SpaceX Dragon cargo ship arrives at space station with NASA supplies.

[LazyHippo]

A SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule carrying more than 3 tons of supplies arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) at 7:31 a.m. EDT on Thursday (March 16).

 

SpaceX CRS-27 Cargo Dragon spacecraft arrives at the International Space Station after a smooth ride. (Image credit: NASA)
 

 

The robotic Dragon, which launched from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Tuesday evening (March 14), reached the ISS Thursday at 7:31 a.m. EDT (1131 GMT), about 20 minutes ahead of schedule after a smooth and uneventful ride.

 

The current mission is called CRS-27, because it's the 27th robotic cargo flight to the International Space Station that SpaceX is conducting for NASA. ("CRS" stands for "commercial resupply services.")
 

SpaceX holds another contract to fly astronauts to the orbiting lab for NASA and recently launched the sixth operational crewed mission under that deal. That four-person flight, known as Crew-6, arrived at the ISS.

 

Dragon delivered nearly 6,300 pounds (2,860 kilograms) of supplies on CRS-27. Among the cargo is vehicle hardware, spacewalk equipment, more than 60 different scientific experiments and some treats for the inhabitants of the orbiting lab.

 

"The crews requested some fresh fruit and refrigerated cheeses," Phil Dempsey, NASA's International Space Station Program transportation integration manager, said during a CRS-27 prelaunch press conference on Monday (March 13). "So on board are apples, blueberries, grapefruit, oranges and cherry tomatoes, as well as a few different cheeses."