Brain and Heart Tissue Sent to Space

SpaceX Sends 2,860 Kilograms of Cargo to International Space Station Today

SpaceX's Dragon unmanned cargo capsule is scheduled to launch into space today, October 13, at 6:33 a.m. EST (14:03 Iran time).

According to Space, SpaceX is scheduled to launch its latest cargo mission to the International Space Station on Tuesday morning, October 13; An event that can be watched live.

The Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to launch the unmanned Dragon capsule from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Base in Florida to deliver its cargo to the human orbiting laboratory.

This launch will be the start of the "CRS-35" mission. This naming was done because this mission is the 35th SpaceX flight under the commercial cargo supply service contract with NASA.

If all goes according to plan, the Dragon capsule will arrive at the International Space Station on Thursday, October 15, and will automatically dock with the Harmony module's space-facing port around 11 a.m. ET.

The CRS-35 mission carries about 2,860 kilograms of equipment and supplies for astronauts stationed on the International Space Station. This cargo also includes the latest set of openable solar panels of the International Space Station with the acronym iROSA, which will increase the energy supply capacity of this orbital complex. A significant part of the cargo of this mission is scientific equipment.

NASA officials wrote in the CRS-35 mission preview released on October 7: The Dragon capsule will carry equipment to the station to produce an artificial retina in microgravity conditions; A technology that can help restore vision on Earth. Also, 3D models of heart tissue will be sent to the station to pave the way for the development of large-scale drug tests on future missions.

The spacecraft will carry materials to investigate how a new type of glass forms in microgravity, as well as brain organelles, which may help identify therapeutic targets for neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and MS, they added.

The Dragon capsule will remain attached to the International Space Station for about a month before returning to Earth with science experiments and other equipment. Using parachutes, this spacecraft will land in the waters of the Pacific Ocean near the coast of California.

Dragon is currently the only active cargo spacecraft capable of returning cargo from the International Space Station. The other three cargo spacecraft, Russia's Progress, Japan's HTV-X spacecraft, and Northrop Grumman's Cygnus XL, are disposable and burn up on re-entry after completing their mission on the space station.