By – DEVANSHI SRIVASTAVA
The cargo, which is scheduled to arrive on the 30th of August in 2021, will be the company’s 23rd for NASA in less than a decade.
On the 29th of August, 2021, a SpaceX cargo ship carrying ants, avocados, and a human-sized robotic arm was launched toward the International Space Station.
NASA’s Kennedy Space Center launched a refurbished Falcon rocket into the early morning sky in the early hours of the morning. Following the successful deployment of the Dragon capsule, the first-stage rocket made an upright landing on SpaceX’s newest ocean platform, dubbed “A Shortfall of Gravitas.” Elon Musk, the creator of SpaceX, has maintained his practice of naming the booster-recovery boats in honor of the late science fiction writer Iain Banks and his Culture series, as he has done in the past.
The Dragon is transporting more than 4,800 pounds (2,170 kilograms) of supplies and experiments, as well as fresh food such as avocados, lemons, and even ice cream, for the seven astronauts on board the International Space Station, according to NASA.
Scientists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison are sending up seeds from mouse-ear cress, a tiny flowering weed that is utilized in genetic studies, while Girl Scouts are bringing up ants, brine shrimp, and plants as test subjects. Various materials like concrete, solar cells, and other components will also be exposed to weightlessness.
In the meanwhile, an experimental robotic arm developed by a Japanese start-up firm will make its orbital debut and try to screw things together as well as do other boring tasks usually performed by astronauts. The initial experiments will be carried out inside the space station itself. The chief technical officer of Gitai Inc., Toyotaka Kozuki, has said that future versions of the company’s robot would travel out into the vacuum of space to perform satellite and other maintenance tasks.
He went on to say that a squad of these weapons might be on the moon as early as 2025, assisting in the construction of lunar outposts and the extraction of valuable minerals from the moon.
Because of the delays caused by Covid-19, SpaceX was forced to abandon several experiments on the International Space Station.
It was the second attempt after the first attempt on Saturday was thwarted by inclement weather.
When the space shuttle program came to an end in 2011, NASA turned to SpaceX and other U.S. businesses to transport cargo and astronauts to the International Space Station.
About The Author
