Q&A with Keith Gendreau, principal investigator of the first X-ray space communications experiment (members only)

A commercial cargo carrier owned and operated by SpaceX pulled into port at the International Space Station on Monday, three days after launching from Cape Canaveral with a NASA Earth science instrument, a spare hand for the lab’s Canadian robotic arm, and an AI-powered helper bot for the research lab’s six-person crew.

SpaceX’s first Crew Dragon spacecraft to carry astronauts into orbit arrived at launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida late Friday, May 15, to be attached to its Falcon 9 rocket. The capsule will carry NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken to the International Space Station.

SpaceX’s ocean-going rocket landing pad — dubbed the autonomous spaceport drone ship — is back in port after a Falcon 9 rocket booster crashed on the platform during an experimental flyback maneuver following Saturday’s successful liftoff with supplies for the International Space Station.