SpaceX launch to space station: It's what is coming down that's key

A SpaceX rocket is bringing 2.5 tons of cargo to the International Space Station, including legs for NASA's Robonaut 2, but a test of the first stage's landing system could be the biggest prize.

All eyes are on the weather as Space Exploration Technology Corp. (SpaceX) gets set to launch nearly 2.5 tons of cargo to the International Space Station and conduct the first test of a new landing system designed to return the first stage of the company's Falcon 9 rocket to its launch pad.

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The launch is scheduled for 3:25 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time Friday, but unsettled weather over and around the launch site at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida has put the odds of a launch at 40 percent.

The cargo ranges from crew supplies to experiments designed to test a laser-based space communications system, hardware for growing vegetables in space, and a microbiology experiment that researchers hope will yield insights into why long-duration spaceflight reduces the effectiveness of the human immune system.

In addition, the station's seventh crew member, NASA's Robonaut 2, is slated to receive its first pair of legs, "but not like legs any human has ever had," Andy Petro, who heads NASA's space-technology directorate, noted at a prelaunch briefing earlier this week.

The new appendages give the humanoid robot a look blending a Power Ranger's head and torso with legs that look like NASA raided the lair of Spiderman's nemesis, Dr. Octopus. Each leg has seven joints, allowing them to assume shapes that would make an experienced contortionist wince. Instead of feet, the legs sport clamps at the end, which will allow the robot to cling to the station inside or out while leaving hands free for work.

But for sheer technological splash, few of this mission's objectives match the landing system that SpaceX is developing in hopes of driving down the cost of launching payloads to space.While the company's Dragon space capsules are reusable, it still has to build and essentially throw way the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket.

A major step in reducing launch costs is bringing the first stage under its own power back for refurbishment and reuse, company officials say.

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SpaceX launch to space station: It's what is coming down that's key