LOS ANGELES, July 14, 2022 (Xinhua) NASA and SpaceX launched a resupply mission to the International Space Station on Thursday, bringing with it important science experiments including a new instrument to help researchers model climate impacts.
SpaceX’s Dragon cargo spacecraft launched atop a Falcon 9 rocket at 8:44 p.m. EDT (00:44 GMT) Thursday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying more than 5,800 pounds of spacecraft. Scientific experiments, crew supplies and other merchandise.
It is scheduled to dock automatically with the International Space Station at about 11:20 am EST (15:20 GMT) on Saturday, and will remain there for about a month.
Among the science experiments sent to the space station, a new instrument, called the “Investigation of the Source of Mineral Dust on Earth”, will help scientists get a better understanding of the role of airborne dust in heating and cooling the atmosphere.
The Mission Investigating the Source of Mineral Dust on Earth, developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, uses NASA’s imaging spectroscopy technology to measure the mineral composition of dust in arid Earth regions.
It aims to deepen researchers’ understanding of these tiny particles of soil, silt and clay from Earth’s deserts and, ultimately, how they affect climate, according to NASA.