SpaceX CRS-26 Mission Overview

No earlier than 4:19 p.m. EDT, Monday, November 21, SpaceX will launch its 26^th 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. (SpaceX CRS-26) to the International Space Station (ISSInternational Space Station) from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. On this mission, multiple payloads represent research, educational projects, and technology demonstrations sponsored by the ISS National Laboratory. Below highlights ISS National Lab-sponsored payloads on SpaceX CRS-26.

Electrical Stimulation of Human Myocytes 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.
University of Florida
PI: Dr. Siobhan Malany

This project seeks to develop a tissue chipA tissue chip, or organ-on-a-chip or microphysiological system, is a small engineered device containing human cells and growth media to model the structure and function of human tissues and/or organs. Using tissue chips in microgravity, researchers can study the mechanisms behind disease and test new treatments for patients on Earth. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has a multiyear partnership with the ISS National Laboratory® to fund tissue chip research on the space station. system to culture and electrically stimulate human primary skeletal muscle cells from young and older adults in microgravity. Electrical stimulation causes muscle microtissues to contract, allowing the team to monitor muscle contraction rates. Physiological changes resulting in loss of muscle mass and strength occur about 10 times faster in microgravity than on Earth. The team’s tissue chip platform will serve as an advanced human cell culture system to study microgravity-induced physiological changes that mimic age-related muscle loss and to test therapeutics to treat muscle wasting. This project is funded by the National Institutes of Health and builds on prior ISS National Lab-sponsored investigations to validate use of a lab-on-a-chip system to culture human skeletal muscle cells in microgravity.

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

Extrusion
MIT Space Exploration Initiative
PI: Dr. Ariel Ekblaw

This investigation seeks to demonstrate the extrusion of liquid resin into custom forms in the microgravity environment to create geometries that are not possible in the presence of gravity. This investigation helps to lay the groundwork for the additive manufacturing of more complex structures with specifically tailored properties. On Earth, gravity deforms large objects such as beams in large-scale construction; however, microgravity enables fabrication of longer and thinner structures. This project will demonstrate a technology using liquid resin to create geometries that cannot be created on Earth. The capability for large-scale construction in space could enable an array of structures such as space stations, solar arrays, and equipment.

Implementation Partner: Nanoracks, LLC

Making Space for Girls Challenge
Girl Scouts of Citrus Council and SpaceKids Global
PI: Maryann Berry

The 2020 Making Space for Girls challenge, organized by the Girl Scouts of Citrus Council and SpaceKids Global, with support from ProXopS, was open to young female researchers around the United States to propose ideas for experiments that could be conducted onboard the orbiting laboratory. The three winning student experiments, each evaluating the characteristics of living organisms 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., will be carried out onboard the ISS. One experiment will examine microgravity’s effects on ant behavior, another will look at plant growth in space, and the last will explore how brine shrimp (popularized as sea monkeys) move and behave in the low Earth orbit environment.

Implementation Partner: Leidos Innovation Corporation

Osteopromotive Bone Adhesive on Skeletal Stem Cells-Resubmission
RevBio
PI: Dr. Giuseppe Intini

This project from RevBio, an emerging biotechnology startup company, seeks to use the space station to evaluate a new biomaterial to glue bones together and accelerate the repair of bone fractures. The injectable glue, Tetranite®, has the potential to speed new bone growth while reducing recovery time and pain for patients.

Implementation Partner: Leidos Innovation Corporation

Remote Controlled Nanochannel Implant for Tunable Drug Delivery
Houston Methodist Research Institute
PI: Dr. Alessandro Grattoni

This project will utilize results from a previous ISS National Lab-sponsored nanofluidics project to aid in the development of a drug delivery implant that can be remotely controlled to release specific amounts of treatment—a form of individualized medicine. This investigation will test the advanced, implantable drug delivery device that is designed to enable the controlled distribution of therapeutics inside the human body. If proven successful, the device could allow doctors to remotely control drug delivery in patients in remote areas of Earth, or even in astronauts during spaceflight. It could also lead to more complex drug regimens for future test subjects in space with limited crew interaction. This translational medicine project, which cannot be done on the ground, builds upon a project that used the ISS to better understand fluid flow though very small channels (nanofluidics) as part of a multi-year research plan.

Implementation Partner: ProxOps

STARward STEM Design Challenge
DreamUp
PI: Lauren Milord

The STARward STEM program is a collaboration between RTI International and Cumberland County Schools that is igniting students’ passion for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) while illuminating new and exciting career paths through engagement with industry professionals. A team of students from Douglas Byrd High School in Tennessee will evaluate the impact of perchlorates on the corrosion and alloy AA7075-T73 (T-73) in microgravity. Additionally, a team from Cumberland Road Elementary School (NC) will perform a plant biology experiment to provide insights into future food and oxygen supplies for astronauts on deep space missions.

Implementation Partner: Nanoracks, LLC

Students Spaceflight Experiments Program – Mission 16
National Center for Earth and Space Science Education
PI: Dr. Jeff Goldstein

This payload contains 21 microgravity experiments designed by students in grades 5-12 and at the college undergraduate level that assess the role of microgravity in various physical, chemical, and biological systems. This payload includes a variety of MixStix experiments that examine antibiotic effectiveness, the growth and development of microaquatic organisms, seed germination, biofilm formation, crystal growth, and algae growth, while others assess microbes as alternative fuel sources and a way to decompose food waste.

Implementation Partner: Nanoracks, LLC