TEHRAN, May 07 -SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft docked and bolted to the International Space Station on schedule Monday morning.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) -It was the 17th such mission for the space company's Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA.
Video of the docking sequence on NASA Live showed the station as it traveled at more than 7,000 mph into nighttime darkness over the Indian Ocean. The craft launched on top of a Falcon 9 rocket early Saturday from Florida.
Earlier on Monday, Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques used the station's robotic arm, or Canadarm2, to capture the craft and line it up with the docking hatch.
NASA also showed in the video that Dragon was one of six craft parked at the station now. The others include Northrop Grumman's Cygnus cargo craft that launched in April from Virginia, two Russian Soyuz capsules and two Russian Progress cargo capsules.
The crew aboard the station was to open the hatch Monday afternoon to begin unpacking the Dragon's 5,500 pounds of cargo. Most of that, about 3,400 pounds, is pressurized and includes sensitive scientific equipment.
Dragon will be bolted to the spacecraft for about a month for unloading and repacking with around 2,000 pounds for the return trip, said Leah Cheshier, a NASA Mission Control communications specialist.
Source: upi
Your Comment