KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL – In the dead of night after the skies finally cleared a SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft thundered to orbit atop a recycled Falcon 9 carrying over 2.5 tons of science and supplies for NASA along with a reboost demonstration kit bound for the International Space Station (ISS) that will be used in critical experiments to raise the outposts altitude now mostly executed by the Russian Progress cargo ships
The NASA SpaceX Dragon spacecraft soared to space at 2:45 a.m. EDT on Sunday, Aug. 24 on the company’s Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on SpaceX 33rd commercial resupply mission under contract from NASA.
Dragon will dock autonomously about 7:30 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 25, (1130 UTC) to the forward port of the space station’s Harmony module.
Overall this marks the 50th Dragon mission for crewed and cargo spacecraft – and the 6th Dragon launch of 2025
Enjoy our photos taken by the Space UpClose team of Ken Kremer and Jean Wright covering the launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Press Site.
During the mission, Dragon also will perform a reboost demonstration of station to maintain its current altitude. The hardware, located in the trunk of Dragon, contains an independent propellant system separate from the spacecraft to fuel two Draco engines using existing hardware and propellant system design. The boost kit will help sustain the orbiting lab’s altitude starting in September with a series of burns planned periodically throughout the fall of 2025. During NASA’s SpaceX 31st commercial resupply services mission on Nov. 8, 2024, the Dragon spacecraft performed its first demonstration of these capabilities.
The Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to remain at the space station until December, when it will depart the orbiting laboratory and return to Earth with research and cargo, splashing down off the coast of California.
“Each resupply mission to the station delivers scientific investigations in the areas of biology and biotechnology, Earth and space science, physical sciences, and technology development and demonstrations. Cargo resupply from U.S. companies ensures a national capability to deliver scientific research to the space station, significantly increasing NASA’s ability to conduct new investigations aboard humanity’s laboratory in space.”
“In addition to food, supplies, and equipment for the crew, Dragon will deliver several new experiments, including bone-forming stem cells for studying bone loss prevention and materials to 3D print medical implants that could advance treatments for nerve damage on Earth. Dragon also delivers bioprinted liver tissue to study blood vessel development in microgravity and supplies to 3D print metal cubes in space.”
ISS National Laboratory Overview Video:
https://youtu.be/2qFMA53PhYw?si=w6tvvlcSsDl5bmxa
Caption: More than 20 investigations are launching to the orbiting outpost sponsored by the ISS National Laboratory. This mission, SpaceX’s 33rd commercial resupply services mission to the space station funded by NASA, will bring a diverse mix of payloads to orbit. One of those investigations is from the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine seeking to advance tissue engineering in space to support future organ replacements for patients on Earth and beyond. This video highlights that investigation.
CRS-33 is the third flight for the Dragon spacecraft (C211) supporting this mission, which previously flew CRS-26 and CRS-29 to and from the space station. After an approximate 28-hour flight, Dragon will autonomously dock with the orbiting laboratory on Monday, August 25
This marks the seventh flight of the first stage booster B1091.7 supporting this mission, which previously launched O3b mPOWER-E, Crew-10, Bandwagon-3, O3b mPOWER-D, and two Starlink missions.
Following stage separation, the first stage successfully land on the A Shortfall of Gravitas (ASOG) droneship, which was stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.
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