GPS is important, more so when you are in space with no sign posts around. An error in its global positioning system prevented SpaceX’s Dragon supply ship from docking with the International Space Station in the morning. The docking was aborted when the spacecraft was less than a mile away from the ISS.
The Dragon, which is carrying a host of supplies and experiments for the ISS, will attempt to dock again come Thursday. Interestingly, this also marks the first time that SpaceX had to abort a mission in the 5 odd years its been making deliveries to the ISS.
The Dragon, which was launched from launch complex 39 (yes, the same one that launched the Apollo mission), aborted its approach to the ISS at 08:25 GMT. This happened because its systems detected that the relative global positioning system was exhibiting an incorrect value. Why relative you ask? Well, because the system is what pinpoints Dragon’s location in the vast reaches of space, with respect to the ISS.
NASA spokesman Rob Navias said:
Dragon itself is in excellent shape. It did exactly what it was designed to do, breaking out of a rendezvous approach when it saw an incorrect value.
The Dragon is carrying a whole load of important supplies and instruments for the ISS. It also carries apparatuses and experiments that can only work in Space. For example, there is a brand new device that has to be attached to the ISS and that will help monitor the Ozone layer from up above.
Meanwhile, the folks over at the ISS are going to have a pretty busy weekend sorting through supplies. While the Dragon will attempt docking on Thursday, a Russian supply ship launched earlier today will also be making its deliveries on Friday.
Meanwhile, here is a fun fact for you: The International Space Station is the most expensive human structure ever built, with an approximate cost of over $157 Billion. Cool, right?
