NASA and SpaceX Launch 6,000 Pounds of Innovation to the ISS on 31st Resupply Mission

After a successful launch of NASA’s 31st SpaceX commercial resupply mission, new scientific experiments and supplies are on their way to the International Space Station (ISS).

The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, loaded with over 6,000 pounds of cargo for the orbiting lab, lifted off at 9:29 p.m. EST on Monday. The launch took place from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, using SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket.

Live coverage of the spacecraft’s arrival will begin at 8:45 a.m. Tuesday, November 5, on NASA+ and NASA’s website. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.

The spacecraft is scheduled to autonomously dock at approximately 10:15 a.m. to the forward port of the space station’s Harmony module.

The resupply mission will support dozens of research experiments conducted during Expedition 72. In addition to food, supplies, and equipment for the crew, Dragon will deliver several new experiments, including the Coronal Diagnostic Experiment, to examine solar wind and how it forms. Dragon also delivers Antarctic moss to observe the combined effects of cosmic radiation and microgravity on plants. Other investigations aboard include a device to test cold welding of metals in microgravity and an investigation that studies how space impacts different materials.

These are just a sample of the hundreds of investigations conducted aboard the orbiting laboratory in the areas of biology and biotechnology, physical sciences, and Earth and space science. Such research benefits humanity and lays the groundwork for future human exploration through the agency’s Artemis campaign, which will send astronauts to the Moon to prepare for future expeditions to Mars.

The Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to remain at the space station until December when it will depart the orbiting laboratory and return to Earth with research and cargo, splashing down off the coast of Florida.

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