NASA’s SpaceX 35th Commercial Resupply Mission Overview

NASA and SpaceX are targeting no earlier than Tuesday, Oct. 13 to launch scientific investigations, supplies, and equipment to the International Space Station. The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft will carry more than 6,300 pounds of cargo and lift off aboard a Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. After arrival, Dragon will autonomously dock to the space-facing port of the station’s Harmony module. NASA will stream launch and docking coverage through multiple platforms, with viewing details at https://www.nasa.gov/live.

The mission takes place against the space station’s more than 25 years of research, which has involved scientists from more than 110 countries and enabled more than 4,000 experiments in microgravity. That research helps advance long-duration missions to the Moon under Artemis and to Mars, while also providing benefits to humanity.

Dragon will deliver several new science experiments. LambdaVision-1 is testing how to manufacture artificial eye retinas in microgravity, building them one thin layer at a time; reduced settling in microgravity may create more uniform, stable layers and potentially improve implant performance, with the goal of helping restore vision for patients with currently incurable retinal diseases. Stellar Spheroids will study how microgravity affects the growth and function of 3D human heart tissue models, assessing whether microgravity improves the formation of advanced vascular networks; results could help create more realistic heart tissue models for disease research and support larger-scale drug testing on future space missions. ELF-Unconventional Glass 2 uses non-traditional elements to study how glass forms in microgravity, observing molten behavior in space and returning solid samples to Earth for detailed analysis; such unconventional glasses could offer higher strength, improved optical capabilities, and greater durability for spacecraft, habitats, and other exploration technologies. MINDS studies brain organoids to better understand inflammation linked to neurodegenerative diseases, using “organoid villages” that combine cells from multiple people to better represent patient diversity; results could help identify new treatment targets for diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and multiple sclerosis.

NASA astronauts Anil Menon and Jessica Watkins will monitor Dragon’s arrival. The spacecraft will remain docked to the orbiting laboratory for about a month before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean, returning critical science and hardware to teams on Earth. Cargo highlights also list an International Space Station Roll-Out Solar A (the excerpt cuts off there).