NASA and its international partners will receive equipment and samples for scientific research from a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft that will depart the International Space Station on May 23 and return to Earth.

Departure Date & Time

At 2:05 a.m. (AEST), SpaceX’s Mission Control will direct the Dragon spacecraft to undock from the zenith, or space-facing, port of the station’s Harmony module and use its thrusters to move away from the station safely.

NASA+ will start live coverage of the undocking and departure at 1:45 a.m. (AEST).

Operations and Control

Launched on a Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center as part of the agency’s SpaceX 32nd commercial resupply services mission, the spacecraft, loaded with almost 6,700 pounds of supplies, science studies, equipment, and food, reached the space station on April 22.

Overview of the Scientific Payload

The MISSE-20 (Multipurpose International Space Station Experiment) exposed a variety of materials to space, including ceramic composites for reentry spacecraft studies, resins for possible use in heat shields, solar sails and reflective coatings, radiation shielding and detection materials, and other scientific equipment and samples Dragon will bring back to Earth.

The materials’ reactions to atomic oxygen, UV light, charged particles, thermal cycling, and other elements can be better understood thanks to samples that were recovered from the station’s exterior.

After proving its gripping and relocating abilities aboard the space station, Astrobee-REACCH (Responsive Engaging Arms for Captive Care and Handling) is also making its way back to Earth. In the REACCH demonstration, Astrobee robots used adhesive pads and tentacle-like arms to capture space objects with varying geometries or surface textures.

Orbital debris removal, orbit change operations, and end-of-life satellite servicing may all benefit from testing a method for securely capturing and moving debris and other items in orbit. These features protect spacecraft and satellites in low Earth orbit that serve people on Earth and extend the lifespan of satellites.

Additionally, OPTICA (Onboard Programmable Technology for Image Compression and Analysis) hardware and data from a one-year technology demonstration will be brought back to Earth.

What is OPTICA?

In addition to offering important insights for data processing and compression that could lower the bandwidth needed for communication, the OPTICA technology was created to improve the transmission of real-time, ultra-high-resolution hyperspectral imagery from space to Earth. This would lower the cost of obtaining data from space-based imaging systems without lowering the volume of data. Additionally, this technique could enhance services that depend on Earth observations, such disaster response.