Research Payloads Arrive at the International Space Station U.S. National Laboratory
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL. (March 26, 2016) – The most recent series of payloads have berthed with the International Space Station (ISSInternational Space Station) today onboard the Orbital ATK Cygnus capsule. Many of the investigations transported by United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket and Cygnus capsule are payloads sponsored by the ISS U.S. National Laboratory. The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space is tasked with managing and promoting research onboard the ISS National Laboratory, and all manifested payloads must contain the potential for Earth benefits.
Below provides a summary of the major ISS National Laboratory-sponsored payloads delivered today:
ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING FACILITY
Michael Snyder, Made In Space, Inc.
The Additive Manufacturing Facility will enable 3D-printing projects from commercial, educational, and government entities interested in the development of objects for experiments and technology demonstrations. The ability to create on-demand hardware through 3-D printing on the ISS will benefit crew and researchers interested in space-based R&D—as well as advancing the field of additive manufacturing, enabling systems that are more efficient and generate less waste on Earth. These objects will be produced onboard the ISS in a fraction of the time currently required to have such objects manifested and delivered to the station using traditional ground preparation and launch.
PROJECT METEOR
Michael Fortenberry, Southwest Research Institute
The mission objective of this project is to fly a visible spectroscopy instrument to the ISS National Laboratory for the primary purpose of observing meteors in Earth orbit. Project Meteor will provide a continuous monitor of meteor interaction with the Earth’s atmosphere without limitations of the ozone absorption. The resultant data will be the first such measurement of meteor flux and will allow for monitoring of carbon-based compounds. Investigation of meteor elemental composition is important to our understanding of how the planets developed.
On this launch, the ISS National Laboratory also supported a variety of investigations from NanoRacks, LLC, representing education payloads derived from an association with Valley Christian High School in San Jose, CA as well as several commercial cube satellites. An example investigation from Valley Christian High School focuses on the crystallization of the SOD1 protein, which is linked to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease). 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. enables the formation of larger, more perfect crystals that allow scientists to better determine a protein’s structure, potentially leading to new methods for treating this debilitating disease.
For an in depth look at various payloads on this mission, please view this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVwaSUIDVOQ
To learn more about the ISS, including past research and available hardware facilities, please visit: www.spacestationresearch.com
# # #
About the ISS U.S. National Laboratory and the ISS National Lab
In 2005, Congress designated the U.S. portion of the International Space Station (ISS) as the nation’s newest National Laboratory to further improve life on Earth, promote collaboration among diverse users, and advance science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education.
In July 2011, NASANational Aeronautics and Space Administration selected the ISS National Lab to maximize use of the ISS U.S. National Laboratory through 2020. Today, the ISS National Lab works to make this unique laboratory environment available to U.S. government agencies and academic and private institutions, providing them access to a permanent microgravity setting, a 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 environment of space. For more information, visit stg-issnationallab-issnldevsite.kinsta.cloud.
# # #