Falcon 9 Lifts off for SpaceX CRS-13

The two-stage Falcon 9 launch vehicle lifts off Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station carrying the SpaceX’s Dragon resupply spacecraft to the International Space Station. Liftoff was at 10:36 a.m. EST. On its 13th commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station, Dragon will bring up supplies, equipment and new science experiments for technology research. The Dragon spacecraft will deliver a NASA instrument called Total and Spectral Solar Irradiance Sensor, or TSIS-1, which will measure the Sun’s energy input to Earth, and a fiber optic payload. Also manifested on this flight is an investigation sponsored by the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space known as Biorasis – Glucose Biosensor, which seeks to improve the accuracy of a wireless medically implantable continuous glucose biosensor for day-to-day diabetes management.

Photo credit: NASA