{"id":18932,"date":"2017-06-04T01:23:34","date_gmt":"2017-06-03T17:23:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/spacex-launches-its-first-refurbished-dragon-cargo-ship-to-the-space-station\/"},"modified":"2017-06-04T01:23:34","modified_gmt":"2017-06-03T17:23:34","slug":"spacex-launches-its-first-refurbished-dragon-cargo-ship-to-the-space-station","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/spacex-launches-its-first-refurbished-dragon-cargo-ship-to-the-space-station\/","title":{"rendered":"SpaceX launches its first refurbished Dragon cargo ship to the space station"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_336819\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-336819\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-336819\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/170603-spacex-3-630x354.jpg\" alt=\"SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch\" width=\"630\" height=\"354\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/170603-spacex-3-630x354.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/170603-spacex-3-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/170603-spacex-3.jpg 985w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-336819\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Florida. (NASA TV)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>SpaceX took one more step in its campaign for rocket reusability today by sending a previously flown Dragon cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station for the first time.<\/p>\n<p>If all goes well, it should&nbsp;mark the first space station rendezvous for a reused spaceship since the retirement of NASA\u2019s space shuttle fleet in 2011.<\/p>\n<p>SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at&nbsp;5:07 p.m. ET (2:07 p.m. PT) from Launch Complex 39A at NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.&nbsp;An earlier countdown on Thursday had to be called off when a lightning storm struck too close to the launch pad.<\/p>\n<p>It was the 100th launch from Pad 39A, which has been the starting point for space journeys going back to the Apollo moon shots.<\/p>\n<p>Hans Koenigsmann, SpaceX\u2019s vice president of mission assurance, said that he was \u201csuper-happy, as always, after a good launch\u201d&nbsp;\u2013 and that it felt great to be a part of Pad 39A\u2019s 100th launch.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Blastoff! SpaceX Launches Pre-Flown Capsule To Space Station\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4hoMPTKusPk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" data-ratio=\"0.5625\" data-width=\"800\" data-height=\"450\" style=\"display: block; margin: 0px; width: 800px; height: 450px;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The robotic Dragon capsule is loaded up with nearly 6,000 pounds of experiments and supplies for the station and its crew.<\/p>\n<p>Among the payloads are carriers packed with 40 mice for in-orbit experiments aimed at testing therapies for bone loss, which is a serious problem for long-term space travelers. Twenty of the mice will be returned to Earth on a future Dragon flight for extended study.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s also a fruit fly experiment aimed at studying heart function, which is another health concern for astronauts. Other experiments focus on protein crystal growth and plant growth in zero-G.<\/p>\n<p>The Dragon\u2019s unpressurized \u201ctrunk\u201d is carrying an experimental set of roll-out solar arrays, a precision pointing platform for Earth observation and an experiment that will be mounted to the station\u2019s exterior to study neutron stars.<\/p>\n<p>SpaceX\u2019s billionaire founder, Elon Musk, has long sought to develop reusable spacecraft as part of his strategy to reduce the cost of access to space \u2013 and this mission marks another advance for the quest.<\/p>\n<p>Over the past year and a half, SpaceX has gotten the knack of having its Falcon 9 first-stage boosters fly themselves back for landings and recoveries. Today, the booster touched&nbsp;down at SpaceX\u2019s Landing Zone 1 in Florida, not far from the launch pad, with a fusillade of sonic booms heralding its arrival.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"SpaceX Lands Rocket\u2019s 1st Stage After Launching Pre-Flown Capsule\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/gKCt2rzQC48?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" data-ratio=\"0.5625\" data-width=\"800\" data-height=\"450\" style=\"display: block; margin: 0px; width: 800px; height: 450px;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The Dragon capsule launched today for the CRS-11 mission previously flew on the CRS-4 space station resupply mission in 2014. After its splashdown, the Dragon&nbsp;was inspected and refurbished for reuse, with components replaced as necessary.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is the first time when we fly actually the hull, the structure of Dragon and the majority of components again,\u201d SpaceX\u2019s Koenigsmann said in a pre-launch NASA interview. \u201cThat lines up well with our quest of reusability and overall, in the long term, lowering the cost&nbsp;of access to space.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Koenigsmann said it\u2019s \u201ca pretty big deal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The space shuttle orbiter was also reusable, but there\u2019s a big difference in the cost: By some estimates, each shuttle flight cost&nbsp;as much as $1 billion.&nbsp;The price tag for each SpaceX Dragon resupply flight is&nbsp;in the neighborhood of $133 million, based on the terms of the company\u2019s contract with NASA.<\/p>\n<p>The Dragon is due to rendezvous with the station on Monday. To make room, a robotic Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo craft, filled with trash, will be unhooked from the station on Sunday for disposal.<\/p>\n<p>When Dragon shows up, astronauts will use the station\u2019s robotic arm to pull it&nbsp;in for its berthing.&nbsp;Over the course of the following several weeks, they\u2019ll unload the cargo, load it back up with payloads destined to be sent to Earth, and then prepare it for its descent&nbsp;to a Pacific Ocean splashdown.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Florida. (NASA TV) SpaceX took one more step in its campaign for rocket reusability today by sending a previously flown Dragon cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station for the first time. If all goes well, it should&nbsp;mark the first space station rendezvous for a reused spaceship since [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[291,1395,4434,717,316],"class_list":["post-18932","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-commercial-space","tag-dragon","tag-falcon-launch","tag-international-space-station","tag-spacex"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18932"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18932"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18932\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}