Jun 29 2018

From The Space Library

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Current revision

RELEASE 18-059 New NASA Research, Hardware Heading to Space Station on 15th SpaceX Resupply Mission

Experiments investigating cellular biology, Earth science and artificial intelligence are among the research heading to the International Space Station following Friday’s launch of a NASA-contracted SpaceX Dragon spacecraft at 5:42 a.m. EDT.

Dragon lifted off on a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida with more than 5,900 pounds of research, equipment, cargo and supplies that will support dozens of investigations aboard the space station.

NASA astronauts Ricky Arnold and Drew Feustel will use the space station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm to capture Dragon when it arrives at the station. Live coverage of the rendezvous and capture will air on NASA Television and the agency’s website beginning at 5:30 a.m. Monday, July 2. Installation coverage is set to begin at 9 a.m.

Research materials flying inside Dragon's pressurized cargo area include a cellular biology investigation (Micro-12) to understand how microgravity affects the growth, gene expression and ability of a model bacterium to transfer electrons through its cell membrane along the bacterial nanowires it produces. Such bacteria could be used in microbial fuel cells to make electricity from waste organic material.

An Earth science instrument called the ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS) will provide a new space-based measurement of how plants respond to changes in water availability. This data can help society better manage agricultural water use.

An observational pilot study with the Crew Interactive MObile companioN (CIMON) aims to provide first insights into the effects of crew support from an artificial intelligence (AI) in terms of efficiency and acceptance during long-term missions in space.

Among the hundreds of pounds of hardware flying to the space station is a spare Canadian-built Latching End Effector (LEE). Each end of the Canadarm2 robotic arm has an identical LEE, and they are used as the “hands” that grapple payloads and visiting cargo spaceships. They also enable Canadarm2 to “walk” to different locations on the orbiting outpost.

This is SpaceX’s 15th cargo flight to the space station under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services contract. Dragon is scheduled to depart the station in August and return to Earth with more than 3,800 pounds of research, hardware and crew supplies.

For more than 17 years, humans have lived and worked continuously aboard the International Space Station, advancing scientific knowledge and demonstrating new technologies, making research breakthroughs not possible on Earth that will enable long-duration human and robotic exploration into deep space. A global endeavor, 230 people from 18 countries have visited the unique microgravity laboratory that has hosted more than 2,400 research investigations from researchers in 103 countries.

MEDIA ADVISORY M18-099 Young Kansans to Call Space Station from Eisenhower Presidential Library

Kansas Boy Scout troops and students will participate in a live downlink event with astronauts aboard the International Space Station next week as part of NASA’s Year of Education on Station. The call will air live on NASA Television and the agency’s website.

NASA Expedition 56 astronauts Drew Feustel and Ricky Arnold will speak directly with the scout troops and students at 1:25 p.m. EDT Monday, July 2. Young people in attendance will have a chance to ask questions about life aboard the space station, NASA’s mission and upcoming science investigations.

The event will be hosted at the National Archives and Records Administration’s Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum in Abilene. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the National Space Act establishing NASA in 1958, making the opportunity to host this downlink 60 years later a significant event for the astronauts, library and scouts participating. NASA considers its birthday to be Oct. 1, 1958, the day the agency opened for business.

Media may attend in person at the library’s visitor center auditorium at 200 South East Fourth St., Abilene. To cover this event, media should contact Samantha Kenner at 785-263-6764 or Samantha.Kenner@nara.gov. Limited space also will be available to members of the public.

Linking students directly to astronauts aboard the space station provides unique, authentic experiences designed to enhance student learning, performance and interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Astronauts living in space on the orbiting laboratory communicate with NASA’s Mission Control Center on Earth 24 hours a day through the Space Network's Tracking and Data Relay Satellites (TDRS).

CONTRACT RELEASE C18-018 NASA Awards Contract for Continued Operations of its Jet Propulsion Laboratory

NASA has awarded a contract to the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, California, to continue operations of the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), also in Pasadena.

This cost plus fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract has a maximum value of $30 billion. The contract begins Oct. 1 with a five-year base period of performance, followed by five one-year options that could extend the contract to Sept. 30, 2028.

Under this contract, Caltech will continue to develop and sustain core competencies in support of NASA-sponsored work in the areas of Earth and planetary sciences, heliophysics, astrophysics, and aeronautics and space activities, to include the development of spacecraft and instruments.

Caltech also will manage NASA-sponsored programs that carry out competed and peer-reviewed research, NASA partnerships with other government agencies, academia and the private sector, and the operation, research, and management of NASA's Deep Space Network.