LOS ANGELES, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- NASA and SpaceX launched a new commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS) on Tuesday, carrying scientific equipment and supplies to the orbiting laboratory.
A SpaceX Dragon spacecraft carrying about 2,860 kilograms of cargo lifted off at 6:33 a.m. Eastern Time (1033 GMT) from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in the U.S. state of Florida.
After stage separation, the Falcon 9 rocket's first-stage booster returned to Earth and landed at the Space Force station.
The Dragon spacecraft is expected to dock autonomously with the ISS at about 11 a.m. Eastern Time (1500 GMT) on Thursday, according to NASA.
The spacecraft is delivering supplies for the station's crew and a range of scientific investigations, including the final set of ISS Roll-Out Solar Arrays, hardware for manufacturing artificial retinas in microgravity, and three-dimensional heart tissue models to advance large-scale drug testing, according to NASA.
The spacecraft is scheduled to remain at the space station until mid-November before departing the orbiting laboratory and returning to Earth with time-sensitive research and cargo, splashing down off the coast of California.
The mission marks SpaceX's 35th commercial resupply services mission to the ISS for NASA. ■
