Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
[STK]
[IN] ARO CPR
[SU] EXE
-- WITH PHOTO -- TO NATIONAL, SCIENCE, AND TECHNOLOGY EDITORS:
NASA Cargo Launches to Space Station aboard SpaceX Resupply Mission
WASHINGTON, April 18, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Nearly 2.5 tons
of NASA science investigations and cargo are on the way to the
International Space Station (ISS) aboard SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft.
The spacecraft launched atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch
Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 3:25 p.m.
EDT Friday, April 18.
The mission is the company's third cargo delivery flight to the
station through a $1.6 billion NASA Commercial Resupply Services
contract. Dragon's cargo will support more than 150 experiments to be
conducted by the crews of ISS Expeditions 39 and 40.
"SpaceX is delivering important research experiments and cargo to the
space station," said William Gerstenmaier, NASA associate
administrator for human exploration and operations. "The diversity and
number of new experiments is phenomenal. The investigations aboard
Dragon will help us improve our understanding of how humans adapt to
living in space for long periods of time and help us develop
technologies that will enable deep space exploration."
The scientific payloads on Dragon include investigations into
efficient plant growth in space, human immune system function in
microgravity, Earth observation, and a demonstration of laser optics
communication. Also being delivered is a set of high-tech legs for
Robonaut 2, which will provide the humanoid robot torso already aboard
the orbiting laboratory the mobility it needs to help with regular and
repetitive tasks inside the space station.
Dragon also will deliver a second set of investigations sponsored by
the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), which
manages the portion of the space station that is designated a U.S.
National Laboratory. The investigations include research into plant
biology and protein crystal growth, a field of study experts believe
may lead to beneficial advancements in drug development through
protein mapping.
On its way to the ISS, SpaceX's Falcon rocket jettisoned five small
research satellites known as CubeSats that will perform a variety of
technology demonstrations. The small satellites are part of NASA's
Educational Launch of Nanosatellite, or ElaNa, mission, and involved
more than 120 students in their design, development and construction.
One of the satellites, PhoneSat 2.5, is the third in a series of
CubeSat missions designed to use commercially available smartphone
technology as part of a low-cost development effort to provide basic
spacecraft capabilities. Another of the small satellites, SporeSat, is
designed to help scientists study the mechanisms by which plant cells
sense gravity -- valuable research in the larger effort to grow plants
in space.
Dragon will be grappled at 7:14 a.m. on Sunday, April 20, by
Expedition 39 Commander Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace
Exploration Agency, using the space station's robotic arm to take hold
of the spacecraft. NASA's Rick Mastracchio will support Wakata in a
backup position. Dragon is scheduled to depart the space station May
18 for a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, west of Baja California,
bringing from the space station nearly 3,500 pounds of science,
hardware, crew supplies and spacewalk tools.
The ISS is a convergence of science, technology and human innovation
that demonstrates new technologies and makes research breakthroughs
not possible on Earth. The space station has been continuously
occupied since November 2000. In that time, it has been visited by
more than 200 people and a variety of international and commercial
spacecraft. The space station remains the springboard to NASA's next
great leap in exploration, including future missions to an asteroid
and Mars.
For more information about SpaceX's third cargo resupply mission and
the International Space Station, visit:
Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO
SOURCE NASA
-0- 04/18/2014
/CONTACT: Rachel Kraft, Headquarters, Washington, 202-358-1100, rachel.h.kraft@nasa.gov; Dan Huot, Johnson Space Center, Houston, 281-483-5111, daniel.g.huot@nasa.gov
/Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO
PRN Photo Desk photodesk@prnewswire.com
/Web Site: http://www.nasa.gov
CO: NASA
ST: District of Columbia
IN: ARO CPR
SU: EXE
PRN
-- DC08663 --
0000 04/18/2014 21:45:00 EDT http://www.prnewswire.com
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
