NASA and SpaceX just recently launched a critical resupply mission to the International Space Station, delivering almost 7,000 pounds of supplies - including food, equipment, and high-tech experiments.

NASA’s 32nd SpaceX Commercial Resupply Services mission has successfully launched carrying new scientific experiments and critical supplies to the International Space Station (ISS).

The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft lifted off at 4:15 a.m. EDT on Monday, April 21, aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It is carrying possible around 6,700 pounds of cargo for the orbital laboratory.

Dragon is planned to perform an autonomous dock with the ISS around 8:20 a.m. EDT at the zenith (space-facing) port of Harmony module of the ISS.

The resupply mission will deliver dozens of research experiments for Expedition 73. In addition to food and other critical supplies and crew equipment , Dragon is deliver a range of science experiments, including a demonstration of refined maneuvering for free-floating robot technology. Dragon is also carrying an enhanced air quality monitor that may protect crew members on exploration missions to the Moon and Mars and two atomic clocks to study fundamental physics concepts, such as relativity, and to test the global synchronization of precise time pieces.

These are just a few examples of the hundreds of investigations that happen each year in the orbiting laboratory in the areas of biology and biotechnology, physical sciences, and Earth and space sciences. Research like this is impactful for humanity and supports preparations for human exploration in the agency's Artemis campaign to send astronauts to the Moon to prepare for operational missions to Mars.

The Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to remain at the orbiting laboratory until May, when it will depart and return to Earth with time-sensitive research and cargo, splashing down off the coast of California.