NASA Sets Coverage for SpaceX 35th Station Resupply Launch, Arrival
NASA and SpaceX are targeting 6:33 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, Oct. 13, for the launch of the 35th SpaceX commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station. The flight will deliver science investigations, supplies, and equipment, including the final set of International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays. NASA will also host a media teleconference on Thursday, Oct. 8, to preview the cargo flight and provide a post-splashdown update for the agency's SpaceX Crew-12 mission, which will have returned to Earth from the station Thursday morning.
Loaded with more than 6,300 pounds of supplies, a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft on a Falcon 9 rocket will lift off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Dragon will dock autonomously around 11 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 15, to the space-facing port of the station's Harmony module. NASA's live launch and docking coverage will stream through a variety of platforms, with viewing details at https://www.nasa.gov/live.
In addition to the solar arrays, Dragon will deliver hardware to manufacture artificial retinas in microgravity to help restore vision on Earth and 3D heart tissue models to advance large-scale drug testing on future missions. It will also carry materials to study how a new type of glass forms in microgravity and brain organoids that could reveal treatment targets for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and multiple sclerosis. The spacecraft is scheduled to remain at the station until mid-November, when it will depart and return to Earth with time-critical research and cargo, splashing down off the coast of California.
NASA's mission coverage is as follows, all times Eastern and subject to change based on real-time operations. On Thursday, Oct. 8, at 1:15 p.m., an International Space Station briefing will cover the Crew-12 return and SpaceX's 35th Commercial Resupply Services launch with Bill Spetch, deputy manager of Commercial, Low Earth Orbit Program; Dr. Liz Warren, deputy chief scientist, NASA's International Space Station Office; Lee Echerd, senior mission manager, Customer Operations and Integration, SpaceX; and Andreas Mogensen, leader, Human Exploration Group, ESA. Media must contact the NASA Johnson Space Center newsroom for call details by 12 p.m., Oct. 8, at jsccommu@mail.nasa.gov or 281-483-5111, and dial in no later than 10 minutes before the call to ask questions. The agency's media credentialing policy is available online.
On Tuesday, Oct. 13, launch coverage begins at 6:15 a.m. and launch is at 6:33 a.m. On Thursday, Oct. 15, arrival coverage begins at 9:15 a.m. and docking is at 11 a.m. Launch day coverage will be available on the NASA website, including live streaming and blog updates.