Tag: microgravity experiments

Sierra Space and Space Tango to Revolutionize Manufacturing for New Low-Earth Orbit Economy and Create Space Business Opportunities

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LOUISVILLE, Colo., and LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sierra Space/Space Tango PR) — Sierra Space and Space Tango are joining forces to make manufacturing more accessible and available in space, opening up new market opportunities in low-Earth orbit (LEO). The new space economy will include partners from several sectors, including technology, materials and biomedical industries. This key work can help humanity and the medical field on Earth by opening more opportunities for scientific and technical breakthroughs. 

Sierra Space is a new commercial, independent company that is transforming the way humans live and work in space, creating a new space station concept with its Dream Chaser spaceplane and LIFE Habitat, making space more accessible and affordable. Space Tango is an aerospace company dedicated to creating transformational solutions in manufacturing by utilizing the unique environment of space.   

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NSF and CASIS Select Three Tissue Engineering Projects to Leverage the ISS National Lab

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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla., September 8, 2021 (CASIS PR) – The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) and the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) today announced three awarded projects from a joint solicitation focused on transformative tissue engineering and mechanobiology research. Through this partnership, NSF awarded $1.2 million to the selected projects to leverage the International Space Station (ISS) U.S. National Laboratory to advance fundamental science and biomedical engineering. CASIS, manager of the ISS National Lab, will facilitate hardware implementation in-orbit access, and astronaut crew time to support the investigations on the orbiting laboratory.

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Virgin Galactic Announces First Commercial Research Mission

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A view from inside the cockpit. (Credit: Virgin Galactic)
  • “Unity 23” Test Flight Will Mark First Research Customer Mission
  • Partnership with Italian Air Force Marks First Mission of Its Kind led by European Country

LAS CRUCES, N.M. (Virgin Galactic PR) — Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: SPCE) (the “Company” or “Virgin Galactic”), a vertically integrated aerospace and space travel company, today announced the manifest for the next rocket-powered test flight of SpaceShipTwo Unity from Spaceport America, which will be the first commercial, human-tended research mission for the Company.

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Researchers Successfully Biomine Vanadium Aboard the Space Station

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Preflight fluorescence microscopy image of biofilm of Spingomonas desiccabilis growing over and into the surface of a basalt slide as part of Biorock experiment. Organisms are stained with DNA binding dye, Sybr Gold. Growth can be seen into the rock cavities. (Credits: ESA)

HOUSTON (NASA PR) — For centuries, humans have mined materials to build the tools we use every day, from batteries and cell phones to airplanes and refrigerators. While the process of obtaining these important minerals used to rely entirely on heavy machinery, fire, and human labor, scientists have learned how to harness the natural power of microbes to do some of the work.

This process, called biomining, has become common as a cost efficient and environmentally friendly way to obtain the metals around us in nature. As humans plan expeditions deeper into space, biomining offers a way to obtain needed materials for use on other planetary bodies rather than transporting them from Earth.

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Cargo Dragon Docks with International Space Station

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Credit: NASA

HOUSTON (NASA PR) — While the International Space Station was traveling about 260 miles over the Western Australia, a SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft autonomously docked to the forward-facing port of the orbiting laboratory’s Harmony module at 10:30 a.m. EDT, Monday, Aug. 30. Flight Engineers Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur of NASA monitored operations.

Among the science experiments Dragon is delivering to the space station are:

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Cutting-Edge Science Launches on NASA’s SpaceX Cargo Resupply Mission

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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, topped with the uncrewed Dragon spacecraft, soars upward after lifting off from NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A in Florida at 3:14 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021. Dragon will deliver new science investigations, supplies, and equipment to the International Space Station for NASA and SpaceX’s 23rd commercial resupply services mission. (Credits: NASA/Kim Shiflett)

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. (NASA PR) — The latest SpaceX Dragon resupply spacecraft is bound for the International Space Station after launching at 3:14 a.m. EDT Sunday on a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying more than 4,800 pounds of science experiments, crew supplies, and spacecraft hardware.

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Going to Extremes with MISSE: Advancing New Materials and Technology Outside the ISS

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Photo documentation of the Materials ISS Experiment Flight Facility (MISSE-FF) platform aboard the International Space Station. (Credits: NASA)

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla., August 27, 2021 (CASIS PR) – The International Space Station (ISS) is an incredible research platform that has hosted more than 3,000 experiments—but not all that research takes place inside the orbiting laboratory. On the outside of the ISS, the extreme space conditions provide an unparalleled environment to test new materials and advance technologies in ways not possible on Earth.

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SwRI Tests Liquid Acquisition Device Aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard Rocket

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New Shepard rocket lands (Credit: Blue Origin)

August 26, 2021 — A Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) experiment was performed aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard suborbital rocket today, which launched from Van Horn, Texas. Five variations of the tapered liquid acquisition device (LAD), which is designed to safely deliver liquid propellant to a rocket engine from fuel tanks, were aboard the rocket to evaluate their performance in microgravity.

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SpaceX CRS-23 to Launch Multiple ISS National Lab-Sponsored Investigations Into Low Earth Orbit

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The International Space Station, photographed by ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli following the undocking of his Soyuz-TMA on 23 May 2011. (Credit: ESA/NASA)

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER (FL), August 24, 2021 (CASIS PR) – In the early morning of Saturday, August 28, SpaceX intends to launch its 23rd Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The mission, launching from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center no earlier than 3:37 a.m. EDT, will send more than 4,800 pounds of critical supplies and research to the orbiting laboratory. Among the cargo flying on SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft are more than a dozen payloads sponsored by the ISS U.S. National Laboratory, including physical and life sciences investigations, technology demonstrations, and student-led experiments.

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Blue Origin’s New Shepard Aces 17th Launch

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VAN HORN, Texas (Blue Origin PR) — Blue Origin successfully completed the 17th New Shepard mission to space and back for the program, and the 8th consecutive flight for this particular vehicle.

Today’s flight featured commercial payloads on board, several of which were supported by NASA’s Flight Opportunities program and included a second flight of the Deorbit, Descent, and Landing (DDL) Sensor Demonstration under a NASA Tipping Point partnership. The DDL demonstration, which flew for the second time mounted on the exterior of New Shepard’s booster, tested technology designed to achieve high-accuracy landing for future Moon missions. This aims to enable long-term lunar exploration. 

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Making Space-Based Research More Affordable—With a Little Help From the Girl Scouts

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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,, August 25, 2021 (CASIS PR) – Using ants, plants, and even brine shrimp, a group of Girl Scouts will be among the first researchers to help test a new autonomous research platform on the International Space Station (ISS) that is helping to expand the affordability of microgravity research. 

The Faraday Research Facility, developed by ISS U.S. National Laboratory Commercial Service Provider ProXopS, LLC., will launch on SpaceX’s upcoming 23rd Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) mission. If validated, the platform—capable of housing up to 12 remotely operated “microlab” experiments—could provide a cost- and resource-effective way to transport, conduct, and return spaceflight investigations.  

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Blue Origin New Shepard’s 17th Flight to Space Set for August 25

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New Shepard landing on the pad in West Texas on October 13, 2020, with the NASA Lunar Landing Sensor Demo onboard. (Credit: Blue Origin)

KENT, Wash. (Blue Origin PR) — New Shepard’s next mission will fly a NASA lunar landing technology demonstration a second time on the exterior of the booster, 18 commercial payloads inside the crew capsule, 11 of which are NASA-supported, and an art installation on the exterior of the capsule. Liftoff is currently targeted for Wednesday, August 25, at 8:35 am CDT/13:35 UTC from Launch Site One in West Texas. Live launch coverage begins at T-30 minutes on BlueOrigin.com.

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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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