A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket boosted a next-generation SpaceX cargo ship into orbit Sunday, the first in a new line of roomier, more capable Dragon capsules featuring many of the more advanced systems used by the company’s Crew Dragon astronaut ferry ships.
Making the company’s 21st supply run to the International Space Station — the first under a follow-on NASA contract — the new Cargo Dragon was loaded with more than 6,500 pounds of crew supplies, spare parts, science gear and other equipment, including a commercial airlock for on-board experiments.
Unlike the original Dragon cargo ship, which had to be captured by the space station’s robot arm for berthing, the Dragon 2 is designed to fly itself all the way to docking at the same ports used by piloted Crew Dragon spacecraft. Unlike the crewed version, however, the cargo ship is not equipped with seats or an emergency abort system.
A previously flown Falcon 9 booster roars away from the Kennedy Space Center Saturday, kicking off the maiden flight of a next-generation SpaceX Dragon cargo ship bound for docking at the International Space Station.
William Harwood/CBS News
Running a day late because of bad weather, the long-awaited mission began at 11:17 a.m. EST when the Falcon 9’s nine first stage Merlin 1D engines roared to life with a torrent of flame, pushing the 229-foot-tall rocket away from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center.
It was the 24th Falcon 9 launch so far this year, the 101st since the rocket’s debut in 2010, the 21st SpaceX ISS cargo launch and the first for a Dragon 2 capsule.
Accelerating on 1.7 million pounds of thrust, the rocket quickly arced away to the northeast, climbing directly into the plane of the space station’s orbit — a requirement for spacecraft trying to catch up and dock with a target moving at nearly 5 miles per second.
Two-and-a-half minutes after liftoff, now well out of the thick lower atmosphere, the first stage, making its fourth flight, fell away and flew itself to a landing on a downrange SpaceX droneship. It was SpaceX’s 68th successful booster recovery and its 47th at sea.
The Falcon 9’s second stage, meanwhile, continued the climb to space, releasing the Dragon 2 capsule into the planned preliminary orbit 12 minutes after launch. If all goes well, the capsule will rendezvous with the station Monday, guiding itself in for a docking at the upper port of the forward Harmony module around 1:30 p.m.
The space station is equipped with eight docking ports, four used by Russian spacecraft and four on the forward end of the lab that are available for U.S. cargo and crew ships. Two of the U.S. ports are used by visiting cargo ships that need the station’s robot arm to pull them in for berthing.
The other two U.S. ports, however, are equipped with docking mechanisms that can accommodate automated linkups by SpaceX crew and cargo Dragons and Boeing’s CST-100 Starlink crew ferry ship. The Crew Dragon spacecraft that carried four astronauts to the station last month is docked at Harmony’s forward-most port while the Dragon 2 cargo ship will carry out the first docking at the module’s upper space-facing port.
A camera in the Falcon 9 rocket’s second stage captures a dramatic view of the SpaceX Cargo Dragon spacecraft separating to fly on its own. Visible in the spacecrafts unpressurized trunk section is the Bishop Airlock, a commercial module provided by Nanoracks that will be used to deploy small payloads from the space station and expose experiments to the vacuum of space.
SpaceX
SpaceX won NASA contacts valued at $3.04 billion for 20 space station resupply flights through 2020 using the original Dragon cargo ship design and contracts for an unspecified amount covering at least nine additional flights through 2024 using the Dragon 2 spacecraft. The capsule launched Sunday is the first of those.
SpaceX also holds a $2.6 billion NASA contract to build and launch the piloted Crew Dragon capsule to ferry astronauts to and from the space station. So far, three Crew Dragons, two with astronaut crews and one without, have docked at the station.
For its maiden flight, the Dragon 2 cargo ship’s pressurized cabin was loaded with 803 pounds of crew supplies; 2,100 pounds of science gear; 265 pounds of spacewalk equipment; 698 pounds of vehicle hardware; 102 pounds of computer equipment; and 53 pounds of Russian hardware.
Stored in the capsule’s unpressurized trunk section was a 2,400-pound airlock developed by Nanoracks, a company that facilitates flights by private industry, university and government-sponsored experiments. The airlock will be attached to the Tranquility module’s far left port and periodically detached, exposing experiments inside and mounted on its exterior to the vacuum of space.
The station already features a Japanese experiment airlock, but the Nanoracks unit, known as the Bishop Airlock, is about five times larger, said project manager Brock Howe.
“There are a lot of different environments that the scientists can use, a lot of different volumes, a lot of different payload power and data capabilities on board the airlock that really will enhance their ability to do some really cool science,” he said.
Other equipment on board the Dragon 2 includes parts for the lab’s recently delivered female-friendly next generation toilet, gear for the station’s water recycling system, a nitrogen tank for cabin repressurization and a rodent habitat with research specimens.
Among the experiments being delivered are two designed to study how microgravity affects heart and brain tissue and another called “BioAsteroid” that will probe the role microbes might play in future space mining operations.
“BioAsteroid is an experiment to study whether we can use micro organisms, bacteria or fungi, to extract economically interesting elements from asteroid material,” said principal investigator Charles Cockell, professor of astrobiology at the University of Edinburgh.
“It’s essentially what we would call a bio-mining experiment, and we hope to learn whether we can use microbes to extract things like rare earth elements and other elements that can be used to sustain a self sustaining human presence throughout the solar system.”
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya — was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later.
Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret while chanting anti-femicide slogans.
She is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in yet another case of gender-based violence in recent years.
Viola Cheptoo, the founder of Tirop Angels – an organization that was formed in honor of athlete Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in 2021, said stakeholders need to ensure this is the last death of an athlete due to gender-based violence.
“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.
It was a somber mood at the morgue as athletes and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns after she was doused with gasoline by her partner Dickson Ndiema. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed.
Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarreled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.
Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, said that the body will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.
“We are in the final part of giving my daughter the last respect,” a visibly distraught Joseph said.
He told reporters last week that Ndiema was stalking and threatening Cheptegei and the family had informed police.
Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.
The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.
Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is partnering with a bear welfare group to reduce the number of bears being euthanized in the province.
Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Monday that it comes after months-long discussions with the province on how to protect bears, with the goal to give the animals a “better and second chance at life in the wild.”
Scapillati said what’s exciting about the project is that the government is open to working with outside experts and the public.
“So, they’ll be working through Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding, bringing in the latest techniques and training expertise from leading experts,” he said in an interview.
B.C. government data show conservation officers destroyed 603 black bears and 23 grizzly bears in 2023, while 154 black bears were killed by officers in the first six months of this year.
Scapillati said the group will publish a report with recommendations by next spring, while an independent oversight committee will be set up to review all bear encounters with conservation officers to provide advice to the government.
Environment Minister George Heyman said in a statement that they are looking for new ways to ensure conservation officers “have the trust of the communities they serve,” and the panel will make recommendations to enhance officer training and improve policies.
Lesley Fox, with the wildlife protection group The Fur-Bearers, said they’ve been calling for such a committee for decades.
“This move demonstrates the government is listening,” said Fox. “I suspect, because of the impending election, their listening skills are potentially a little sharper than they normally are.”
Fox said the partnership came from “a place of long frustration” as provincial conservation officers kill more than 500 black bears every year on average, and the public is “no longer tolerating this kind of approach.”
“I think that the conservation officer service and the B.C. government are aware they need to change, and certainly the public has been asking for it,” said Fox.
Fox said there’s a lot of optimism about the new partnership, but, as with any government, there will likely be a lot of red tape to get through.
“I think speed is going to be important, whether or not the committee has the ability to make change and make change relatively quickly without having to study an issue to death, ” said Fox.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
