Month: April 2018

A care package with more than 5,800 pounds of supplies from Earth is on its way to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. The company’s 14th commercial cargo mission to resupply the space station began at 4:30 p.m. EDT with liftoff aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

The Dragon spacecraft now is in orbit with its solar arrays deployed and providing power.

During a prelaunch news conference, Pete Hasbrook, NASA’s associate program scientist for International Space Station Program Science Office at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, praised the work of Commercial Resupply Services companies.

“The International Space Station is a world-class and multi- disciplinary laboratory in space,” he said. “Our commercial providers help in bringing our sciences forward and keep it going on space station and bringing benefits back to Earth.”

The Dragon spacecraft will deliver science, research, crew supplies and hardware to the orbiting laboratory. Read more about science experiments on board at:
https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacex/2018/04/02/whats-on-board-dragon-for-spacex-crs-14/ 

Live NASA TV coverage of the rendezvous and capture will begin at 5:30 a.m. EDT on April 4 on http://www.nasa.gov/live

Expedition 55 Flight Engineers Norishige Kanai of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, backed up by NASA astronaut Scott Tingle, will supervise the operation of the Canadarm2 robotic arm for Dragon’s capture. After Dragon capture, ground commands will be sent from mission control in Houston for the station’s arm to rotate and install it on the bottom of the station’s Harmony module.

The Dragon spacecraft will spend approximately one month attached to the space station. Unberthing and release of the Dragon from the space station is targeted for May 2. About five hours after Dragon leaves the station, it will conduct its deorbit burn, which lasts up to 10 minutes. It takes about 30 minutes for Dragon to reenter the Earth’s atmosphere and splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja California.

For updates during the mission, visit: https://go.nasa.gov/2uJHKUl

This concludes today’s coverage of the SpaceX CRS-14 countdown and launch. Thanks for joining us.

Dragon’s solar arrays are unfurling and the spacecraft is on course to deliver more than 5,800 pounds of supplies, equipment and experiments to the crew aboard the orbiting laboratory. Arrival is scheduled for April 4 with grapple planned for 7 a.m. EDT.

Expedition 55 Flight Engineers Norishige Kanai of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, backed up by NASA astronaut Scott Tingle, will supervise the operation of the Canadarm2 robotic arm for Dragon’s capture. After Dragon capture, ground commands will be sent from mission control in Houston for the station’s arm to rotate and install it on the bottom of the station’s Harmony module.

Live NASA Television coverage of the rendezvous and capture will begin at 5:30 a.m. EDT on April 4 at: www.nasa.gov/live

3 – 2 – 1 – Zero — Ignition and liftoff of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft, for the company’s 14th mission to deliver supplies, equipment and science materials to the International Space Station. The vehicle is quickly climbing away from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

The Falcon 9 rocket’s first-stage also has completed its work and has separated from the vehicle.

 

The countdown continues toward liftoff at 4:30 p.m. EDT. Starting at about seven minutes before launch, the Falcon 9’s engines will be chilled to condition them for the super-cold oxidizer — liquid oxygen.

About three minutes prior to liftoff, the umbilical tower-like strongback support structure will be lowered away from the rocket.

At 90 seconds, the SpaceX launch director will verify “go for launch.”

With about 60 seconds remaining, the flight computer will run its prelaunch checks and the rocket’s propellant tanks will be pressurized.

The terminal stage of the countdown begins at T-minus 30 seconds.

Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

Weather forecasters with the U.S. Air Force’s 45th weather squadron at Patrick Air Force Base are calling for an 80 percent chance for favorable conditions for launch. The primary launch weather concerns are flight through precipitation and cumulus clouds with the showers.

During SpaceX’s 14th Commercial Resupply Services Mission to the International Space Station for NASA, the Dragon spacecraft is packed with more than 5,800 pounds of supplies, equipment and several science investigations for the crew aboard the station.

Among the science experiments are:

Capturing Sprites and Elves
The Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor (ASIM) surveys severe thunderstorms in Earth’s atmosphere and upper-atmospheric lightning, or transient luminous events, from its perch on the exterior of the European Space Agency (ESA) Columbus module. These include sprites, flashes caused by electrical break-down in the mesosphere; the blue jet, a discharge from cloud tops upward into the stratosphere; and ELVES, concentric rings of emissions caused by an electromagnetic pulse in the ionosphere.

Metal Powder Fabrication
The NASA Sample Cartridge Assembly (MSL SCA-GEDS-German) experiment determines underlying scientific principles for a fabrication process known as liquid phase sintering, in microgravity and Earth-gravity conditions. On Earth, liquid phase sintering works like building a sandcastle with just-wet-enough sand. Heating a powder forms interparticle bonds and formation of a liquid phase accelerates this solidification, creating a rigid structure. But in microgravity, settling of powder grains does not occur and larger pores form, creating more porous and distorted samples than Earth-based sintering.

Testing Materials in Space
The Materials International Space Station Experiment Flight Facility (MISSE-FF) provides a unique platform for testing how materials, coatings and components react in the harsh environment of space, which includes exposure to ultraviolet and ionizing radiation, atomic oxygen, charged particles, thermal cycles, electromagnetic radiation and micro-meteoroids. The testing benefits a variety of industries, including automotive, aeronautics, energy, space, and transportation.

Patching up Wounds
Wound Healing tests a patch containing an antimicrobial hydrogel that promotes healing of a wound while acting as a scaffold for regenerating tissue. Reduced fluid motion in microgravity allows more precise analysis of the hydrogel behavior and controlled release of the antibiotic from the patch. This novel patch could serve as a non-surgical treatment for military combat wounds and reduce sepsis, or systemic inflammation, usually caused by contamination of an open wound.

Drug Development in Space
Comparative Real-time Metabolic Activity Tracking for Improved Therapeutic Assessment Screening Panels examines effects of microgravity on the metabolic impact of five different therapeutic compounds, evaluating the use of autobioluminescent human tissue culture for continuous tracking of metabolic activity without destroying the sample. This investigation determines the feasibility of developing improved pharmaceuticals in microgravity using a new method to test the metabolic impacts of drug compounds. This could lead to more effective, less expensive drugs.

Read more about Science Launching on Next Resupply Mission at: https://go.nasa.gov/2Isu6rt

A Falcon 9 rocket is being loaded with propellants in preparation for liftoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40, to boost a SpaceX Dragon resupply spacecraft to the International Space Station. Liftoff is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. EDT, for its 14th commercial resupply services mission to the space station.

The SpaceX Falcon 9 is 230 feet-tall and has two-stages topped by the company’s unpiloted Dragon spacecraft. The rocket’s first stage is powered by nine Merlin engines that ignite at T-0. Its second stage has a single Merlin engine that takes over after separation of the first stage. The engines run on a combination of super-cold liquid oxygen and the fuel, RP-1 — highly refined kerosene.

Installed atop the rocket, the 20-foot tall and 12-foot diameter Dragon spacecraft is loaded with cargo bound for the space station. The Dragon offers a pressurized section as well as an unpressurized “trunk” section for additional cargo. Also located in the trunk are the spacecraft’s power-producing solar arrays, which will open shortly after Dragon arrives in orbit.

Photo credit: NASA

Good afternoon from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft are being prepared for liftoff from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Liftoff is targeted for 4:30 p.m. EDT today, with an instantaneous launch window. That means the launch must take place precisely on time in order to reach the orbit of the International Space Station.

The official weather forecast from the U.S. Air Force’s 45th Weather Squadron at Patrick Air Force Base calls for an 80 percent chance for favorable conditions for launch today. The primary launch weather concerns are flight through precipitation and cumulus clouds with the showers.

Today’s launch is a cross-country effort. Launch controllers here at the Florida spaceport are working in concert with teams at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston and SpaceX’s control center in Hawthorne, California.

This launch blog originates from the NASA News Center, a few miles west of the launch pad, here at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, the premier multi-user spaceport.

There’s more to come, so stay with us.

Image credit: NASA

A Dragon spacecraft is poised for liftoff atop a Falcon 9 rocket at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40. The launch vehicle will boost the resupply capsule on its 14th commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station. SpaceX’s Dragon will deliver supplies and equipment supporting numerous science investigations for the crew working aboard the orbiting laboratory. Liftoff is scheduled for today at 4:30 p.m. EDT.

Be sure to join us here at 3:55 p.m. EDT to follow this live blog-cast during the last stages of the countdown and early portions of flight. You also may follow the countdown on NASA Television (https://www.nasa.gov/nasalive) beginning at 4 p.m. EDT for updates.

Read more about the Falcon 9 rocket  and the Dragon spacecraft.

Photo credit: NASA

Preparations continue as NASA’s commercial cargo provider, SpaceX, is getting ready to launch its 14th resupply mission to the International Space Station. Liftoff is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. EDT Monday, April 2.

Weather forecasters with the U.S. Air Force’s 45th weather squadron at Patrick Air Force Base call for a 80 percent chance for favorable conditions for launch. The primary launch weather concerns are flight through precipitation and cumulus clouds with the showers.

Packed with almost 5,800 pounds of research material, crew supplies and hardware, the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft will launch on a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

You may follow the prelaunch briefings and the countdown taking place at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on NASA Television at: https://www.nasa.gov/nasalive

Today, April 1
2:30 p.m. – What’s on Board science briefing
4 p.m. – Prelaunch news conference with representatives from NASA’s International Space Station Program, SpaceX and the U.S. Air Force’s 45th Space Wing.

Monday, April 2
4 p.m. – Launch coverage begins for liftoff scheduled for 4:30 p.m.
6:30 p.m. – Post launch news conference at Kennedy with representatives from NASA’s International Space Station Program and SpaceX.

For the latest schedule of prelaunch briefings, events and NASA TV coverage, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/content/spacex-crs-14-briefings-and-events/

Learn more about the SpaceX resupply mission at: https://www.nasa.gov/spacex