A Dragon has settled into its nest after a more than two-day-long orbital pursuit.
SpaceX's cargo Dragon, flying the CRS-35 (35th Commercial Resupply Services) mission for NASA, rendezvoused with the International Space Station (ISS) this morning (Oct. 15), delivering fresh food, long-term provisions, research and hardware to the orbital lab and its crew.
Coverage of Dragon's arrival at the ISS began at 9:00 a.m. EDT (1315 GMT), as the spacecraft approached from approximately 2.3 miles (3.6 km) away. NASA astronaut Anil Menon served as the station's prime crew member this morning, responsible for monitoring Dragon's approach and autonomous procedures. Docking occurred with the space-face port of the station's Harmony module at 9:27 a.m. EDT (1327 GMT), as the ISS flew about 250 miles (400 km) above South Africa, traveling around 17,500 mph (28,000 kph).
Dragon's arrival brings more than 6,300 pounds (2,860 kilograms) of food, research equipment and other supplies, including flight support equipment to replace components on the Canadarm2, a toilet dose pump, a toilet pretreat quality sensor, a robot micro-conical tool used for station maintenance and the very last of eight upgraded solar panels designed to augment the station's power capabilities.
In addition to the usual provisions carried on this mission, Dragon also brought a special suprise for Menon, who is celebrating his 50th birthday today, according to NASA's broadcast spokesperson.
CRS-35 launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the company's pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Tuesday (Oct. 13). Liftoff occurred at 6:35 a.m. EDT (1035 GMT), and the Falcon 9's upper stage deployed the Dragon in low Earth orbit (LEO) a short 10 minutes later. Thanks to the trajectory of the space station's orbit and the near-dawn hour of the launch, the Falcon 9's ascent to orbit was viewed by millions up and down the U.S. East Coast, who witnessed a rare "space jellyfish" phenomenon from the rocket's exhaust plume.
The supplies delivered on CRS-35 will largely support the station's newest astronaut inhabitants, the members of SpaceX's Crew-13 mission for NASA. The four-person crew arrived aboard the ISS on Oct. 1, relieving the members of Crew-12, who returned to Earth a week later.
Crew-12 astronauts will address the media this afternoon (Oct. 15) to discuss their mission and their return after nearly eight months on orbit. A live broadcast of that event will also be available to stream on Space.com's homepage beginning at 3:30 p.m. EDT (1930 GMT).
Cargo Dragon's nominal orbital insertion on Tuesday placed it on course to catch up with the ISS after a 51-hour LEO chase. After rendezvous this morning, Dragon will autonomously dock to the zenith port on the station's Harmony module. It will remain docked with the ISS for about a month before being packed with supplies, waste and research for its return, safe splashdown and recovery on Earth.