Orbit

NASA Sets Next SpaceX Dragon Mission, Invites Social Media Users

Will Select 50 Social Media Users to Attend Launch

HOUSTON, Texas — NASA and its international partners are targeting Friday, March 1, as the launch date for the next cargo resupply flight to the International Space Station by Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX).

Launch is scheduled for 10:10 a.m. EST (9:10 a.m. CST) from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

NASA also is inviting 50 social media users to apply for credentials for the launch. Social media users selected to attend will be given the same access as journalists. All social media accreditation applications will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Registration for social media accreditation is open online. International social media users without U.S. citizenship must apply for credentials by 5 p.m. EST Friday, Feb. 15, to qualify. For U.S. social media, the deadline to apply is 5 p.m. EST Friday, Feb. 22. For more information about NASA social media accreditation requirements and to register, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/social

SpaceX’s Dragon capsule will be filled with about 1,200 pounds of supplies for the space station crew and experiments being conducted aboard the orbiting laboratory.

On March 2, Expedition 34 Commander Kevin Ford and Flight Engineer Tom Marshburn of NASA will use the station’s robot arm to grapple Dragon following its rendezvous with the station. They will attach the Dragon to the Earth-facing port of the station’s Harmony module for a few weeks while astronauts unload cargo. They then will load experiment samples for return to Earth.

Dragon is scheduled to return to Earth March 25 for a parachute-assisted splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja California. It will be bringing back more than 2,300 pounds of experiment samples and equipment.

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Tags: Cape Canaveral, commercial space, Dragon capsule, Dragon spacecraft, International Space Station, ISS, NASA< SpaceX, orbital space, Space, space news