SpaceX Falcon 9, Dragon blast off from Cape Canaveral on stunning pre-dawn flight to ISS

Nearly 6,000 pounds of supplies and experiments, including the first test of artificial intelligence in space, are on their way to the International Space Station after a stunning pre-dawn Friday launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon cargo capsule blasted off at 5:42 a.m. from Launch Complex 40.

The 210-foot rocket climbed from darkness into the day’s first rays of sun, which enveloped the rocket in a soft glow and illuminated its curling plume of exhaust in multi-colored hues reflecting the horizon.

More:What caused this morning's gorgeous SpaceX Falcon 9 launch? A twilight phenomenon.

Jessica Jensen, SpaceX's director of Dragon mission management, joked that the visual effects, more formally known as the twilight phenomenon, resembled a "space jelly fish."

"These are my favorite, these pre-sunrise or post-sunset launches make for a spectacular show in sky," she said. "It’s still dark outside, but you have the sun illuminating the plume as it’s in space."

Less than 10 minutes after liftoff, the Dragon capsule separated from the rocket’s upper stage in a good orbit, and began a three-day chase of the ISS.

The cargo ship is expected to arrive at the orbiting research complex Monday morning. NASA astronauts Ricky Arnold and Drew Feustel will capture it with a robotic arm to begin a month-long stay.

The Dragon’s occupants included a free-floating robot named CIMON (pronounced "Simon"), short for Crew Interactive Mobile Companion, that resembles a soccer ball sliced in half with a screen featuring a face on the flat side.

The European technology demonstration will test whether artificial intelligence can help astronauts work more efficiently. The computer is trained to recognize the face and voice of German astronaut Alexander Gerst, but can also interact with others of the station's six-person crew.

"If you go out to the Moon or to Mars, you cannot take all mankind and engineers with you, so the astronauts, they will be on their own," said Christian Karrasch, project lead at the German Aerospace Center. "But with an artificial intelligence, you have instantly all the knowledge of mankind."

NASA says AI will be crucial for deep space exploration, when communications back and forth from Mars to Earth could take 40 minutes — too long during, say, a medical emergency. A computer could more quickly tap into and relay helpful information.

"As we go forward it’s not even an option, I think," said Kirk Shireman, NASA's ISS program manager. "We have to have autonomy, we’ll have to have tools like this to have the species successfully live far away from Earth."

The Dragon is carrying up many more science experiments and hardware, including:

• An early investigation of a cancer therapy that could potentially treat 90 percent of cancers, by targeting both tumor cells and the tumor vasculature.
• A study of algae that could one day serve both as food for astronauts and a way to recycle carbon dioxide.
• A spare "hand" for the space station's 58-foot robotic arm, which performs critical functions including grappling visiting U.S. cargo craft, installing components and supporting spacewalks. An old hand will be returned to the ground for refurbishment.

SpaceX has now completed a dozen launches in 2018 — a blistering pace for the first six months of the year.

[SpaceX's Falcon Heavy in New York City? See rockets in everyday places]

The mission was the eighth of those to re-fly a rocket that had been launched before, adding up to nine of what SpaceX calls "flight proven" boosters, including the two on its Falcon Heavy demonstration in February.

In this case, the rocket’s first-stage booster had flown for the first time just over two months ago, launching a NASA science mission that is searching for planets orbiting other stars.

That’s the quickest turnaround yet between launches by a Falcon rocket, a sign that SpaceX says shows progress toward reusable rockets becoming more routine.

“Our teams have just gotten extremely efficient at the refurbishment process,” said Jensen. “They know what signs they’re looking for, they know what’s going to have to be replaced.”

Longer-term, SpaceX hopes that knowledge leads to a drastic drop in launch costs that will help enable human flights to Mars.

Friday's booster was the last of a version referred to as “Block 4.” Because those boosters were limited to two missions, SpaceX did not attempt to land the stage a second time.

Future missions will feature “Block 5” boosters upgraded to improve performance and reusability. SpaceX says they'll be able to fly at least 10 times with minimal maintenance between launches.

The Dragon capsule also had flown to space before, having visited the ISS in 2016. It was the third time that a used rocket and Dragon have flown together, pairings SpaceX says represent a small step forward in its goal to make spaceflight more like air travel.

"We want to make it safe, affordable and utilizing vehicles that can be re-flown repeatedly," said Jensen. "This is the key to the future of a civilization where we have thousands to millions of people exploring the stars and living out on other planets."

The mission called CRS-15 was SpaceX's 15th of 20 planned under a NASA Commercial Resupply Services contract awarded nearly a decade ago.

SpaceX is targeting its 13th launch of the year next month, lifting a commercial communications satellite from the Space Coast.

In early August, United Launch Alliance plans to return to the Eastern Range to launch a NASA solar probe on the company's most powerful rocket, the Delta IV Heavy.

Contact Dean at 321-242-3668 or jdean@floridatoday.com. And follow on Twitter at @flatoday_jdean and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/SpaceTeamGo.

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