3D printer, 20 mice now en route to space station

The private spaceflight company SpaceX lit up the night sky over Florida early Sunday (Sept. 21) with the spectacular launch of Dragon spacecraft packed with supplies including the first 3D printer in space and a troop of 20 mice for the International Space Station.

The unmanned Dragon space capsule launched into orbit atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 1:52 a.m. EDT (0552 GMT). Ten minutes later, Dragon reached orbit and separated from the Falcon 9. It should reach the space station on Tuesday, Sept. 23.

"Nothing like a good launch it's just fantastic," HansKoenigsmann, SpaceX's vice presidentof mission assurance, said during a post-launch briefing. "Everything was really perfect." [See photos from the SpaceX-4 Dragon mission]

Dragon is carrying about 2.5 tons of cargo to the space station for NASA. The mission is SpaceX's fourth of 12 delivery missions for the U.S. space agency under a $1.6 billion deal. Sunday's flawless launch occurred one day after rain and thick cloudsforced SpaceX to delay the launchon early Saturday (Sept. 20).

But skies were clear and the stars were out during the pre-dawn launch on Sunday morning. Sam Scimemi, NASA's International Space Station director, told reporters that the Falcon 9 appeared to be soaring though the constellation Orion after it took off.

"It was a beautiful night," Scimemi said.

Food, care packages and provisions for NASA's astronauts make up more than a third of thecargo onboard Dragon. But the spacecraft also has experiments and equipment that will eventually help scientists complete 255 researchprojects in total, according to NASA. In Dragon's trunk, there's an instrument dubbed RapidScat, which will be installed outside the space station to measure the speed and direction of ocean winds on Earth. Among the commercially funded experiments onboard Dragon is a materials-science test from the sports company Cobra Puma Golf designed to build a stronger golf club.

Dragon is also hauling thefirst space-grade 3D printer,built by Made in Space, which will test whether the on-the-spot manufacturing technology is viable without gravity.

Jeff Sheehy, senior technical officer of NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate, said it is " a certainty" that NASA will eventually rely on 3D-printed tools and replacement parts that are made in space instead of traditional equipment sent up from Earth.

"If we're really going to set up shop on Mars, we have to get there," Sheehy told reports during a briefing Friday morning. "We really can't afford to bring everything we need."

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3D printer, 20 mice now en route to space station