Canadarm2 Captures SpaceX Dragon Cargo Spacecraft

The Canadarm2 prepares to capture and dock the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft. Credit: NASA.

The Canadarm2 on the International Space Station captured the SpaceX dragon cargo resupply spacecraft early this morning shortly after its arrival.

NASA reported that “while the International Space Station was traveling about 250 miles (402 km) over the Pacific Ocean north of Papua New Guinea, Expedition 57 Commander Alexander Gerst of ESA (European Space Agency) and Flight Engineer Serena Auñón-Chancellor, captured the Dragon spacecraft at 7:21 a.m. EST using the space station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm.”

 

Now that capture is complete, ground controllers at the Canadian Space Agency have sent commands to have Canadarm2 berth the spacecraft on the bottom of the station’s Harmony module.

Dec. 8, 2018: International Space Station Configuration. Six spaceships are attached at the space station including the U.S. resupply ships Northrop Grumman Cygnus and the SpaceX Dragon; and Russia’s Progress 70 and 71 resupply ships and the Soyuz MS-09 and MS-10 crew ships all from Roscosmo
Dec. 8, 2018: International Space Station Configuration. Six spaceships are attached at the space station including the U.S. resupply ships Northrop Grumman Cygnus and the SpaceX Dragon; and Russia’s Progress 70 and 71 resupply ships and the Soyuz MS-09 and MS-10 crew ships all from Roscosmos. Credit: NASA.

The Dragon spacecraft lifted off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida Wednesday, Dec. 5 with more than 2,500 kilograms of cargo including research equipment, food, and supplies to support support dozens of investigations.

Included in the cargo is the Bio-Monitor (smart shirt) experiment David Saint-Jacques will use along with some treats. The smart shirt as a “system designed to continuously monitor astronauts’ vital signs without interfering with their daily activities.”

Bio-Monitor: Canada's Smart Shirt for Space - Infographic
This infographic features an image of Bio-Monitor, a “smart shirt” to be worn by astronauts during their missions to the International Space Station. Bio-Monitor will keep a watchful eye on astronauts’ vital signs. The system will continuously record their heart and breathing rates, electrical activity of the heart, blood pressure, breathing volume, skin temperature, physical activity level and blood oxygen level, without interfering with their daily activities. Credit: Canadian Space Agency.

 

Full video of SpaceX Dragon rendezvous and capture

About Marc Boucher

Boucher is an entrepreneur, writer, editor & publisher. He is the founder of SpaceQ Media Inc. and CEO and co-founder of SpaceRef Interactive LLC. Boucher has 20+ years working in various roles in the space industry and a total of 30 years as a technology entrepreneur including creating Maple Square, Canada's first internet directory and search engine.

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