SpaceX CRS-15 Mission Overview
The International Space Station (ISSInternational Space Station) U.S. National Laboratory is enabling a new era of research in space aimed at improving life on Earth. The SpaceX Commercial Resupply Services (CRS)-15 mission is slated for launch no earlier than June 29, 2018, carrying multiple ISS National Lab payloads.
The SpaceX CRS-15 mission includes a variety of payloads representing diverse science investigations, ranging from the life and physical sciences to Earth observation and remote sensing, as well as educational experiments intended to engage and excite the next generation of scientists and engineers.
Below are highlights of sponsored ISS National Lab investigations that are part of the SpaceX CRS-15 mission:
ARISE
University of Duisburg-Essen (Germany)
PI: Tobias Steinpilz
The main objective of the experiment is to investigate the impact of collisional charge separation of small, 0.5mm-sized glass spheres on the aggregation process of larger clusters. The research will help to explain how larger aggregates can grow during the planet formation process. It will also help to understand the fundamental behavior of charge separation, which is important to explain electric and volcanic storms.
Hardware Partner: NanoRacks, in collaboration with Education Partner DreamUp
Barrios PCG
Barrios Technology
PI: Lawrence J. DeLucas
This experiment seeks to demonstrate the feasibility of conducting protein-crystal-growth experiments in real time on the ISS. Astronauts will add solutions to the hardware, observe the crystals that form, and adjust for follow-on experiments. This approach gives scientists the ability to optimize crystal growth in orbit instead of waiting for samples to return and then launching again with modified conditions. Scientists crystallize proteins to see how molecules are structured, which can provide new information about how they work in the body and how drugs can be developed to treat human diseases.
Hardware Partner: NanoRacks
BCATS-CS Quantifying Cohesive Sediment Dynamics for Advanced Environmental Modeling
University of California, Santa Barbara
PI: Paolo Luzzatto-Fegiz
The first of many National Science Foundation payloads that will be launching to station, this investigation will study forces between particles that cluster together. The physical system studied consists of sediments of quartz and clay particles. By conducting the research on the ISS, it is possible to separate the forces acting on the particles over a short range (adhesive forces) versus those acting over a long range (cohesive forces). 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., investigators can observe how particles cluster over long time scales without gravitational settling, which complicates measurements taken on Earth. The quartz/clay system is commonly found in a wide variety of environmental settings (such as rivers, lakes, and oceans) and plays an important role in technological efforts related to deep-sea hydrocarbon drilling and carbon-dioxide sequestration.
Hardware Partner: Zin Technologies
BioScience-8-Gene Control Prime-EPICON
University of Zurich
PI: Oliver Ullrich
This investigation analyzes human immune cells to identify microgravity-induced regulation of gene expression by epigenetics, heritable changes that do not alter DNA sequence. Knowing how gravity alters normal cell function through epigenetics contributes to both better mediation of space-related immunological effects and improved understanding of the fundamental functions of mammalian immune cells, providing insight into how to address problems associated with altered immune function on Earth.
Hardware Partner: STaARS
DLR Earth Sensing Imaging Spectrometer (DESIS)
German Space Agency
PI: David Krutz
The German Space Agency (DLR) Earth Sensing Imaging Spectrometer (DESIS) investigation verifies and enhances the use of space-based Earth-imaging capabilities in the hyperspectral range (i.e., from the visual to near infrared spectrum). DESIS produces high-value imagery for Teledyne Brown Engineering commercial purposes. Requested images are collected and transferred to the Multiple User System for Earth Sensing (MUSES) server onboard the ISS for delivery to a hosted cloud that provides users with access. The instrument has a number of commercial and humanitarian applications.
Hardware Partner: Teledyne Brown Engineering
Domesticating Algae for Sustainable Production of Feedstocks in Space (Space Algae)
University of Florida
PI: Mark Settles
This investigation seeks to engineer microalgae for growth in microgravity to understand the genetic basis of rapid biomass increase and high-value compound production. A long-term goal is to domesticate and engineer algae for optimal production of biomass feedstocks in space while consuming waste carbon dioxide. Although there is great promise in developing algae into a feedstock for chemical or food production, relatively few algae-growth studies have been conducted in space. Algae can also produce high-value compounds that can be used to develop important refined products (such as health-related, pharmaceutical, and nutraceutical products). Abiotic stress from the growth environment can increase production of these high-value compounds in algae. Microgravity, which could be perceived as an abiotic stress, may induce the production of such compounds.
Hardware Partner: Space Tango
Endothelial Cells in Microgravity as a Model System for Evaluation of Cancer Therapy Toxicity
Angiex Cancer Therapy
PI: Shou-Ching Jaminet
Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the U.S. and is expected to surpass heart disease as the leading killer by 2030. Angiex will evaluate the hypothesis that microgravity-cultured endothelial cells represent a valid model system for the effects of vascular-targeted agents on normal blood vessels. If the hypothesis is validated, study results will potentially enable Angiex’s drug to be designed for lower toxicity and will create an important model system for testing of any vascular drug. Angiex’s therapy targets both the tumor vasculature and tumor cells. Because nearly all cancers require growth of a distinct vasculature to enable tumor growth, Angiex’s drug may potentially treat over 90% of all cancers.
Hardware Partner: Bioserve
Flumias-DEA
Airbus
PI: Rainer Treichel
The mission objective of Flumias DEA is to demonstrate technology for miniaturized fluorescence microscopy in space by observing two scientific samples in a temperature-controlled environment. One sample is of fixed dead cells and the second sample is of live cells. This investigation is hoping to pave the way for a much more complex mission in which results could provide a foundation for a scalable and powerful fluorescence microscope for in-orbit 3D imaging of biological samples.
Hardware Partner: Space Tango
Growth of Assorted Microgreens in Microgravity
Magnitude.io
PI: Ted Tagami
This experiment demonstrates modular, autonomous, and retrievable crop research in space by contributing to the understanding of plant cultivation in service of food oxygen and other habitat requirements on long term space missions. This experiment also provides insight on plant grown under unusual conditions and can inform crop science basic biology and horticultural applications on Earth.
Hardware Partner: Space Tango
Made In Space Fiber Optics-3
Made In Space
PI: Jan Clawson
High-performance optical fiber has been extensively used for efficient and compact ultraviolet, visible, and infrared fiber lasers due to its low intrinsic loss, wide transparency window, and small phonon energy. This technology enables advances in many different sectors, including medical devices such as laser scalpels and endoscopes, sensors for the aerospace and defense industry, and telecommunications applications. The optical fiber ZBLAN has the potential to far exceed the performance of other fibers in common use. Researchers have previously demonstrated microgravity as effective at eliminating imperfections in ZBLAN fibers, and Made In Space plans to develop and send their optical fiber production facility to the ISS to produce ZBLAN fibers in space. This will be the third iteration of Made In Space leveraging station to produce ZBLAN fibers in microgravity conditions.
Hardware Partner: Made In Space
Megachile rotundata Proprioception and Flight Patterns in Microgravity
Higher Orbits
PI: Michelle Lucas
The objective of this experiment is to observe the behavior and flight patterns of alfalfa leaf cutting bees (Megachile rotundata) in the microgravity environment. These bees are efficient pollinators though they are solitary and do not build colonies or store honey. Data to be examined during the life of the experiment includes flight patterns, feeding behavior, proprioception, general locomotion, and any morphological changes. Better understanding the behavior and physiological changes of bees in space has practical application in the future of horticulture and agriculture on Earth and in space.
Hardware Partner: Space Tango
Microgravity Crystal Growth for Improvement in Neutron Diffraction
University of Toledo
PI: Timothy Mueser
Salmonella is a food-borne pathogen that primarily affects infants and young children. Inhibition of growth and the elimination of Salmonella contamination are vital for the food industry. This investigation seeks to use microgravity to produce larger and higher-quality crystals of three medically relevant proteins for neutron diffraction, with an aim to improve the structure determination of the proteins. Improved structure determination could help control Salmonella contamination in the food industry, aid in the development of compounds to help monitor treatment progress in patients with heart or liver disease, and provide insight into how DNA repair could be optimized to prevent diseases caused by damage to DNA.
Hardware Partner: Bionetics Corp.
Orbital Sidekick
PI: Daniel Katz
The ISS Hyperspectral Earth Imaging System Trial (ISS-HEIST) will utilize the NanoRacks External Platform(Abbreviation: NREP) A platform that on the exterior of the ISS that provides power and a data connection and enables payloads to operate in the harsh space environment. This ISS National Lab commercial facility is owned and operated by Nanoracks. (NREP) on the ISS to operate a compact hyperspectral sensor system for commercial Earth observation. Satellite-based hyperspectral imaging provides timely, cost-effective, and noninvasive global monitoring capabilities. For defense, hyperspectral technology can provide plume, camouflage, and target detection along with space situational awareness, which is especially useful in denied areas of access. Hyperspectral data sets can be utilized to detect chemical weapon signatures, identify military resources and troop movement, and aid with relief efforts. Satellites with hyperspectral sensors allow users to obtain global data sets with minimum resources.
Hardware Partner: NanoRacks
NanoRacks-Ramon SpaceLab-01
The Ramon Foundation
PI: Maya Golan
This payload is a compilation of five investigations onboard the International Space Station: examining the effect of microgravity on yeast fermentation, testing whether microgravity accelerates the dissolving of medication in simulated stomach acid, testing formation of more stable emulsions of oil and water in space, measuring growth of yeast in urine as a potential source of vitamins and a mechanism of filtering urine for drinking, and observing transfer of a fluorescent plasmid during conjugation of Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria in microgravity as a step toward genetically engineering proteins.
Hardware Partner: NanoRacks, in collaboration with Education Partner DreamUp
PAPELL (Pump Application using Pulsed Electromagnets for Liquid reLocation)
Institute of Space Systems, University of Stuttgart (Germany)
PIs: Manfred Ehresmann, Franziska Hild, Kira Grunwald
This investigation aims to show the functionality of a ferrofluid pump in a microgravity environment. The term “ferrofluid” describes a fluid which, under the influence of a magnetic field, acquires magnetic properties and can thus be manipulated by using magnets. The pump itself works without any moving components and instead uses the interaction between the ferrofluid and electromagnets. Through specific activation and deactivation of the electromagnets, the ferrofluid drops can be moved in different ways both over a surface as well as through a pipe system. In the meantime, the dynamic process will be observed by cameras for later analysis. Many applications on Earth would benefit from a low-wear/low-maintenance pump with extended operational lifetime. By documenting magnetic fluid performance under unusual conditions of microgravity, PAPELL advances understanding of these systems and how they can be used.
Hardware Partner: NanoRacks
Qucopartex – Precious (QUANTUM)
Aurora Group
PI: Matija Bericic
This experiment tests the effects of a cosmic environment on gold, quartz, beryl, and opal. The materials are maintained onboard the ISS for 3–5 years in order to expose the various solid materials to a space environment and allow the infusion of high-energy cosmic particles. Upon return, the materials undergo physical, chemical, and biological tests to determine significant differences on their deterioration, loss in stability, and entropy gain from exposure to a cosmic environment. ISS samples are compared to Earth samples and also underground samples, which have less cosmic particle exposure.
Hardware Partner: NanoRacks
Student Spaceflight Experiment Program (SSEP) Student Investigations
National Center for Earth and Space Science Education
PI: Jeff Goldstein
SSEP will be sending 30 different student investigations to the ISS as part its fourteenth flight opportunity: SSEP Mission 12. Student teams from across the U.S. have designed their own experiments using flight-approved fluids and materials.
Hardware Partner: NanoRacks, in collaboration with Education Partner DreamUp