SpaceX Falcon 9 to Bring Tardigrades, More Than 7,000 Pounds of Cargo to ISS This Week: How to Watch

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch a Dragon cargo resupply mission (CRS-22) to the International Space Station this week. It will take off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida's Launch Complex 39A.

Beginning with liftoff on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the launch will deliver science and supplies to the Expedition 65 crew if things go as planned.

(Photo: Joel Kowsky/NASA via Getty Images)
CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA - MAY 30: In this NASA handout image, A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft is seen before launch on NASA's SpaceX Demo-2 mission to the International Space Station with NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley onboard, Saturday, May 30, 2020, at Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

CRS-22 to Bring More Than 7,000 Pounds of Cargo to ISS

Newsweek said CRS-22 is SpaceX's 22nd contracted cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station. It's also the second trip under SpaceX's NASA-funded Commercial Resupply Services-2 program.

CRS-22 will carry 7,337 pounds of cargo to the ISS, including roughly 3,000 pounds of solar panels, 750 pounds of crew supplies, and over 2,000 pounds for science experiments.

Another Newsweek report claimed that the International Space Station is well-known as a microgravity science laboratory. ISS is home to hundreds of experiments in biology, physics, and other subjects.

Scientists can use the science capabilities of the station to learn more about how to prepare for long-duration space missions.

One of the scientific experiments on board CRS-22 will look at cotton plants and how their roots grow in space. It could aid in the development of cotton cultivars that use less water and pesticides.

A payload of tiny organisms known as tardigrades is also included in the cargo, as Science Times previously reported. Scientists aim to use these 0.5-mm-long critters, which are known to resist harsh circumstances like a vacuum, to learn more about stress tolerance in humans in space.

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A handful of little squids known as bobtail squids are also on board. The experiment will investigate the interactions between bobtail squids and bacteria in microgravity.

How To Watch Launch

The equipment will be transported onboard a Dragon cargo capsule launched atop SpaceX's workhorse Falcon 9 rocket. This will be the first time that both the rocket and the capsule have flown together.

CRS-22 is set to launch on June 3 at 1:29 p.m. ET and broadcast live on NASA TV, which can be found on NASA's website and YouTube.

SpaceX usually broadcasts its mission live streams on its Twitter account.

In addition, the mission can be visited in person. In addition to the $57 Kennedy Space Center daily admission price, NASA sells $20 tickets to see the CRS-22 launch from its Banana Creek launch viewing location, which is about 4 miles from the launch pad. Alternatively, anyone interested in paying to view the launch can do so from the North Atlantis Lawn, which is 7.5 kilometers distant from the launch pad.

SpaceX has a habit of repurposing its gear, per Newsweek. The company plans to utilize the same rocket booster on Crew-3, a next crewed ISS trip scheduled for October this year.

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