Jul 7 2016
From The Space Library
RELEASE 16-072 New Crew Members, Including NASA Biologist, Launch to Space Station
Three crew members representing the United States, Russia and Japan are on their way to the International Space Station after launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 9:36 p.m. EDT Wednesday, July 6 (7:36 a.m. Baikonur time, July 7).
Kate Rubins of NASA, Soyuz Commander Anatoly Ivanishin of the Russian space agency Roscosmos and Takuya Onishi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency are traveling in an upgraded Soyuz spacecraft. They’ll spend two days -- and 34 Earth orbits – testing modified systems before docking to the space station’s Rassvet module at 12:12 a.m. EDT Saturday, July 9.
NASA TV coverage of docking will begin at 11:30 p.m. Friday, July 8. Hatches are scheduled to open about 2:50 a.m. Saturday, July 9, with NASA TV coverage starting at 2:30 a.m.
The arrival of Rubins, Ivanishin and Onishi returns the station's crew complement to six. The three will join Expedition 48 Commander Jeff Williams of NASA and Flight Engineers Oleg Skripochka and Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos. The Expedition 48 crew members will spend four months conducting more than 250 science investigations in fields such as biology, Earth science, human research, physical sciences, and technology development.
Rubins, who holds a bachelor’s degree in molecular biology and a doctorate in cancer biology, Ivanishin and Onishi are scheduled to remain aboard the station until late October. Williams, Skripochka and Ovchinin will return to Earth in September.
Expedition 48 crew members are expected to receive and install the station’s first international docking adapter, which will accommodate future arrivals of U.S. commercial crew spacecraft. Scheduled for delivery on SpaceX’s ninth commercial resupply mission (CRS-9) to the station, the new docking port features built-in systems for automated docking and uniform measurements. That means any spacecraft may use the adapters in the future – from NASA’s new crewed and uncrewed spacecraft, developed in partnership with private industry, to international spacecraft yet to be designed. The work by private companies to take on low-Earth orbit missions is expected to free up NASA's resources for future crewed missions into deep space, including the agency’s Journey to Mars, with the Orion crew capsule launching on the Space Launch System rocket.
Investigations arriving on SpaceX CRS-9 in July will test capabilities for sequencing DNA in space, regulating temperatures aboard spacecraft, understanding bone loss, and tracking ships around the world. Other investigations will study how to protect computers from radiation in space and test an efficient, three-dimensional solar cell.
The crew members also are scheduled to receive Orbital ATK’s sixth commercial resupply mission and two Russian Progress resupply flights delivering several tons of food, fuel, supplies and research. A Japanese cargo craft will deliver new lithium-ion batteries to replace the nickel-hydrogen batteries currently used on the station to store electrical energy generated by the station’s solar arrays.
For more than 15 years, humans have been living continuously aboard the International Space Station to advance scientific knowledge and demonstrate new technologies, making research breakthroughs not possible on Earth that also will enable long-duration human and robotic exploration into deep space. A truly global endeavor, more than 200 people from 18 countries have visited the unique microgravity laboratory that has hosted more than 1,900 research investigations from researchers in more than 95 countries.
MEDIA ADVISORY M16-079 NASA to Host Media Events Marking Anniversary of First Mars Landing
NASA is celebrating the first successful landing on Mars by a U.S. spacecraft – Viking 1 -- with a history discussion from 2 to 3:30 p.m. EDT Tuesday, July 19, and a Viking 40th anniversary symposium 8 a.m. to 5:10 p.m. Wednesday, July 20 at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.
Portions of these events that highlight the initial steps on the Journey to Mars will air live on NASA Television and stream on the agency’s website.
Media interested in attending the talk and/or all or parts of the symposium should contact Sasha Ellis at sasha.c.ellis@nasa.gov or 757-272-9859 no later than noon July 19.
The July 19 history talk will include a panel of NASA historians and Roger Launius of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, who will speak about the history of NASA’s Viking missions.
The symposium on July 20, called From NASA’s First Soft Landing to Humans on Mars, will include a lineup of about 20 speakers, including former Viking program scientists and engineers, The Martian author Andy Weir, NASA’s Associate Administrator for Space Technology Steve Jurczyk, and other key members contributing to past, present and future Mars missions.
MEDIA ADVISORY M16-081 NASA Highlights Space Station Research Benefits, Opportunities at San Diego Conference
NASA astronauts, engineers and scientists will be joined by CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta, retired astronauts Mark and Scott Kelly, and other special guests, for a three-day, in-depth conversation about the International Space Station (ISS) as a catalyst for discovery during the fifth annual ISS Research & Development Conference July 12-14 in San Diego.
The conference, hosted by the American Astronautical Society (AAS) and the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), in cooperation with NASA, brings together leaders from industry, academia and government. Attendees will explore innovations and breakthroughs in microgravity research, life sciences, materials development, technology development, human health and remote sensing, the potential applications for space-based research, and the economic benefits of increased commercial activity in low-Earth orbit.
CNN’s chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, will delve into NASA’s One Year Mission and Twins Study with former astronauts and twin brothers Scott Kelly and Mark Kelly. Scott Kelly’s flight surgeon, Dr. Stevan Gilmore, and Twins Study principal investigator Dr. Andrew Feinberg also will provide insights into the valuable research.
NASA Chief Scientist Ellen Stofan and Dr. Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Translational Science Institute, will discuss the future of digital medicine and the role of space science in genomics studies.
Other guest speakers include NASA astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Josh Cassada; Julie Robinson, NASA’s chief scientist for the International Space Station; Kirk Shireman, manager of NASA’s International Space Station Program Office; Joel Montalbano, NASA’s deputy manager of ISS utilization; Salvatore T. “Tory” Bruno, president and CEO of United Launch Alliance; Palmer Luckey, founder of Oculus VR, LLC; Greg Johnson, president and executive director of CASIS; Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, founder and executive chairman of the XPRIZE Foundation; John Elbon, vice president, Boeing; and Robert Bigelow, president of Bigelow Aerospace.
NASA and CASIS, both which manage and fund research on the space station, will provide overviews of research applications, external and internal capabilities, and upcoming opportunities.
During the July 11 preconference day, NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) will host a joint workshop covering the achievements and opportunities tied to cooperative use of unique JAXA experiment hardware for joint research.
MEDIA ADVISORY M16-080 NASA to Discuss Sequencing DNA in Space, Highlight Research Headed to Space Station on Next SpaceX Cargo Launch
NASA will host a media teleconference at 2 p.m. EDT Wednesday, July 13, to discuss the groundbreaking research and cargo aboard the next SpaceX commercial resupply flight to the International Space Station.
Researchers will highlight space-based experiments to test the capabilities for sequencing DNA, understand bone loss, track heart changes in microgravity and regulate temperature aboard spacecraft. Participants also will discuss the first international docking adapter headed to station, which will allow commercial spacecraft to dock to the station when transporting astronauts in the near future as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program.
The briefing will take place onsite at the ISS Research and Development Conference in San Diego. Registered media may attend in person. To participate in the teleconference, reporters must contact Cheryl Warner at 202-358-1100 or cheryl.m.warner@nasa.gov by 1 p.m. EDT July 13 for dial-in information.
The briefing participants include:
- Camille Alleyne, associate International Space Station Program scientist at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, will provide an overview of the more than 250 science investigations that will take place during Expeditions 48 and 49.
- Michael Roberts, deputy chief scientist, Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), which manages the U.S. National Laboratory aboard the space station, will discuss how these investigations aim to provide a better understanding of living and working in space while also improving life on Earth.
- Sarah Wallace, microbiologist at Johnson, will discuss the first experiment to test sequencing DNA in space. A space-based DNA sequencer could identify microbes, diagnose diseases, increase our understanding of crew member health, and potentially help detect DNA-based life elsewhere in the solar system.
Lanetra Tate, program executive for NASA’s Game Changing Development Program, will highlight how a phase-change material heat exchanger device could help maintain critical temperatures inside a spacecraft by freezing or thawing a material.
- Bruce Hammer, professor at the University of Minnesota’s Center for Magnetic Resonance Research in Minneapolis, will discuss an experiment with the U.S. National Lab and National Institutes of Health to test the accuracy of a device used to simulate microgravity, which will lead to a better understanding of gravity’s effect on bone cell function.
- Arun Sharma, graduate student, Stanford Cardiovascular Institute in Stanford, California, will discuss an experiment with the U.S. National Lab on how microgravity changes the human heart. Results could advance the study of heart disease and development of drugs and cell replacement therapy for future space missions.
NASA and Boeing representatives will discuss the first of two identical international docking adapters (IDA) that will be installed on the space station. The IDA’s first users are expected to be Boeing's CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft now in development in partnership with NASA, which will return crewed launches to and from low-Earth orbit, including the space station, from the United States on American-led systems.
The SpaceX Dragon capsule is targeted to launch at 12:45 a.m. Monday, July 18, on a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The spacecraft will carry crew supplies, scientific research and hardware to the orbital laboratory to support the Expedition 48 and 49 crew members.
This launch is the ninth contracted mission by SpaceX under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services contract.
