WASHINGTON, July 20, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA
commercial cargo provider SpaceX now is targeting 6:24 p.m. EDT Wednesday, July 24, for the launch
of its 18th resupply mission to the International Space Station.
Live coverage will begin on NASA Television and the
agency's website with prelaunch events Tuesday, July 23.
The company's Dragon spacecraft will deliver supplies and
critical materials to directly support dozens of the more than 250
science and research investigations that will occur during
Expeditions 60 and beyond. In addition to bringing research to
station, the Dragon's unpressurized trunk is carrying the
International Docking Adapter-3 (IDA-3), which, when installed on
the space station, will provide the microgravity laboratory with
two common ports that expand opportunities for visiting vehicles,
including new spacecraft designed to carry humans for NASA's
Commercial Crew Program.
Dragon will dock to the space station Friday, July 26, and be greeted by NASA
astronauts Nick Hague, Christina Koch and Andrew Morgan. Using the station's robotic arm,
Hague will grab, or grapple, Dragon with Koch providing backup.
Morgan will assist by monitoring telemetry during Dragon's
approach. After Dragon capture, mission control in Houston will send ground commands for the
station's robotic arm to rotate and install it on the bottom of the
station's Harmony module.
Full mission coverage is as follows (all times Eastern):
Tuesday, July 23
- 9 a.m. – NASA Social, What's on
Board science briefing from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This briefing will highlight the
following research:
-
- Pete Hasbrook, manager of NASA's
International Space Station Program Science Office, will provide an
overview of the research being conducted on the space station and
how it benefits exploration and humanity.
- Ken Shields, chief operating
officer of the International Space Station's U.S. National
Laboratory, will discuss the lab's work in advancing science in
space and developing partnerships that drive
industrialization.
- Gene Boland, chief scientist at
Techshot, Inc., and Ken Church,
chief executive officer at nScrypt, will discuss
the BioFabrication Facility, which is designed to print
organ-like tissues in microgravity, a stepping stone in a long-term
plan to manufacture whole human organs in space using refined
biological 3D printing techniques.
- Charles Cockell, professor of
astrobiology at the University of
Edinburgh, will discuss Biorock, an investigation that will
provide insight into the physical interactions of liquid, rocks and
microorganisms under microgravity conditions to inform potential
mining of materials in space and benefit long-duration spaceflight
missions.
- Valentina Fossati from the New
York Stem Foundation Research Institute and Andres Bratt-Leal from Aspen Neuroscience will
discuss the Space Tango – Induced Stem Cells investigation, where
cells from patients with Parkinson's disease and Multiple Sclerosis
will be cultured on the space station to examine the cell-to-cell
interactions that occur in such neurodegenerative diseases and
inform the development of new treatments.
- Rasha Hammamieh, principal investigator from the U.S. Army
Center for Environmental Health Research, and Melissa Kacena, co-investigator at the
Indiana University School of Medicine,
will discuss the Cell Science-02 investigation. This study compares
the ability of two different bone-inducing growth factors, one
novel and one currently used in bone healing therapies, to
stimulate growth, differentiation and related cellular functions of
osteoblast in the microgravity environment.
- Jason August, manager of the
International Space Station Mission Evaluation Room, will discuss
IDA-3, where Boeing's CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX's Crew Dragon
spacecraft will dock in the near future when it transports
astronauts to the station.
Wednesday, July 24
- 10 a.m. – Prelaunch news
conference from Kennedy with representatives from the agency's
International Space Station Program, SpaceX and the U.S. Air
Force's 45th Space Wing.
- 6 p.m. – NASA TV launch coverage
begins for the 6:24 p.m. launch.
Friday, July 26
- 5:30 a.m. – Dragon rendezvous,
grapple and attaching to the station. Capture is scheduled for
approximately 7 a.m.
- 9 a.m. – Dragon installation to
the nadir port of the Harmony module of the station
Dragon will remain at the space station until Aug. 20, when the spacecraft will return to Earth
with research and return cargo.
The deadline for media to apply for accreditation for this
launch has passed, but general information about media
accreditation is available by emailing
ksc-media-accreditat@mail.nasa.gov.
For the latest schedule of prelaunch briefings, events and NASA
TV coverage, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-to-broadcast-next-space-station-resupply-launch-prelaunch-activities-1
Learn more about the SpaceX resupply mission at:
https://www.nasa.gov/spacex
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SOURCE NASA