{"id":13716,"date":"2018-06-29T18:32:51","date_gmt":"2018-06-29T10:32:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/spacex-launches-ai-enabled-robot-companion-vegetation-monitor-to-space-station\/"},"modified":"2018-06-29T18:32:51","modified_gmt":"2018-06-29T10:32:51","slug":"spacex-launches-ai-enabled-robot-companion-vegetation-monitor-to-space-station","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/spacex-launches-ai-enabled-robot-companion-vegetation-monitor-to-space-station\/","title":{"rendered":"SpaceX launches AI-enabled robot companion, vegetation monitor to space station"},"content":{"rendered":"
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SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9 rocket takes off at 5:42 a.m. EDT (0942 GMT) Friday from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Credit: SpaceX<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A commercial SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule packed with a robot assistant for the International Space Station\u2019s crew, pouches of extra strong coffee, and a NASA science instrument designed to track the health of plants on Earth left Cape Canaveral aboard a Falcon 9 rocket Friday on a three-day pursuit of the orbiting research lab.<\/p>\n

Riding a plume of orange rocket exhaust, the Falcon 9 launcher climbed into a clear pre-sunrise sky after liftoff from Cape Canaveral\u2019s Complex 40 launch pad at 5:42:42 a.m. EDT (0942:42 GMT), roughly the moment Earth\u2019s rotation carried the spaceport under the International Space Station\u2019s orbital track.<\/p>\n

The Falcon 9\u2019s first stage, launching for the second time after boosting a NASA science satellite to orbit in April, pivoted its engines to steer the rocket northeast from Cape Canaveral with 1.7 million pounds of thrust.<\/p>\n

The rocket dropped the first stage booster to fall into the Atlantic Ocean \u2014 it was not planned to be recovered \u2014 as the Falcon 9\u2019s second stage ignited for a five-and-a-half-minute firing to give the Dragon cargo craft enough speed to achieve orbit around Earth.<\/p>\n

The launcher soared into sunlight as it reached the rarefied upper atmosphere, creating a twilight effect as the Falcon 9\u2019s expanding exhaust cloud caught the first rays of the morning sun.<\/p>\n

Imagery of the Falcon 9\u2019s ascent into space showed the exhaust plume illuminated, appearing as a growing nebula-like feature and putting on a memorable light show for spectators across Florida.<\/p>\n

The rocket\u2019s second stage shut down around eight-and-a-half minutes into the flight, then deployed the Dragon supply ship around 90 seconds later. Two power-generating solar panels unfurled to a span of around 54 feet (16.5 meters), and the ship\u2019s rocket jets were primed for the three-day chase of the space station.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the second stage was programmed to continue orbiting Earth for a long-duration coast demonstration, collecting data to verify the rocket can operate in space for up to six hours, allowing future Falcon 9 rocket missions to send payloads into higher, harder-to-reach orbits.<\/p>\n

Friday\u2019s launch marked the 57th flight of a Falcon 9 rocket, and SpaceX\u2019s 12th launch of the year. It was the 14th time SpaceX has launched a reused first stage booster, and the fourth flight of a previously-used Dragon capsule.<\/p>\n

The first stage launched Friday was the final one manufactured by SpaceX using the company\u2019s discontinued \u201cBlock 4\u201d configuration. SpaceX debuted the upgraded \u201cBlock 5\u201d version of the Falcon 9 rocket May 11, and Friday\u2019s flight employed a second stage containing Block 5 improvements.<\/p>\n

The Falcon 9 Block 5 design is optimized for reusability of the first stage, and SpaceX founder and chief executive Elon Musk said the upgraded Block 5 boosters could be launched, landed and flown again in as few as 24 hours, eventually requiring little more than the cost of new propellants and processing costs.<\/p>\n

The Block 4 configuration was not capable of such rapid re-flights, requiring disassembly of its landing legs, inspections, refurbishment and the installation of new heat shield material and grid fins used on descent. The work took time and cost millions of dollars, but SpaceX officials said the expense of refurbishing Block 4 boosters was less than the cost of manufacturing an all-new vehicle.<\/p>\n

Friday\u2019s mission was the final launch of a Block 4 first stage, said Jessica Jensen, SpaceX\u2019s director of Dragon mission management.<\/p>\n

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SpaceX\u2019s 15th space station cargo mission, part of a commercial resupply contract with NASA valued at more than $3 billion, is set to reach its destination around 7 a.m. EDT (1100 GMT) Monday.<\/p>\n

Space station crew members will take command of the Canadian-built robotic arm to grapple the free-floating Dragon capsule. The robot arm will berth the spacecraft on the station\u2019s Harmony module a couple of hours later, beginning a one-month stay.<\/p>\n

Astronauts will manually unpack the contents of Dragon\u2019s pressurized cargo module, which SpaceX is reusing from a previous resupply mission that launched in July 2016.<\/p>\n

The mission is slated to deliver 5,946 pounds (2,697 kilograms) of equipment, experiments and provisions to the orbiting research laboratory. About 3,774 pounds (1,712 kilograms) of that tally are carried inside Dragon\u2019s internal cabin, including:<\/p>\n