Dragon 25 Cargo Capsule Reaches International Space Station

The SpaceX Dragon 25 cargo capsule docked at the International Space Station (ISS) some 36 hours after its launch. The launch was delayed for five weeks to address a leak in the capsule’s propulsion system which was caused by a valve that was not closing tightly and had to be replaced.

But SpaceX also decided to replace the parachutes on the off-chance that they might have been affected by the leak.

The capsule carries a little more than 2,600 kilograms of cargo on board. These include supplies for the crew; the EMIT instrument to measure dust particles in the atmosphere and the impact on climate change; various science experiments and CubeSats; an electric switch to replace a damaged one on the Station’s S6 segment; as well as two refurbished spacesuits to provide more options, since those on board are giving problems.

At 11:21am ET, @SpaceX's Dragon docked to the @Space_Station. The cargo spacecraft is delivering supplies and @ISS_Research including EMIT, a new instrument designed to study the role that dust plays in Earth's weather and climate systems. pic.twitter.com/NdmFQNM1v0
— NASA (@NASA) July 16, 2022

This is logical, though, since they are already of an age; in fact, for some time now, they have had serious problems keeping a sufficient number of suits in working condition.

The first stage of the Falcon 9 that launched it, B1067, was flying for the fifth time into space. Earlier launches included Dragon 22; the Crew-3 manned mission; the Turksat 5B telecommunications satellite; and the Crew-4 manned mission.

Having completed its mission, it touched down on the A Shortfall of Gravitas floating spacecraft, so it will be ready for an upcoming mission.

Dragon 25 is docked to the station for a month while the crew empties it and puts inside it the material that is to be returned. Among them will be the EMU 3015 spacesuit, which experienced a water leak last March while Matthias Maurer was wearing it.