Dragon spacecraft (With solar panels unfurled) docked to the Harmony Module on board the ISS.
Did the Easter Bunny arrive at the ISS on Easter morning? Well, there might be a little stuffed bunny inside, but actually it's SpaceX's Dragon unmanned cargo spacecraft that was grappled by the Station's robotic arm this morning and docked to an open port. The docking was secured at 8:06 AM MDT.
On the other side of the dock. Astronauts prepare to match atmospheres and make sure all the berthing steps have been completed, then need to equalize the pressures. Opening will occur tomorrow morning.
The third successful mission of a dragon resupply spacecraft brings about 2.5 tons of supplies to the ISS, including some new science experiments, and a set of robotic legs for the robot R2, which currently has only a torso, arms, and head.
Falcon rocket on pad Friday morning. Very overcast, weather could have posed a problem for the launch. Fortunately the launch window coincided with workable weather.
View from the other side of the pad. Blastoff went very well!
After MECO (Main Engine CutOff) the first stage fell away and the second stage boosted the payloads into orbit.
SECO (second stage Engine Cut Off) and the second stage falls away from the Dragon spacecraft.
Mission Control at SpaceX. Large crowd watching the proceedings outside the glass walls.
Coming up on the ISS: Members of the Expedition 39 crew are preparing the Russian Progress 43 spacecraft for undocking on April 23, to test out the Kurs radio navigation system, and then redock it on April 25th. Also on the 23, astronauts will perform a 2-3 hour EVA to replace a malfunctioning computer part on the Truss.
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