SpaceX launches three tons of cargo to the ISS for NASA. Full video

The American aerospace company SpaceX has launched almost three tons of NASA cargo. These are supplies that need to be replenished on the International Space Station (ISS).

The Falcon 9 rocket launched from Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida on Tuesday, November 5. This is SpaceX's 31st robotic resupply mission to the ISS for NASA, Space.com reports.

The first stage of the Falcon 9 returned to Earth about 8 minutes after launch, as planned, and landed at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, which is located next to KSC, SpaceX said.

Meanwhile, the rocket's upper stage launched the crewless Cargo Dragon capsule into low Earth orbit, deploying it there about 9.5 minutes after launch. The capsule then began to pursue the ISS until it met up with the orbiting laboratory.

"In addition to food, supplies, and equipment for the crew, Dragon will deliver several new experiments, including the Coronal Diagnostic Experiment, to examine solar wind and how it forms," NASA officials said.

"Dragon also delivers Antarctic moss to observe the combined effects of cosmic radiation and microgravity on plants. Other investigations aboard include a device to test cold welding of metals in microgravity, and an investigation that studies how space impacts different materials," NASA added.

Also on board the Dragon is LignoSat, a tiny wooden probe developed by researchers at Kyoto University and Japanese logging company Sumitomo Forestry, which could help open up a new area of environmentally friendly spacecraft production.

"The main objective here is to determine whether wood can be used in space. Student researchers will measure the temperature and strain of the wooden structure and see how it might change in the vacuum environment of space, and the atomic oxygen and radiation conditions as well," said Meghan Everett, deputy chief scientist of the NASA International Space Station program.

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