The SpaceX Falcon 9 successfully launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on April 18 for a delayed resupply mission to the International Space Station. The rocket successfully carried the Dragon spacecraft into orbit and the spacecraft is now en route to the ISS.
"Looks like everything's good on Dragon," said Elon Musk, the CEO and founder of SpaceX. "I'm feeling pretty excited, this is a happy day,"
Depsite the cloudy skies during the launch, the SpaceX-3 cargo mission launch proceeded as planned with the Falcon 9 and the Dragon spacecraft hurtling into space along with almost 2-1/2 tons of valuable supplies for the astronauts onboard the ISS.
"Weather was our primary concern," said Hans Koenigsmann, SpaceX vice president for mission assurance. "It's a really good day."
Aside from food and various replacement parts, the Dragon's cargo also included a contingent of mating flies and microorganisms to be used in various experiments on the space station. The mission will also deliver a new spacesuit as well as mechanical legs for Robonaut, a humanoid robot commissioned for NASA. On a lighter note, the families and relatives of the current ISS crew also sent over care packages and Easter goodies for their loved ones on duty on the ISS.
The Dragon spacecraft is expected to arrive at the space station on Sunday, April 20. Due to delays in the mission, an important spacewalk that was scheduled earlier was pushed back to April 23. The spacewalk is required to replace a malfunctioning backup computer on the space station. Since NASA authorities are worried that the computer problem might cause further difficulties in the future, the repairs need to be conducted as soon as possible.
While the April 18 launch was successful, a launch earlier in the week was aborted due to technical difficulties. The cargo mission was also delayed by a month due to other unforeseen problems. The aborted launch was caused by a leaky rocket valve that was immediately replaced in time for the April 18 launch date.
NASA officials were pleased with the results of the launch and the agency is hoping that the computer problems on the ISS will soon be dealt with.
"They did a lot of good work," said William Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for human exploration and operations at NASA.
Gerstenmaier praised SpaceX and the NASA payload team for pushing through with the launch in spite of weather concerns and working with increasingly tight schedules.
