was in 2015, intended as a cost-saving, rocket-recycling move. Both the latest booster and Dragon capsule were recycled from previous flights.
Envelope expanded https://t.co/WIuWUTAAnh
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 7, 2020
Following the PTI report here, Among the science experiments flying: an analysis of running shoe cushioning in weightlessness by Adidas, a water droplet study by Delta Faucet Co. Striving for better showerhead water conservation, 3D models of heart and intestinal tissue, and 320 snippets of grape vines by Space Cargo Unlimited, the same Luxembourg startup that sent 12 bottles of red wine to the space station last November for a year of high-altitude aging. The Dragon also contained treats for the two Americans and one Russian at the space station: grapefruit, oranges, apples, tomatoes, Skittles, Hot Tamales and Reese’s Pieces.
Read Also, Key NASA science, cargo head to space station
As for packing the capsule for launch, no extra precautions were taken because of the global coronavirus outbreak, according to NASA. The usual stringent precautions were taken to avoid passing along any germs or diseases to the space station crew. The doctor-approved procedures have proven effective in the past, officials noted.
Consequently, This is the last of SpaceX’s original Dragon cargo capsules. Going forward, the company will launch supplies in second-generation Dragons, roomier and more elaborate versions built for crews, it attributed. The company aims to launch NASA astronauts this spring. The California-based SpaceX also teaming up with other companies to fly tourists and private researchers to the space station, as well as high solo orbits in the next couple years.
REF: NASA, Elon Musk and PTI.
(Author: Trilok Singh is with CEO here).
