ISS - Expedition 66 Mission patch.
Dec 21, 2021
The SpaceX Dragon is on track to arrive at the International Space Station tomorrow morning, Wednesday, Dec. 22 with an expected docking of the cargo spacecraft about 4:30 a.m. EST. NASA Television coverage will begin at 3 a.m. Watch live on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website.
Image above: The SpaceX Cargo Dragon vehicle approaches the International Space Station on Aug. 30, 2021. Image Credit: NASA.
When it arrives to the space station, Dragon will automatically dock to the space-facing side (zenith) of the station’s Harmony module as NASA astronauts Raja Chari and Thomas Marshburn monitor operations. Dragon lifted off on Tuesday, Dec. 21, atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
International Space Station (ISS). Animation Credit: NASA
The cargo spacecraft with more than 6,500 pounds of research, hardware, and supplies will support dozens of investigations, just a few of the hundreds the Expedition 66 crew will conduct in the areas of biology and biotechnology, physical sciences, and Earth and space science during their six months aboard the orbiting laboratory. Advances in these areas will help keep astronauts healthy during NASA’s Artemis missions to the Moon and long-duration space travel and demonstrate technologies for future human and robotic exploration beyond low-Earth orbit to the Moon and Mars.
Dragon will join four other spacecraft currently at the space station.
Related article:
Detergent, Skin Bioprinter Launch on NASA’s SpaceX Resupply Mission
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2021/12/detergent-skin-bioprinter-launch-on.html
Related links:
NASA Television: https://www.nasa.gov/nasalive
Expedition 66: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/future.html
International Space Station (ISS): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html
Image (mentioned), Animation (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Mark Garcia.
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