Live coverage: NASA, SpaceX to launch Falcon 9 rocket on cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station

SpaceX is preparing to launch its 31st resupply mission to the International Space Station on Monday night, weather permitting.

The mission, dubbed Commercial Resupply Services-31 (CRS-31) will ferry more than 6,000 pounds of cargo and science experiments to the orbiting outpost. Liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) is set for 9:29 p.m. EST (0229 UTC).

Spaceflight Now will have live coverage beginning about an hour and a half prior to liftoff.

The Cargo Dragon spacecraft, C208, will make its fifth trip to the ISS. It previously flew on CRS-21, 23, 25 and 28. It will take about 13 hours after liftoff to reach the space station.

It’s getting an initial boost from the Falcon 9 first stage booster, B1083. It too is making its fifth flight after previously launching Crew-8 for NASA, Polaris Dawn for the Polaris Program and two Starlink missions (Group 6-48 and Group 6-56).

Nearly eight minutes after liftoff, B1083 will return to Florida for a touchdown at Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. If successful, it will mark the 46th booster landing at LZ-1 and the 362nd booster landing to date.

The mission comes a day after SpaceX scrubbed a planned Starlink launch on Sunday due to a first stage helium issue, the gas used to pressurize the main propellant tanks as well as allow for stage separation.

NASA, SpaceX and the ISS international partners will likely discuss the matter during a launch readiness review scheduled for Monday. The CRS-31 mission was already running behind schedule, since they originally planned to raise the rocket at LC-39A on Saturday, but didn’t bring it upright until around 7 p.m. EST (0000 UTC).

Welding supplies, moss and solar wind monitors

According to NASA, the SpaceX Cargo Dragon spacecraft has 5,368 pounds (2435 kg) of pressurized cargo along with a 721 pound (327 kg) payload in its trunk.

The vast majority of what’s heading up to the orbiting outpost is various components for science experiments and technology demonstrations for NASA, university researchers, private companies and dozens of student groups.

Nestled inside the trunk of the Dragon is a device called CODEX (COronal Diagnostic EXperiment), which is a solar coronagraph designed to study the formation and impacts of solar wind. Jeffrey Newmark, a research astrophysicist at NASA’s Goddard Spaceflight Center said the device will be unpacked and installed using the Canadarm-2 robotic arm.

“We’ve developed on the ground three key technologies that we’re testing now in space. First is our actual coronagraph design. Coronagraph is the instrument that blocks the Sun. There have been previous coronagraphs that have flown in space, but we have a new design to really minimize the stray light and really optimize the faint features that we’re looking for,” Newmark said. “Next, we’ve developed a polarization camera, a specialized camera that can look at the light and separate the polarized part, the light that’s focused at us, in different directions. And this replaces previous missions that have had a very, very complex mechanism. So, this is a really easier, cheaper and better way to do it.

“Finally, the real breakthrough for this mission… this will be the first time that we’ve measured all three of these key properties: the density, the temperature and speed of the solar wind at the same time. And we’re doing this globally.”

The CODEX experiment is designed to operate for at least six months once it’s installed onto the zenith (space-facing) side of the Express Logistics Carrier 3 on the ISS. Newmark said they will also be opening the data to the public and putting it on a community website for wide use.

Materials for a so-called “cold welding” experiment called Nanolab Astrobeat are also onboard the Dragon on behalf of Voyager Space and its research partner, Malta College of Arts, Sciences & Technology. The experiment is designed to further the options for repairing the hulls of spacecraft following the impacts of micrometeoroids.

“The test rig is able to simulate the hull breach in terms of crack and opening and is capable of applying the repair patch and monitoring its performance. The two-patch application systems are tested in orbit. One is aluminum, and the other is copper,” NASA wrote. “Upon activation, one of the four chambers of the payload releases the tension in the spring and collides two pieces of metal together (either aluminum or copper) to perform cold welding. A camera captures the activation of the chamber for confirmation.”

The Astrobeat computer also contains musical compositions from Grammy-nominated cellist and composer Tina Guo and producer Steve Mazzaro. NASA said these will be “streamed from the space station to the International Astronautical Congress in October in Milan and to Abu Dhabi.”

Also onboard is the ARTEMOSS experiment, which is pronounced similarly to “Artemis” in a nod to NASA’s Moon-bound program. The acronym stands for “From Antarctica to Space: Molecular Response and Physiological Adaptation of Moss to Simulated Deep Space Cosmic Ionizing Radiation and Spaceflight Microgravity.”

The experiment is a collaboration between NASA, the SETI Institute and the University of Florida. It uses a type of moss found in Antartica, called Ceratodon purpureus, and seeks to learn more about how some types of plants are better able to thrive in conditions highlighted by both cosmic radiation and microgravity.

“Not only is moss a good gravity-sensing system, but moss is the most tolerant of radiation among plants,” said Dr. Agata Zupanska, a research scientist at the SETI Institute during a prelaunch briefing hosted by the ISS National Laboratory. “It can not only survive, but really thrive under doses and energies of radiation that are lethal to other plants. And we brought this a little bit further because we selected Antarctic moss.”

She said the practical application of this research will be learning more about how to protect other plants for deep space exploration to the Moon and Mars.

“What I believe we will learn from ARTEMOSS is that not only the plants, some plants, at least moss, are capable of repairing whatever the damage is caused by the radiation. They can do it in the reduced gravitational environment,” Zupanska said. “We hope to really find the mechanisms and the processes that do work and make a plant tolerant of those two environments (cosmic radiation and microgravity).”

The ISS National Lab is sponsoring more than 25 experiments flying to the space station on this mission, including ARTEMOSS and the Nanolab Astrobeat. Another such experiment is one designed to further understanding of protein crystallization from Bristol Myers Squibb in partnership with Redwire Space.

“Protein crystallization is a way for us to be able to better understand our crystal structures, stabilize our proteins and develop suspension formulations to enable at-home use through subcutaneous administration, instead of having to go to an infusion center,” said Robert Garmise, the director of formulations development and exploratory biopharmaceuticals at Bristol Myers Squibb in an ISS National Lab-produced video.

“The Redwire hardware, the Pillbox, allows us to handle organic solvents on the International Space Station, which are required for the crystallization of our small molecule.”

The CRS-31 mission will also launch 39 student-led projects as part of the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP). Among those are an eighth-grade experiment from California on the effects of microgravity on spinach, a 12th-grade experiment from Ohio on the hydration impacts of Liquid I.V. in microgravity and a 10th-grade experiment examining worms as a possible eco-friendly pest control in space.

More than science

Among the materials on board not explicitly for science are 377 pounds (171 kg) of spacewalk equipment. For a variety of reasons throughout the year, NASA has not been able to complete a spacewalk from the ISS since NASA astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara’s nearly 7-hour mission on Nov. 1, 2023.

Tracy Dyson and Michael Barratt were suited up for a spacewalk on June 24, but following depressurization, a water leak in the cooling unit of Dyson’s suit caused it to be cancelled before they left the airlock.

The Dragon will carry with it an International Docking Adaptor Planar Reflector Assembly, which helps visiting spacecraft determine their approaching speed, remaining distance and position relative to the ISS. It’s set to be installed during an upcoming spacewalk sometime in 2025.

Nestled within the 2,119 pounds (961 kg) of crew supplies is a host of fresh foods. With the Thanksgiving holiday coming up later this month, there are some special holiday-related treats as well.