An unmanned capsule dubbed Dragon is scheduled to launch atop SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket on a resupply mission to the International Space Station this Friday, and it’s carrying听:听
- Robonaut 2听(yes,听) will get its legs on Sunday morning听. The legs span nine feet, have seven joints each, and could assume much of the high-risk maintenance outside the space station. Initial testing begins in June.
- NASA’s new laser,听OPALS听(), could aid future deep-space missions, beaming data back to Earth at up to 50 megabits per second.
- , composed of space-minded NFL and NBA cheerleaders, swabbed 48 microbes worth of historical landmarks back home to see how they behave in microgravity.
- NASA is in its fifth iteration of听, a cubesat鈥攖he little guy’s satellite鈥攎ade from off-the-shelf smartphone parts. Developed to see how cheap electronics perform in a space vacuum, PhoneSat 2.5 does not make calls.
- And space veggies. The miniature space farm grows 鈥溾 lettuce seedlings.
SpaceX’s听听to the space station for Friday, 3:25 p.m. EDT after a helium leak听.