SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft "landed" safely at the International Space Station

(Baonghean) - On Tuesday, January 13, the Dragonon spacecraft, built by the American private company SpaceX, successfully docked at the International Space Station (ISS). The US space agency NASA determined that Dagron could provide supplies, scientific experimental instruments and necessary spare parts for the ISS.

According to NASA, at around 4:54 p.m. Vietnam time or about 20 minutes earlier, one of the six astronauts on the ISS controlled the robotic arm to “capture” the Dragon capsule. Images of the Dragon spacecraft “landing” on the ISS were also broadcast a few hours later.

SpaceX said Dragon carried 2.2 tons of cargo to the ISS, including supplies for six astronauts, materials, scientific experiment equipment, an IMAX camera, and spare parts. This is the fifth refueling mission that SpaceX has conducted on behalf of NASA out of 12 cargo deliveries to the ISS that SpaceX has signed with NASA. This contract is known to be worth up to 1.6 billion USD.

The Dragonon spacecraft "docked" at the ISS. Photo: Internet

Among the items that Dragon brought to the ISS this time is an instrument to assess the distribution of clouds in the atmosphere called Cloud-Aerosol Transport System instrument (CATS). The CATS device allows to detect signs of climate change as well as help in weather forecasting. At the same time, according to NASA, among the goods that Dragon brought to the ISS are also some materials for use in biological experiments in a zero-gravity environment. These experiments will help scientists find the cause of Alzheimer's disease.

On Saturday morning, at the Cap Canaveral launch pad in Florida, SpaceX launched a Falcon-9 rocket carrying the Dragon capsule. Previously, at the end of October 2014, the US company Orbital Sciences also launched an unmanned Antares rocket carrying a fuel capsule to the ISS. However, this ship exploded just seconds after leaving the Orb3 launch pad.

Because of the previous failed Antares launch, this Dragon flight has become the subject of special attention. It is known that Orbital Sciences and SpaceX are the only two private US companies selected by NASA to sign contracts to supply fuel to the ISS and other potential destinations in orbit.

The Dragon capsule will return to Earth in about a month. The spacecraft is scheduled to land in the Pacific Ocean. Three large parachutes will help Dragon land off the coast of southern California.

Chu Thanh(According to LeMonde January 13)