Photos: SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket Launch and Landing for CRS-8 Mission

SpaceX Launches CRS-8 Mission to International Space Station

SpaceX's CRS-8 cargo mission launched to the International Space Station from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on April 8, 2016.

SpaceX's Falcon: Ready for Space

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket stands poised to launch the CRS-8 mission from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

BEAM Module Basics

This infographic gives facts about the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, scheduled to launch to the International Space Station on April 8, 2016.

BEAM Expansion Scenarios

NASA and Bigelow Aerospace have some ideas how the new BEAM module will work in space. Here are few ways it could expand.

Space Fungus Among Us

SpaceX's launch is a big deal for Clay Wang, a professor at the University of Southern California School of Pharmacy, and Kasthuri "Venkat" Venkateswaran, a senior research scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. It made the duo the first team in the world to launch fungi into space for drug discovery purposes, according to a statement from the University of Southern California.

How SpaceX's Dragon Space Capsule Works (Infographic)

Here's a look at SpaceX's Dragon cargo ship and Falcon 9 rocket, as well as how SpaceX envisions to fly people on the ship eventually.

Static Fire

Just days before its planned launch on April 8, 2016, SpaceX test fired the engines on the Falcon 9 rocket shown here in a so-called static fire - a standard test before SpaceX launches

Falcon 9 on Pad 40

Ahead of a planned April 8, 2016, launch to the International Space Station, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket stands vertical on Pad 40 at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

SpaceX CRS-8 Mission Patch

This is the SpaceX mission patch for the CRS-8 cargo mission.