Canadarm2 Captures SpaceX Dragon Cargo Spacecraft

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.”

.@Astro_Alex and @AstroSerena captured the @SpaceX #Dragon over the Pacific Ocean today at 7:21am ET. Next up is installation to the Harmony module scheduled to start live on @NASA TV at 9am. #AskNASA https://t.co/SZqWjBymIj pic.twitter.com/2idVgOFANr

— Intl. Space Station (@Space_Station) December 8, 2018

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 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.”