MOSCOW, March 3 (RIA Novosti) – A SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule successfully docked with the International Space Station on Sunday, arriving one day late due to a temporary technical problem, NASA said.
“The SpaceX Dragon capsule was berthed to the Harmony module of the International Space Station at 8:56 a.m. EST. The hatch between the newly arrived spacecraft and the Harmony module of the space station is scheduled to be opened tomorrow,” NASA said.
Operating the Canadian-built robotic arm, US astronaut Kevin Ford grappled the privately-owned Dragon cargo ship at 5:31 a.m. EST, an hour ahead of schedule.
The Dragon spacecraft is carrying 1,268 pounds (575 kg) of supplies for the space station crew and for experiments being conducted aboard the orbiting laboratory.
The space freighter is to spend 22 days attached to the station. During that time, astronauts will unload cargo and load the craft with 2,668 pounds (1,210 kg) of Earth-bound experiment samples and equipment.
A Falcon 9 rocket with Dragon spacecraft blasted off from the Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Friday. The docking was initially scheduled for Saturday, but was delayed due to the thruster failure.
On Friday shortly after the launch, the spacecraft experienced a problem with its thruster pods used for orbital maneuvers, but they were all fixed later and the spacecraft successfully performed a maneuver to raise its orbit.
