ORLANDO, Fla. — A SpaceX capsule full of science experiments studying everything from asteroid mining to in-flight medical treatment launched from Florida to the International Space Station on Sunday, in hopes the research will further humans' quest to return to the moon and reach Mars.
The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Kennedy Space Center's 39A launch pad at 11:17 a.m. for the 24th launch in 2020 from the company led by Elon Musk. About eight minutes into the mission, the first-stage booster landed successfully on the drone ship "Of Course I Still Love You" floating in the Atlantic Ocean.
The spacecraft will dock at the ISS on Monday afternoon and stay about a month before splashing back down on Earth in the Atlantic Ocean.