SpaceX Dragon cargo craft arrives at International Space Station

Image credit: NASA TV

New Delhi: SpaceX Dragon cargo craft, carrying 2,630 kg of research, crew supplies and hardware, has finally arrived at the Internation Space Station (ISS) on Wednesday, April 4.

The spacecraft was launched into space aboard a Falcon 9 rocket on April 2, 2018, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

According to The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Norishige Kanai and NASA astronaut Scott Tingle captured the Dragon spacecraft at 4:10 pm IST (6:40 a.m. EDT) using the space station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm.

NASA shared a glimpse of how the Dragon spacecraft was captured on Twitter:

We have captured the #Dragon! The crew used @Space_Station’s robotic arm to capture @SpaceX’s #Dragon cargo vehicle at 6:40am ET: https://t.co/ZuxLDtzW9c pic.twitter.com/C9YbqqQ1Dz

— NASA (@NASA) April 4, 2018

After the capture, ground commands send commands to begin the robotic installation of the spacecraft on the station’s Harmony module.

As per the US space agency, Dragon is also carrying an Earth observatory that will study severe thunderstorms and their role in the Earth’s atmosphere and climate, as well as upgrade equipment for the station’s carbon dioxide removal system, external high-definition camera components, and a new printer for the station’s crew.

The spacecraft will spend approximately one month attached to the space station, returning to Earth in May with results of completed experiments.