Worms, cabbage and a massive parking station for spaceships were aboard SpaceX’s unmanned Dragon cargo capsule set to launch yesterday.
The blastoff of the capsule atop the California-based firm’s Falcon 9 rocket was set for 10:21am yesterday from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Shortly after launch, SpaceX planned a third attempt to land a rocket on a floating platform, part of chief executive Elon Musk’s vision of revamping the rocket industry by reusing expensive parts instead of discarding them in the ocean.
Photo: AP
Moments after launch, as the Dragon heads for orbit, the tall section of the rocket is to ignite its engines and guide itself back to a barge in the Atlantic Ocean.
SpaceX’s first try in January ended in failure, when the rocket collided with the platform after running out of the hydraulic fluid needed to power its steering fins.
During a second try in April, the 30 tonne rocket managed to set itself down on the platform in an upright position, but tipped over and exploded seconds later.
SpaceX blamed a malfunctioning valve controlling the rocket’s engine power for the landing.
NO PREDICTIONS
SpaceX vice president of mission assurance Hans Koenigsmann said company experts have learned from past attempts, but it would be hard to predict the chances of success in yesterday’s mission.
“You look at the data, you evaluate this and then you make a correction — and that is ultimately how you succeed,” he said on Friday.
The Dragon spacecraft is to deliver 1,800kg of food, supplies and science experiments to the International Space Station, where two Russian cosmonauts and one US astronaut are living.
NASA’s Scott Kelly and Roscosmos’ Mikhail Kornienko are four months into a planned year-long stay in space. The space station commander is Gennady Padalka.
SpaceX is now the only US firm capable of sending cargo to space. Orbital Sciences’ program is on hold after one of its rockets exploded on the launchpad last year and destroyed its loaded Cygnus cargo carrier.
Russia’s supply program experienced a setback in April, when it lost control of its Progress cargo ship and the uncrewed capsule burned up on re-entry to Earth’s atmosphere a couple of weeks later.
The Dragon’s cargo includes the first of two international docking adapters, which are essentially parking spots meant to make it easier for a variety of commercial supply ships to latch onto the orbiting lab in years to come.
GROWING FOOD
Two experiments among the dozens on board aim to help astronauts cultivate their own food in space, a skill that would be key to sustaining a crew during a deep space mission to Mars.
One experiment is a type of greenhouse that aims to enable astronauts to grow lettuce in space.
Astronauts have previously grown red romaine lettuce, which was tested back on Earth for signs of risks, station program scientist Julie Robinson said, adding that no dangers were found.
This time, astronauts might get to sample the Tokyo Bekana cabbage — a bitter leafy green — that they are to grow.
“We do not have all the paperwork in place yet, but we are quite hopeful that the crew will actually get to eat this cabbage after they grow it,” Robinson told reporters. “We are getting closer to that first bite of space lettuce.”
Another experiment devised by middle-school students in Colorado aims to see how 11 worms fare in a compost box in space.
REANIMATING WORMS
Before launch, the worms are to be frozen, allowing them to hibernate for the flight, before being reanimated when they return to room temperature at the station.
The aim of the experiment is to see how the red wiggler worms compost a combination of eggshells, coffee grounds and newspaper while in orbit.
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