A SpaceX Dragon cargo ship made a special delivery at the International Space Station on Saturday morning just in time for the holidays. The capsule carrying Christmas treats on board, including smoked turkey and fruitcake, arrived at the space station with a slight delay caused by a communication drop-out.
The robotic Dragon spacecraft arrived at the station December 8 to deliver more than 5,600 pounds of fresh supplies for the astronauts on the orbiting lab. The Dragon ship was launched Wednesday, December 5, from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
The spacecraft pulled up at the orbiting lab three days after launching from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Commander Alexander Gerst used the space station’s big robotic arm to grab the cargo carrier, as the two craft soared 250 miles above the Pacific.
It took two tries to get the Dragon close enough for capture.
NASA called off the Dragon’s first approach because of trouble with the communication network. The space station’s big robotic arm was able to grab the cargo carrier on the second try. Equipment failure in New Mexico for NASA’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite system resulted in a temporary loss of communication with the space station. For safety, the Dragon was ordered by Mission Control ordered to back up.
The capsule holds everything the station astronauts need for festive dinner, including smoked turkey, green bean, candied yams, butter biscuits, cranberry sauce, and fruitcake. There are also tubes of icing for decorating.
Aside from Christmas treats, the capsule contains mice and worms for science experiments and more than 2200 kilograms of station equipment.
According to nbc.com