Student Research Experiments to Play Prominent Role in Northrop Grumman Resupply Mission to the Space Station
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER (FL), September 28, 2020 – When Northrop Grumman launches its Cygnus spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISSInternational Space Station) on its 14th commercial resupply services mission(Abbreviation: CRS mission) A CRS mission is a cargo resupply mission contracted by NASA to deliver supplies and research to the International Space Station on commercial spacecraft as part of the CRS contract with three commercial companies. As part of CRS missions, experiments currently return to Earth on SpaceX Dragon spacecraft that splash down in the ocean. (CRS-14), it will do so with the eyes of children across the U.S. hoping to catch a glimpse of a rocket soaring into space. Rocket launches have a unique ability to captivate audiences and inspire young students to look to the stars for inspiration. The upcoming resupply mission contracted through NASA, currently scheduled for launch no earlier than October 1 at 9:38 p.m. ET, will carry dozens of research experiments to the orbiting laboratory. However, these payloads are not just from professional researchers—multiple student experiments will also launch to the ISS on this mission.
Since its inception, the ISS U.S. National Laboratory has sponsored numerous student experiments from around the world that have been conducted on station. A major initiative of the ISS National Lab is to engage and excite the next generation of explorers, and the ability for students to send experiments to the ISS provides a hands-on experience that will stay with young researchers forever. On Northrop Grumman CRS-14, several student experiments sponsored by the ISS National Lab will take advantage of the unique space-based environment provided by the ISS.
One payload launching on this mission is an investigation from a team of researchers and graduate students from the University of Adelaide in Australia. The team is working with two ISS National Lab commercial Implementation Partners to use facilities inside and outside the space station to study pharmaceutical stability. In two separate experiments, the team will examine how exposure to microgravity and space radiation may affect the stability of tablet formulations and their excipients (inactive ingredients). For the first experiment, which is launching on this mission, the research team will use Space Tango’s CubeLab hardware inside the ISS. The team will then conduct a second experiment using Alpha Space’s MISSE Flight FacilityThe Materials International Space Station Experiment Flight Facility is a hardware platform on the exterior of the ISS that provides exposure to the harsh space conditions for the accelerated testing of materials and technologies with important applications both in space and on Earth. This ISS National Lab commercial facility is owned and operated by Aegis Aerospace. on the exterior of the space station. This investigation is the University of Adelaide team’s first step in working to develop micro-flow spacelabs for in-orbit pharmaceutical formulation and manufacturing.
Also on this mission, the University of Georgia will send its Spectral Ocean Color (SPOC) Satellite, a 3U CubeSatSmall satellites that use a standard size and form factor, traditionally measuring 10 cm x 10 cm x 10 cm in size that may be deployed from the space station to conduct research and technology development. with an adjustable multispectral sensor used to create images with high spectral resolution that can detect a wide range of environmental phenomena. The resulting images can be used to monitor coastal wetlands and water quality. SPOC provides an opportunity to train students for potential careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) by allowing them to optimize data transmission techniques and geo-reference imagery for mapping. Students will also process images acquired from SPOC for analysis, develop community outreach programs, and learn general aerospace manufacturing, testing, and designing skills. SPOC will be launched from the ISS using the Nanoracks deployer.
Additionally, two student-led payloads on this mission are from Higher Orbits, an educational nonprofit that uses space to promote STEM, leadership, teamwork, and communication through its Go For Launch! program. Through this program, Higher Orbits sends student experiments to the space station under the flight allocation of the ISS National Lab. One investigation on this mission from a group of students from Spring Grove, IL will examine microgravity’s effects on the pupating cabbage moth, Mamestra brassicae. Another experiment from students in Kentucky and the Chicago area will measure the behavior and production of methane by southeastern drywood termites in microgravityThe condition of perceived weightlessness created when an object is in free fall, for example when an object is in orbital motion. Microgravity alters many observable phenomena within the physical and life sciences, allowing scientists to study things in ways not possible on Earth. The International Space Station provides access to a persistent microgravity environment.. Both investigations are supported by commercial Implementation Partner(Abbreviation: IP) Commercial companies that work with the ISS National Lab to provide services related to payload development, including the translation of ground-based science to a space-based platform. Space Tango and received funding from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).
“The ISS National Lab takes great pride in working with our education and implementation partners to enable student researchers to take their science, engineering, and technology questions to space far beyond their normal lab settings on Earth,” said Dr. Michael Roberts, interim chief scientist at the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS(Abbreviation: CASIS™) The nonprofit organization that manages the ISS National Lab, which receives at least 50 percent of the U.S. research allocation on the International Space Station to facilitate research that benefits humanity (NASA manages the other 50% and focuses on research for space exploration purposes).), manager of the ISS National Lab. “By collaboration with educators to support education projects on the space station, we hope to instill in students a lifelong interest in science and inspire them to pursue exciting career opportunities available in STEM fields.”
To learn more about all of the ISS National Lab–sponsored payloads flying on this mission, please see the ISS National Lab Northrop Grumman CRS-14 mission overview.
Media Contact:
Patrick O’Neill
904-806-0035
PONeill@ISSNationalLab.org
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About the International Space Station (ISS) U.S. National Laboratory: In 2005, Congress designated the U.S. portion of the ISS as the nation’s newest national laboratory to optimize its use for improving quality of life on Earth, promoting collaboration among diverse users, and advancing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. This unique laboratory environment is available for use by non-NASA U.S. government agencies, academic institutions, and the private sector. The ISS National Lab manages access to the permanent microgravity research environment, a powerful vantage point in low Earth orbit(Abbreviation: LEO) The orbit around the Earth that extends up to an altitude of 2,000 km (1,200 miles) from Earth’s surface. The International Space Station’s orbit is in LEO, at an altitude of approximately 250 miles., and the extreme and varied conditions of space. The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space is the nonprofit responsible for management of the ISS National Lab.
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