NASA's SpaceX Dragon spacecraft is flying free to begin its pursuit of the International Space Station. The spacecraft separated from the Falcon 9 rocket after a successful climb to orbit t with an on-time liftoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Launch Complex 40.
The Dragon spacecraft will catch up to the orbiting laboratory, and Expedition 41 Flight Engineer and European Space Agency Astronaut Alexander Gerst will use the station's 57.7-foot (17.6-meter) robotic arm to reach out and capture it.
NASA Astronaut and Flight Engineer Reid Wiseman will support Gerst as they operate from the station’s cupola.
SpaceX's spacecraft's 2.5 tons of supplies, science experiments, and technology demonstrations includes critical materials to support 255 science and research investigations during the station's Expeditions 41 and 42.
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