{"id":19309,"date":"2016-07-20T20:33:00","date_gmt":"2016-07-20T12:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/spacex-dragon-cargo-ship-delivers-dna-sequencer-and-new-door-to-space-station\/"},"modified":"2016-07-20T20:33:00","modified_gmt":"2016-07-20T12:33:00","slug":"spacex-dragon-cargo-ship-delivers-dna-sequencer-and-new-door-to-space-station","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/spacex-dragon-cargo-ship-delivers-dna-sequencer-and-new-door-to-space-station\/","title":{"rendered":"SpaceX Dragon cargo ship delivers DNA sequencer and new door to space station"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_261915\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-261915\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-261915\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/160720-spacex-630x487.jpg\" alt=\"SpaceX Dragon\" width=\"630\" height=\"487\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/160720-spacex-630x487.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/160720-spacex.jpg 655w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-261915\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">SpaceX\u2019s Dragon is firmly in the grip of the International Space Station\u2019s robotic arm during the berthing operation. (Credit: NASA TV)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Two days after its launch, SpaceX\u2019s Dragon cargo capsule was pulled in for its hookup to the&nbsp;International Space Station today as the spacecraft soared 252 miles above the California-Oregon state line.<\/p>\n<p>Among the nearly 5,000 pounds of cargo were the first DNA sequencer destined for use in space, and a 5-foot-wide docking adapter that will accommodate future commercial space taxis&nbsp;\u2013 including an upgraded version of the uncrewed Dragon that pulled in today.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve captured us a Dragon,\u201d said NASA astronaut Jeff Williams, who&nbsp;grappled the capsule&nbsp;with the station\u2019s robotic arm. \u201cWe look forward to the work it brings.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dragon\u2019s arrival marked the week\u2019s second orbital delivery: A robotic Russian Progress cargo ship docked with the station on Monday night, bringing another 5,300 pounds of food, water, air, propellant and other supplies. It\u2019ll take weeks&nbsp;to unload all the goodies.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"SpaceX\/Dragon Arrives at the Space Station\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Fd4I7qqZJYk?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>SpaceX and Orbital ATK are resupplying the station under the terms of multibillion-dollar commercial contracts with NASA. In addition, Boeing and SpaceX have separate contracts to build crew-capable capsules for NASA\u2019s use. Boeing is building a totally new type of spaceship called the CST-100 Starliner, while SpaceX is upgrading its Dragon to boost its safety capabilities and make it flightworthy for people as well as payloads.<\/p>\n<p>Those space taxis, as well as the other types of spacecraft that rendezvous with the station, are designed to hook up with the International Docking Adapter that was delivered today. Eventually, two IDAs will be fitted to the station in time for the taxis\u2019 first arrivals, which are currently scheduled as early as next year.<\/p>\n<p>NASA had hoped to have one of the docking adapters in orbit a year ago, but it was destroyed along with the rest of a cargo shipment when a SpaceX Dragon and its Falcon 9 rocket were lost shortly after launch. It took months for SpaceX to investigate the mishap and return to flight.<\/p>\n<p>Many of the items sent up on the freshly arrived Dragon will be used for scientific purposes: Lots of attention has focused on the palm-sized DNA sequencer, known as the MinION.<\/p>\n<p>NASA astronaut Kate Rubins, a biologist who joined the station\u2019s crew earlier this month, will use the device to analyze prepared samples of DNA from a bacterium, a virus and a mouse. Those readings will be checked to see how the MinION works in weightlessness. Eventually, NASA hopes to use such devices for a wide range of genetic experiments in space.<\/p>\n<p>Other experiments will test a new kind of three-dimensional solar cell that could increase the efficiency of&nbsp;power generation for the station; study how heart cells derived from skin cells perform in zero-G; compare the development of bone cells that are grown in weightlessness vs. magnetic levitation; and evaluate a new kind of computer chip that\u2019s designed to withstand space radiation.<\/p>\n<p>After everything is unloaded, astronauts will fill the Dragon with cargo that\u2019s due to be sent back down to Earth on Aug. 29.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SpaceX\u2019s Dragon is firmly in the grip of the International Space Station\u2019s robotic arm during the berthing operation. (Credit: NASA TV) Two days after its launch, SpaceX\u2019s Dragon cargo capsule was pulled in for its hookup to the&nbsp;International Space Station today as the spacecraft soared 252 miles above the California-Oregon state line. Among the nearly [&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":[1395,717,190,316],"class_list":["post-19309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-dragon","tag-international-space-station","tag-nasa","tag-spacex"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19309"}],"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=19309"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19309\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}