CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A capsule full of supplies and experiments may soon be on its way to the space station if this all goes well with this afternoon’s launch from Cape Canaveral.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to blast off at 12:51 p.m. carrying an uncrewed Dragon capsule on its third flight to the station. Aboard is almost 6,000 pounds of supplies, including everything from food to batteries to spacewalking gear.
The capsule is also carrying experiments to study how flames act in space, malting barley for possible food on long-term missions, and a robotic leak-detection tool.
Weather is expected to be 90-percent ‘go,’ but there’s a chance that upper-level winds could bet too strong.
The Falcon 9 booster will land on the automated droneship at sea to be reused later.
SpaceX hopes to make its first crewed flight to the space station next year.