MISSION:

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will send a Dragon spacecraft with new science investigations, supplies, and equipment for the International Space Station (ISS) crew. One of the payloads aboard the cargo flight is the Moon Microscope kit for in-flight medical diagnosis that includes a portable handheld microscope and a small self-contained blood sample staining device. This will allow astronauts to collect and stain a blood sample, obtain images with the microscope, and transmit images to the ground, where flight surgeons will use them to diagnose illnesses and prescribe treatments.

SpaceX's Dragon also will deliver new science investigations, supplies, and equipment for the international crew, including the next set of International Space Station Roll Out Solar Arrays (iROSAs). It will also carry a study which will grow dwarf tomatoes as part of efforts to create continuous fresh-food production system in space, and an experiment that tests an on-demand method to create specific quantities of key nutrients.

The Falcon 9’s first stage booster will land on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. The flight is the 26th mission by SpaceX conducted under a Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA.

LAUNCH VIEWING: 

Hear the roar of the Falcon 9 rocket from one of the following launch viewing locations: