Reuters – A SpaceX cargo ship arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday (April 10), carrying food and supplies for astronauts.
The cargo ship that lifted off on Friday (april 8), a capsule dubbed “Dragon”, was bolted on Sunday morning to the $100 billion laboratory flying about 250 miles (400 km) above earth.
Dragon was packed with about 7,000 pounds (3,175 kg) of food, supplies and experiments, including a prototype inflatable habitat.
Built by Nevada-based Bigelow Aerospace, the lightweight fabric habitat will be tested to see how it compares with more traditional orbiting enclosures made from metal in the hostile environment of space.
The U.S. space agency is interested in expandable habitats to serve as crew living quarters during eventual three-year trips to and from Mars.
Dragon was the third ship to arrive at the ISS in 15 days, carrying 12 tons of equipment for the station. Its arrival marks only the second time in history that six vehicles have been docked at the ISS at the same time.
SpaceX plans to plans to start launching rockets about every two weeks from its sites in Florida and California later this year as the company tackles satellite-delivery orders worth some $10 billion, company officials said.