 With SpaceX returning to action, a launch of cargo to the International Space Station made history and also prepared to help history. And this is your space pod for February 22, 2017. The launch of CRS-10 by SpaceX this past weekend was one part history, one part science, one part much needed supplies, and a double dose of badass. So let's get on to what this was all about. Launch Complex 39A was a new generation of launch complexes when it was built, designed to handle the largest and most powerful rocket of that time, the Saturn V. Launch Complex 39A hosted 12 Saturn V launches including Apollo 11 and all of the moon landings. It was then converted for use during the shuttle program and served over 82 shuttle launches including STS-135, the last of the space shuttle program. All in its history, LC-39A has hosted 94 launches with its 95th kicking off a new generation of launch vehicle to use the pad. In 2014, NASA and SpaceX agreed upon a 20-year lease of Launch Complex 39A, turning it into a commercial launch facility. That first launch happened on February 19, 2017 with the Commercial Resupply Services 10 mission, launching a dragon with 2,500 kilograms of supplies and experiments. First supplies have been much needed since the stand down of SpaceX launches and Russian Progress launches to the International Space Station. After a scrub the day before, the 24-hour turnaround yielded a perfect launch, along with the first successful daylight landing of a Falcon 9 first stage at Cape Canaveral. The first stage will be flown again after inspection, and CRS-10's dragon was successfully on the way to the International Space Station. But it wasn't just a historic launch that was a major point of interest, if you read the cargo manifest for this mission, it would have wet your appetite for some science. NASA's SAGE-3, SAGE standing for Stratospheric Aerosol in Gas Experiment 3. This is an ozone monitoring sensor that will use sunlight and moonlight passing through the upper atmosphere of the Earth to measure pollutants and particles. Another payload onboard is a part of the U.S. Military Space Test Program. One of the more interesting of those dozens or so experiments is NASA's Raven instrument. It's going to be used to demonstrate autonomous space navigation by tracking incoming and outgoing supply spacecraft. Raven will use visible, infrared, and laser trackers to determine the relative positions of supply craft as they approach and depart the International Space Station, and data gathered from this test will be used on NASA's planned Restore-L mission, which will have a servicing satellite rendezvous autonomously with Landsat-7 and perform services, allowing for an extension of its on-orbit life. The lightning imaging sensor is actually a spare camera from a previous NASA mission that was refurbished, and this sensor will take imagery and log lightning strikes from its view on the International Space Station in orbit. In addition to outside experiments, there were a whole host of biological experiments being carried inside, such as 40 mice, a multitude of experiments to see how bones heal in microgravity, and experiments on bacteria and stem cells to see how they may change in the microgravity environment. Thanks for watching this Space Pod. I'm Jared Head. Got a favorite aspect to this fully loaded story of science and cargo? Well, let me know in the comments below. And of course, don't forget to let us know on our various social media channels where you can reach us. And of course, a huge thank you to all of our tomorrow's Space Pod Patreon patrons. Without you, we wouldn't be able to do these Space Pods. If you'd like to help crowdfund the Space Pods of tomorrow, head on over to patreon.com slash space pod. So until the next Space Pod, keep exploring.