NASA and SpaceX are targeting 6:33 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, Oct. 13, for the next launch to the International Space Station, because apparently the station still needs things. This is the 35th SpaceX commercial resupply services mission for NASA, a number that suggests someone at SpaceX is very good at filling out the same form repeatedly.

Before the launch, NASA will host a media teleconference on Thursday, Oct. 8, to preview the cargo flight and provide a post-splashdown update for the agency's SpaceX Crew-12 mission, which will have returned to Earth from the space station Thursday morning. Yes, that's a lot of space logistics in one week. Try to keep up.

Loaded with more than 6,300 pounds of supplies, a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft on a Falcon 9 rocket will lift off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Dragon will dock autonomously around 11 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 15, to the space-facing port of the station's Harmony module. The spacecraft will do this without human intervention, which is either impressive or terrifying, depending on how you feel about robots.

In addition to the final set of International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays - because nothing says "cutting-edge space station" like finally finishing the solar panel installation - the Dragon will deliver hardware to manufacture artificial retinas in microgravity to help restore vision on Earth. It will also carry 3D heart tissue models to advance large-scale drug testing on future missions. So, no pressure, but the future of medicine is currently packed in a cargo capsule.

The spacecraft will also carry materials to study how a new type of glass forms in microgravity and brain organoids that could reveal treatment targets for neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and multiple sclerosis. Because if you're going to send stuff to space, you might as well try to cure something while you're at it.

The Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to remain at the space station until mid-November, when it will depart the orbiting laboratory and return to Earth with time-critical research and cargo, splashing down off the coast of California. The Pacific Ocean: nature's splash pad.

NASA's mission coverage is as follows (all times Eastern and subject to change based on real-time operations):

1:15 p.m.: International Space Station briefing for Crew-12 return, and SpaceX's 35th Commercial Resupply Services launch with the following participants. To participate in the teleconference, media must contact the NASA Johnson Space Center newsroom for call details by 12 p.m., Oct. 8, at jsccommu@mail.nasa.gov or 281-483-5111. To ask questions, media must dial in no later than 10 minutes before the start of the call. The agency's media credentialing policy is available online. So, journalists, set your alarms.

Launch day coverage of the mission will be available on the NASA website. Coverage will include live streaming and blog updates beginning no earlier than 6 a.m. on Oct. 13, as the countdown milestones occur. On-demand streaming video on NASA+ and photos of the launch will be available shortly after liftoff. For questions about countdown coverage, contact the NASA Kennedy Space Center newsroom at 321-867-2468. Follow countdown coverage on the International Space Station blog for updates.

Members of the public can register to attend this launch virtually. NASA's virtual guest program for this mission also includes curated launch resources, notifications about related opportunities or changes, and a stamp for the NASA virtual guest passport following launch. Because nothing says "I was there" like a digital stamp from your couch.

Let people know you're watching the mission on X, Facebook, and Instagram by following and tagging these accounts:

X: @NASA, @NASAKennedy, @NASASpaceOps, @Space_Station, @ISS National Lab

Facebook: NASA, NASAKennedy, ISS, ISS National Lab

Instagram: @NASA, @NASAKennedy, @ISS, @ISSNationalLab

Learn more about this commercial resupply services mission at: https://www.nasa.gov/mission/nasas-spacex-crs-35/

Josh Finch / Jimi Russell, Headquarters, Washington, 202-358-1100, joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / james.j.russell@nasa.gov

Steven Siceloff, Kennedy Space Center, Fla., 321-876-2468, steven.p.siceloff@nasa.gov

Sandra Jones / Joseph Zakrzewski, Johnson Space Center, Houston, 281-483-5111, sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov / joseph.a.zakrzewskI@nasa.gov