SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station this morning, where it was neatly snagged by the station’s 57-foot robotic arm.
Here’s a clip of the capsule right after it was captured at the ISS by NASA astronauts Jeff Williams and Kate Rubins:
.@SpaceX #Dragon captured at 6:56am ET/10:56am GMT w/@Astro_Jeff & #AstroKate at @CSA_ASC #Canadarm2 controls. https://t.co/PQ2DE0o7YM
— International Space Station (@Space_Station) July 20, 2016
Now that Dragon has arrived, the next step will be to dock it to the ISS so that the crew can get to the more than 5,000 pounds of gear stashed in the capsule’s cargo hold. Highlights of that gear include the space station’s first DNA sequencer, which Rubins will use to attempt to sequence DNA in space for the first time—and also hopefully figure out what the weird, unidentified mold growing on the ISS walls could be.
https://gizmodo.com/a-new-tool-on-the-iss-could-help-us-find-alien-life-1783689069
Dragon also has something else unusual onboard: a new standardized docking adapter to fit future commercial spacecraft from SpaceX, Boeing, and perhaps additional companies shuttling astronauts to the station. The new adapter is the first of two that will fitted to the ISS.
