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martyb [soylentnews.org] writes:

SpaceX is scheduld to launch an ISS (International space Station) resupply mission from Cape Canaveral, Florida on Friday, April 8 at 4:43pm EDT (2043 GMT). According to a NASA press release [nasa.gov], this will be the first time that SpaceX and Orbital ATK will both have spacecraft at the ISS. Further, it will mark there being six spacecraft docked at the ISS at the same time:

Although the SpaceX and Orbital ATK spacecraft have made 12 launches between them, this will be the first time that the two vehicles, contracted by NASA and developed by private industry to resupply the station, are connected to the space station at the same time. Orbital ATK’s Cygnus, which launched to the station March 22, is already attached to the station’s Unity Module. Dragon will take the port right next to it on the Earth facing side of the Harmony module. SpaceX made its first cargo resupply mission for NASA in 2012 and Orbital ATK followed with Cygnus the next year.

That vital role continues for this flight, which is the eighth cargo resupply mission for the Dragon. It will reach space on the power of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifting off Friday, April 8, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

[...] With the arrival of Dragon, the space station will tie the record for most vehicles on station at one time – six – which hasn’t happened since 2011. Cygnus, two Soyuz and two Progress vehicles station are currently docked to the orbiting laboratory.

[...] One of the largest experiments loaded into Dragon will fly to space inside the unpressurized trunk section of the spacecraft. Compressed into a cylinder for launch, the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module will be mounted to a different port on the station where it will expand to a length of 13 feet with a 10.6-foot diameter width.

Known as BEAM, the 3,000-pound module does not have rigid, heavy side panels. Instead, it is made of thick material designed to safely hold air inside while being strong enough to resist micrometeorite damage. The flight is meant to determine whether the concept offers designers a way to build habitation modules or other structures in the future that expand after launch to create much larger spacecraft for deep-space missions, such as a journey to Mars.

As in past launches, SpaceX plans to attempt a landing of the booster stage. Though it has successfully performed a land-based landing, so far it has been unable to safely land its booster on a barge.

More information can be found at the NASA Blog [nasa.gov].

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