NASA’s SpaceX CRS-31: Dragon Launches at 9:29 p.m. EST
The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, carrying more than 6,000 pounds of supplies to the orbiting laboratory, lifted off at 9:29 p.m. EST Monday, on the company’s Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credits: NASA
At 9:29 p.m. EST, over 6,000 pounds of scientific investigations and cargo launched to the International Space Station on the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft for the company’s 31st commercial resupply services mission for NASA. The spacecraft lifted off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
About 9 minutes after launch, Dragon will separate from the rocket’s second stage, open its nosecone, and begin a carefully choreographed series of thruster firings to reach the space station.
Dragon will arrive at the orbiting outpost at 10:15 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 5, and dock autonomously to the forward port of the space station’s Harmony module.
NASA will provide live coverage of the spacecraft’s arrival beginning at 8:45 a.m. Nov. 5 on NASA+ and the agency’s website. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with the company’s Dragon spacecraft atop, stands in a vertical position at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday, Nov. 4, 2024, in preparation for the 31st commercial resupply services launch to the International Space Station.
NASA’s coverage is underway on NASA+ and the agency’s website for the launch of SpaceX’s 31st commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.
The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft is scheduled for liftoff at 9:29 p.m. EST on the company’s Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Filled with more than 6,000 pounds of scientific investigations, food, supplies, and equipment, Dragon will arrive at the orbiting outpost at 10:15 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 5, and dock autonomously to the forward port of the space station’s Harmony module.
NASA will provide live coverage of the spacecraft’s arrival beginning at 8:45 a.m. Nov. 5 on NASA+ and the agency’s website.
Astronauts Relax with Light Science Before Dragon Cargo Mission Arrives
Thrusters on the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft fire adjusting the vehicle’s approach toward the station for a docking to the Harmony module’s forward port in November of 2023.
Four of the seven Expedition 72 crew members aboard the International Space Station had a light duty day on Monday awaiting a space delivery due to arrive Tuesday morning. However, there was still time aboard the orbital outpost for a heart health study, DNA research, spacesuit work, and more.
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Dragon cargo spacecraft atop is at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida counting down to a lift off at 9:29 p.m. EST today. Dragon is packed with over 6,000 pounds of science, supplies, and hardware to replenish the lab residents. NASA Flight Engineers Nick Hague and Butch Wilmore will be on duty monitoring Dragon’s automated rendezvous and docking scheduled for 10:15 a.m. on Tuesday. Afterward, station Commander Suni Williams and Flight Engineer Don Pettit, both NASA astronauts, will join the duo and begin unloading critical research samples and hardware to begin exploring the solar wind, radiation tolerance in plants, and more aboard the orbital outpost.
Watch Dragon’s launch and docking live on the NASA+ streaming service via the web or the NASA app. Coverage also will air live on NASA Television, YouTube, and on the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA TV through a variety of platforms including social media.
The NASA quartet mostly had an off-duty day on Monday following Sunday morning’s short ride aboard the SpaceX Dragon crew spacecraft to different space station docking port. Hague commanded Williams, Wilmore, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov inside Dragon as it undocked from the Harmony module’s forward port at 6:35 a.m. then redocked to Harmony’s adjacent space-facing port at 7:25 a.m. opening it up for Tuesday’s Dragon cargo delivery. Pettit remained inside the space station monitoring the crew’s automated relocation maneuver aboard the Dragon crew spacecraft.
However, Hague spent about an hour on Monday gathering hardware that will measure his heart and breathing activity during an upcoming exercise session for the Cardiobreath human research study. Wilmore had a quick task setting up a student-designed DNA experiment that will explore the genetic risks, including cancer, of living and working in space. Williams was on spacesuit duty during the second part of her day inspecting the spacewalking gear for leaks. Pettit spent a few moments logging his daily meals in a space health app for the EveryWear technology demonstration.
Gorbunov had a full schedule aboard the station on Monday operating a variety of Earth observation gear imaging the nighttime atmosphere and landmarks on the ground in different wavelengths. Flight Engineer Alexey Ovchinin inventoried personal cosmonaut items then worked on ventilation systems in the Nauka science module. Flight Engineer Ivan Vagner charged video camera batteries then stowed trash and other discarded items inside the Progress 88 resupply ship before its departure later this month.
SpaceX Dragon Redocks to Station Before Next Cargo Mission
The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft with four Expedition 72 crew members aboard is pictured docked to the Harmony module’s space-facing port less than an hour after undocking from Harmony’s forward port. Credit: NASA TV
The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, with Expedition 72 crew members NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, and Butch Wilmore, as well as Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, autonomously redocked with the space-facing port of the station’s Harmony module at 7:25 a.m. EST.
The port relocation frees up Harmony’s forward-facing port for the 31st SpaceX commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station, which is scheduled to launch no earlier than 9:29 p.m., Monday, Nov. 4. This was the fifth port relocation of a Dragon spacecraft with crew aboard following previous moves during the Crew-1, Crew-2, Crew-6, and Crew-8 missions.
The SpaceX Dragon Freedom spacecraft is pictured docked to the International Space Station as it soared 257 miles above Hurricane Milton in the Gulf of Mexico on Oct. 8, 2024.
The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, with Expedition 72 crew members NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, and Butch Wilmore, as well as Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, undocked from the forward-facing port of the station’s Harmony module at 6:35 a.m. EST, to autonomously redock with the module’s space-facing port.
Redocking is planned at 7:18 a.m. NASA coverage continues live on NASA+. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.
This is the fifth port relocation of a Dragon spacecraft with crew aboard following previous moves during the Crew-1, Crew-2, Crew-6, and Crew-8 missions.
