SpaceX docks at International Space Station with experiments on board

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -  The SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket docked at the International Space Station just after 5 a.m. Sunday morning.

The rocket took off from Cape Canaveral on Thursday on a resupply mission, carrying hundreds of pounds of experiments aimed at supporting future missions to the Moon and Mars. For instance, one of the most interesting pieces of the payload is a hotel for robots. NASA is going to attach a “robot hotel” to the outside of the International Space Station that will work as a glorified storage unit for robots and tools. It will also store two robots that can sniff out any gas leaks from the station.

Other experiments on board this mission include an investigation into how fire can spread when confined in zero-gravity, another study on muscle and bone loss, sending a CIMON 2 robot into space for IBM, and a Budweiser sponsored look at the germination of wheat barley in microgravity. 

This story was written in Orlando, Florida.