Close Encounters: SpaceX Cargo Dragon Backs Away | International Space Station

Close Encounters: SpaceX Cargo Dragon Backs Away | International Space Station

The SpaceX Cargo Dragon resupply ship is pictured as it backs away from the International Space Station's forward-facing international docking adapter. The Cargo Dragon's beacon lights and a plume from one of its engines during its departure burn made for a colorful show. 

This image is reminiscent of special effects used in the 1978 science fiction film "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" directed by Steven Spielberg: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075860

This Dragon spacecraft launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket Aug. 29, 2021, from Space Launch Complex 39A at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida and arrived at the station the following day with more than 4,800 pounds of science, supplies and cargo on SpaceX’s 23rd commercial resupply mission to the station for NASA.

NASA's Commercial Crew and Cargo Program (C3PO)

https://www.nasa.gov/offices/c3po/home/

Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS): A New Era in Spaceflight Report [Free PDF Download]: 

http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/files/SP-2014-617.pdf

An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada. The ISS has been the most politically complex space exploration program ever undertaken.

Credit: NASA's Johson Space Center

Image Date: Sept. 30, 2021

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