Kacey Roberts
SpaceX will launch a spacecraft Thursday to carry cargo to the International Space Station for its 25th resupply services mission, which will include a NASA payload for climate change research.
The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft will help enable NASA’s orbital laboratory-based investigation of the composition of the Earth’s mineral dust and the effects of the dust as it traverses through the atmosphere in relation to climate change, the space agency said Saturday.
In addition to the Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation mission, Dragon will deliver to ISS studies on immune cells aging, cloud top and ocean surface temperatures as well as possible use of concrete alternatives in future extraterrestrial habitats.
The upcoming resupply mission is estimated to liftoff 5,800 pounds of cargo.
NASA said the spacecraft will be set in motion at the Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and will stay at the orbital post for approximately a month before it returns to Earth.
