SpaceX successfully launched the ‘Dragon’ capsule on top of its Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida for its 19th commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station.
The craft took off at 12:29 PM Thursday carrying a 5,700-pound payload that includes genetically-edited ‘mighty-mice’ and Budweiser barley seeds.
Starting next year for the company’s 21st resupply mission, SpaceX will begin flying an updated version of the Dragon spacecraft, known as Dragon 2. That particular spacecraft will be certified to fly five times as opposed to the current capsule, which is only certified for three flights.
Aside from cargo and supplies like food and water, Dragon was packed with several science experiments that the crew will work on. Those include studying genetically engineered mice to combat muscle degradation in space; atom interactions in low temperatures; how flames spread in spacecraft; and how space impacts the barley seed germination process, which is part of Budweiser and Anheuser-Busch’s goal of eventually brewing beer in space.
