Resupply Mission is Just Another Automated Mail Run

NASA is set to launch the 30th Commercial Resupply Services mission using a SpaceX Cargo Dragon spacecraft, with a launch window on March 21st at 16:55 from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

This next flight will deliver "scientific investigations, food, supplies, and equipment to the international crew," according to the NASA pre-flight announcement. The load will also carry equipment from a range of partner countries and operations, ranging from a host of free-flying Astrobee robots to metabolic plant studies. One project will evaluate potential fluid physics advancements that could boost solar cell technology, while a Canadian Space Agency tagalong will monitor sea ice and oceanic conditions.

The launch will see the Dragon dock with the International Space Station's Harmony module in typically autonomous fashion. It will stay there for the better part of a month before heading Earthbound with cargo and research in tow. Full mission coverage will, as usual, be streamed via the NASA website about 20 minutes prior to launch. The launch is also subject to all the usual weather concerns, which don't appear to be too temperamental for a late March day in Cape Canaveral.

FMI: www.nasa.gov