Tag: Dragon

SpaceX CRS-23 Successfully Completes Mission, Returning Critical Science Back to Earth

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Cargo Dragon CRS-23 atop a Falcon 9 booster. (Credit: SpaceX)

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER (FL), October 1, 2021 (CASIS PR)  – On September 30, SpaceX completed its 23rd Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) mission to the International Space Station (ISS) when its Dragon spacecraft safely splashed into the water off the coast of Florida. SpaceX CRS-23, contracted by NASA, brought back more than 25 payloads representing science and technology demonstrations sponsored by the International Space Station (ISS) U.S. National Laboratory. These investigations aim to leverage the unique space-based environment of the orbiting platform to bring value to our nation and drive a robust market in low Earth orbit.

Below highlights some of the ISS National Lab-sponsored investigations that returned on SpaceX CRS-23.

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Join the CRS-23 Virtual NASA Social to Experience the Next SpaceX Space Station Cargo Launch

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The SpaceX Cargo Dragon vehicle is pictured docked to the Harmony module’s space-facing international docking adapter. (Credit: NASA TV)

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. (NASA PR) — Social media users are invited to register to take part in another global virtual NASA Social for the next SpaceX delivery of NASA science investigations, supplies, and equipment to the International Space Station. SpaceX’s 23rd Commercial Resupply Services mission is targeted to launch at 3:37 a.m. EDT on Saturday, Aug. 28, 2021, on a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

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NASA Sets Coverage, Invites Public to Virtually Join Next Cargo Launch

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Falcon 9 with the cargo Dragon spacecraft for the CRS-22 mission. (Credit: SpaceX)

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. (NASA PR) — NASA commercial cargo provider SpaceX is targeting Saturday, Aug. 28, at 3:37 a.m. EDT to launch its 23rd commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station. Liftoff will be from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft will deliver new science investigations, supplies, and equipment for the international crew.

Live coverage will air on NASA Television, the NASA app and the agency’s website, with prelaunch events starting Friday, Aug. 27.

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23rd SpaceX Commercial Resupply Mission to Launch Bone, Plant, and Materials Studies to International Space Station

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Image of seedlings with different genotypes following 9 days of growth in the VEGGIE chamber under temperature, humidity, and carbon dioxide conditions mimicking those recorded on the space station. Taken during verification testing at NASA Kennedy Space Center. (Credits: Dr. Shih-Heng Su)

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. (NASA PR) — NASA commercial cargo provider SpaceX is targeting Saturday, Aug. 28, to launch its 23rd commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company’s Dragon spacecraft is scheduled for liftoff at 3:37 a.m. EDT from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

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FAA Rolls Out New System to Better Track Launches, Reentries

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WASHINGTON (FAA PR) – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) can now track a space launch or reentry vehicle in near-real time as it travels through the National Airspace System. This new capability increases safety for all airspace users and assists the FAA in efficiently managing air traffic during space operations.

The Space Data Integrator (SDI) prototype automates the delivery of vehicle-related telemetry data to the FAA Air Traffic Control System Command Center. This vastly improves the FAA’s situational awareness of where the vehicle is as it travels to space or as it returns to the Earth. In addition to existing tools, the FAA also can use SDI to manage air traffic more efficiently as a space operation progresses and address contingencies in the event of an anomaly during a mission.

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Launch 2020: A Busy Year Filled with Firsts in the Face of COVID-19 Pandemic

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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company’s Crew Dragon spacecraft is launched from Launch Complex 39A on NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission to the International Space Station with NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley aboard, Saturday, May 30, 2020, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida (Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls & Joel Kowsky)

SpaceX dominated, China surged and Russia had another clean sheet as American astronauts flew from U.S. soil again in a year of firsts.

First in a series

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 was a very busy launch year with a number of firsts in both human and robotic exploration. A total of 114 orbital launches were attempted, with 104 successes and 10 failures. It was the same number of launches that were conducted in 2018, with that year seeing 111 successes, two failures and one partial failure.

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Worms on a Mission to Research Muscle Loss in Space

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SWINDON, UK (UK Space Agency PR) — On June 3, hundreds of tiny worms are being flown to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of an experiment to understand more about human muscle loss and how to prevent it.

Funded by the UK Space Agency, a team of scientists led by scientists from Nottingham and Exeter University, with hardware designed by Oxford-based Kayser Space, aims to determine the causes of muscle changes during spaceflight and find ways to mitigate these biological changes.

Discovering more about muscle loss in space will expand our understanding of how ageing affects our muscles; this could lead to more effective therapies and new treatments for muscular dystrophies here on Earth.

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Nexus Inc. Launches World’s First Ethereum Bloackchain Network in Space to Provide Clients with Ultra-secure Transactions

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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. (Nexus Inc. PR) –Nexus Inc. (“Nexus”), a deep tech digital asset management firm that develops and executes Internet of Things-centred solutions for online platforms and institutions around the globe, is pleased to announce the launch of the world’s first ethereum blockchain network onboard the International Space Station, with the sole objective of providing clients with ultra-secure cryptocurrency transactions against terrestrial hackers.

Executed from Nexus’s trusted ground-based interface terminal which has an uplink-downlink latency of at least 8 hours, the deceleration of the transaction speed, resulting in transmission delays in order to execute multisignature protocols, are key to defeating theft and fraud. Employing the mechanism of 2 out of 3 multisignature keys will ensure that if one authentication key is compromised, the funds transaction remains safe and unscathed. Additionally, Nexus’s blockchain payload caps no more than 100 transactions per transmission, further augmenting an already existing multiple layers of security.

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Colgate-Palmolive Sending Oral Care Research to the ISS U.S. National Lab

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NEW YORK (Colgate-Palmolive PR)– Today Colgate-Palmolive (Colgate)announced plans to send the first-ever private sector oral care experiment to the International Space Station (ISS), under the sponsorship of the ISS U.S. National Laboratory (National Lab). Driven by innovation and committed to take oral care research and development to new heights, Colgate designed the experiment to learn more – in a unique microgravity environment – about the bacteria that affect oral and overall health. The experiment will travel to the orbiting laboratory aboard SpaceX’s 22nd  commercial resupply services mission (SpaceX CRS-22), contracted by NASA, in the Dragon spacecraft launching no earlier than June 3, 2021 from Kennedy Space Center, FL.

“Colgate’s purpose is to reimagine a healthier future for all people, their pets and the planet,” says Pat Verduin, Chief Technology Officer at Colgate-Palmolive. “We constantly strive to push the limits of research and development – and now we’re pushing even further, into space. Our unique partnership with ISS National Lab and the University of Nevada – Las Vegas will help us go beyond what’s expected, beyond what’s known and even beyond our planet to test and accelerate the science of oral health,” saysVerduin.

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SpaceX’s 22nd Commercial Resupply Mission to Space Station Launches Water Bears, Squids, Solar Panels

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These immature bobtail squid (Euprymna scolopes) are part of UMAMI, an investigation that examines whether space alters the symbiotic relationship between the squid and the bacterium Vibrio fischeri. (Credits: Jamie S. Foster, University of Florida)

HOUSTON (NASA PR) — The 22nd SpaceX cargo resupply mission carrying scientific research and technology demonstrations launches to the International Space Station from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida no earlier than June 3. Experiments aboard include studying how water bears tolerate space, whether microgravity affects symbiotic relationships, analyzing the formation of kidney stones, and more.

Highlights of the payloads on this resupply mission include:

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Redwire Successfully Delivers First Pair of iROSA Solar Arrays to Augment ISS Power Supply

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ISS Roll-Out Solar Arrays (iROSA). (Credit: NASA)

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., May 6, 2021 (Redwire PR) – Redwire, a new leader and innovator in mission critical space solutions and high reliability components for the next generation space economy, announced today that it has successfully delivered the first pair of International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays (iROSA) to Boeing, NASA’s prime contractor for space station operations. The delivery follows acceptance testing comprised of multiple ambient functional deployments, vibration, and cold and hot temperature deployments. The solar arrays are currently undergoing flight package integration and are slated to launch on SpaceX’s 22nd commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

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SpaceX Leases Property at Port of Long Beach

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Long Beach Harbor property leased by SpaceX. (Credit; Google Maps)

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

The Long Beach Harbor Commission has unanimously approved a two-year lease with SpaceX for Elon Musk’s company to use a marine terminal for the recovery of Falcon 9 first stages.

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Astronauts Complete Spacewalk to Prepare Space Station for Power Upgrades

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Spacewalkers Victor Glover and Kate Rubins are pictured at the mast canister, installing bracket support struts to the base of the solar array on Feb, 28th 2021. (Credit: NASA)

HOUSTON (NASA PR) — NASA astronauts Kate Rubins and Victor Glover concluded their spacewalk on Sunday at 1:16 p.m. EST, after 7 hours and 4 minutes. In the third spacewalk of the year outside the International Space Station, the two NASA astronauts began work to install modification kits required for upcoming solar array upgrades.

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Multiple ISS National Lab-Sponsored Microbial Research Investigations Presently Being Performed on the Orbiting Platform

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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla., February 9, 2021 (CASIS PR) – Astronauts onboard the International Space Station (ISS) are currently supporting two investigations sponsored by the U.S. National Laboratory that are focused on microbial research. The space station’s unique microgravity environment allows investigators to conduct fundamental research not possible on Earth that may yield valuable insights in the life sciences, ultimately leading to applications to benefit humans on Earth.

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SpaceX CRS-21 Safely Splashes Down Off the Coast of Florida, Returning Science From the Space Station Back to Earth

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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla., January 14, 2021 (CASIS PR)  – SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft splashed down safely off the coast of Florida last night, concluding a month-plus stay at the International Space Station (ISS) to bring back thousands of pounds of scientific research and cargo.

With this successful splashdown, SpaceX completed its 21st Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) mission to the orbiting laboratory for NASA. This also marks the first mission of the upgraded Dragon cargo spacecraft with double the powered locker capacity of previous capsules, allowing for even more research to travel back to Earth for analysis.

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