SpaceX delivers Christmas gifts, including turkey, cake and more, to astronauts in space

The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft docked with the International Space Station nearly a day after it launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida. The spaceship arrived at the flying outpost and was joined to the Harmony module on the space-facing side. NASA stated that the docking process was overseen by astronauts Raja Chari and Thomas Marshburn, who tracked the spacecraft's movement as it connected with the Space Station. At 5:07 a.m. EST, the payload launched SpaceX's 24th contractual commercial resupply mission.

The Dragon will stay at the Space Station for a month before returning to Earth with goods and experiments done in zero gravity. Nearly 12 minutes after launch, the Dragon spacecraft carrying 2,948 kg of payload detached from the Falcon-9's second stage rocket. When the spacecraft was detached, a carefully orchestrated series of engine firings began to approach the space station.

Christmas presents from the astronauts' families, and smoked salmon and turkey, green beans, and fruitcake for a festive feast arrived at the space station on Wednesday. "I'm not going to stand in front of Santa Claus and tell you what's going to go up," NASA's space station programme manager Joel Montalbano told reporters on the eve of the launch.

A laundry detergent experiment is also included in the package. Station astronauts usually discard their filthy garments; Procter & Gamble Co. is creating a 100% biodegradable detergent for use on the station, the moon, and beyond.

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In addition, a handheld Bioprint FirstAid machine was supplied, which enables the fast use of previously produced bio-inks using the patient's own cells to construct a band-aid patch in the event of damage. These are just a handful of the hundreds of experiments presently underway aboard the orbiting laboratory in the fields of biology and biotechnology, physical sciences, and Earth and space science, according to NASA. 
 

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