WASHINGTON, Nov. 27, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA commercial cargo provider SpaceX is targeting 12:51 p.m. EST Wednesday, Dec. 4, for the launch of its 19th resupply mission to the International Space Station under contract with the agency. Live coverage will begin on NASA Television and the agency's website Tuesday, Dec. 3, with prelaunch events.

The Dragon spacecraft, which will launch from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, will be filled with supplies and payloads, including critical materials to directly support dozens of the more than 250 science investigations and technology demonstrations that will occur during Expeditions 61 and 62.

About 10 minutes after launch, Dragon will reach its preliminary orbit. It will then deploy its solar arrays and begin a carefully choreographed series of thruster firings to reach the space station. When it arrives at the station Dec. 7, Expedition 61 Commander Luca Parmitano of ESA (European Space Agency) will grapple Dragon with NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan acting as a backup. NASA's Jessica Meir will assist the duo by monitoring telemetry during Dragon's approach. The station crew will monitor Dragon vehicle functions during rendezvous. After Dragon's capture, mission control in Houston will send commands for the station's arm to rotate and install it on the bottom of the station's Harmony Earth-facing port.  

Full mission coverage is as follows (all times Eastern):

Tuesday, Dec. 3

• 1:30 p.m. – NASA Social, What's on Board science briefing from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. This briefing will highlight the following research:
• Bryan Dansberry, assistant program scientist for NASA's International Space Station Program Science Office, will share an overview of the research being conducted aboard the space station and how it benefits exploration and humanity.
• Michael Roberts, interim chief scientist for the International Space Station U.S. National Laboratory, will discuss the lab's work in advancing science in space and developing partnerships that drive industrialization through microgravity research.
• Ya-Ting Liao and Paul Ferkul, investigators for the Confined Combustion experiment, will discuss the investigation which studies how fire spreads and behaves in confined spaces.
• Andres Martinez, principal investigator and a student participant for AzTechSat-1, the first Mexican-developed nanosatellite to be launched from the space station, will discuss how the investigation will demonstrate communication between a CubeSat and the GlobalStar Constellation satellite network in low-Earth orbit.
• Akira Iwasaki, principal investigator for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Hyperspectral Imager Suite (HISUI), will discuss the next-generation, hyperspectral Earth imaging system.
• Se-Jin Lee, professor at the Jackson Laboratory and University of Connecticut School of Medicine, and principal investigator of Rodent Research-19, and Emily Germain-Lee, professor at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and chief of endocrinology and diabetes, Connecticut Children's Medical Center, will discuss research on molecular signaling pathways that influence muscle degradation to prevent skeletal muscle and bone loss during spaceflight, and enhance recovery following return to Earth.
• 4 p.m. – Prelaunch news conference from Kennedy with representatives from NASA's International Space Station Program, SpaceX and the U.S. Air Force's 45th Space Wing. Participants include:
• Kenny Todd, manager, International Space Station Operations Integration at NASA
• Bryan Dansberry, assistant program scientist, International Space Station Program Science Office at NASA
• Jessica Jensen, director, Dragon Mission Management at SpaceX
• Mike McAleenan, launch weather officer, U.S. Air Force 45th Space Wing

Wednesday, Dec. 4

• 12:30 p.m. – NASA TV launch coverage begins for the 12:51 p.m. launch.

Saturday, Dec. 7

• 4:30 a.m. – Dragon rendezvous, grapple and attaching to the station. Capture is scheduled for approximately 6 a.m.
• 8:00 a.m. – Dragon installation to the nadir port of the Harmony module of the station

Dragon will remain at the space station until Jan. 4, 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-3

Learn more about the SpaceX resupply mission at:

https://www.nasa.gov/spacex

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SOURCE NASA

WASHINGTON, July 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA commercial cargo provider SpaceX is targeting 7:35 p.m. EDT Sunday, July 21, for the launch of its 18th agency-contracted resupply mission to the International Space Station. Live coverage will begin on NASA Television and the agency's website Sunday with prelaunch events.

The 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 enabling expanded opportunities for visiting vehicles, including new spacecraft designed to carry humans for NASA's Commercial Crew Program.

Dragon will dock to the space station Tuesday, July 23. When it arrives, NASA astronaut Nick Hague will grapple Dragon with NASA astronaut Christina Koch acting as a backup. NASA's Andrew Morgan will assist the duo by monitoring telemetry during Dragon's approach. The station crew will monitor Dragon vehicle functions during rendezvous. After Dragon capture, mission control in Houston will send ground commands for the station's arm to rotate and install it on the bottom of the station's Harmony module.https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/richard-r-arnold 

Full mission coverage is as follows (all times Eastern):

Sunday, July 21

• 9 a.m. – Prelaunch news conference from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida with representatives from the agency's International Space Station Program, SpaceX and the U.S. Air Force's 45th Space Wing.
• 12 p.m. – NASA Social What's on Board science briefing from Kennedy. This briefing will highlight the following research:
• Pete Hasbrook, office manager for NASA's International Space Station Program Science Office, will share an overview of the research being conducted aboard the space station and how it benefits exploration and humanity.
• Ken Shields, chief operating officer for the International Space Station U.S. National Laboratory, will discuss the lab's work in advancing science in space, and in developing partnerships that drive industrialization through microgravity research.
• 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, acting as a stepping- stone in a long-term plan to manufacture whole human organs in space using refined biological 3D printing techniques.
• George Papakonstantopoulos, principal scientist at Goodyear Tire, will discuss pushing the limits of silica fillers for tire applications. A better understanding of silica morphology and the relationship between silica structure and its properties could improve the silica design process, silica rubber formulation, and tire manufacturing and performance on the ground.
• 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 cell to cell interactions that occur in neurodegenerative disease.
• Rasha Hammamieh, principal investigator from the United States Army and Melissa Kacena, co-investigator at Indiana University School of Medicine, will discuss the Cell Science-02 investigation comparing 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 the International Docking Adapter-3 (IDA-3), where Boeing's CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft will dock in the near future when bringing astronauts to the station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program.
• 7 p.m. – NASA TV launch coverage begins for the 7:35 p.m. launch

Tuesday, July 23

• 5:30 a.m. – Dragon rendezvous, grapple and berthing. Capture is scheduled for approximately 7 a.m.
• 8:30 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 more 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

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nasa-to-broadcast-next-space-station-resupply-launch-prelaunch-activities-300885199.html

SOURCE NASA

WASHINGTON, April 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA commercial cargo provider SpaceX is targeting no earlier than 4:22 a.m. EDT Tuesday, April 30, for the launch of its next resupply mission to the International Space Station. Live coverage will begin on NASA Television and the agency's website Monday, April 29, with prelaunch events.  

This is the 17th SpaceX mission under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services contract. The Dragon spacecraft will deliver supplies and critical materials to support dozens of the more than 250 science and research investigations that will occur during Expeditions 59 and 60. The spacecraft's unpressurized trunk will transport NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-3 (OCO-3) and Space Test Program-Houston 6 (STP-H6).

OCO-3 will be installed robotically on the exterior of the space station's Japanese Experiment Module Exposed Facility Unit, where it will measure and map carbon dioxide from space to increase our understanding of the relationship between carbon and climate. STP-H6 is an X-ray communication investigation that will be used to perform a space-based demonstration of a new technology for generating beams of modulated X-rays. This technology may be useful for providing efficient communication to deep space probes, or communicating with hypersonic vehicles where plasma sheaths prevent traditional radio communications.

The spacecraft will take two days to reach the space station before installation on Thursday, May 2. When it arrives, astronaut David Saint-Jacques of the Canadian Space Agency will grapple Dragon, with NASA astronaut Nick Hague serving as backup. NASA astronaut Christina Koch will assist by monitoring telemetry during Dragon's approach. After Dragon capture, mission control in Houston will send commands to the station's arm to rotate and install the spacecraft on the bottom of the station's Harmony module.https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/richard-r-arnold

Full mission coverage is as follows (all times Eastern):

Monday, April 29

• 10:30 a.m. – What's on Board science briefing from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This briefing will highlight the following research:
• Genes in Space winners Rebecca Li, Aarthi Vijayakumar, Michelle Sung and David Li will discuss their experiment to study how cells repair their own DNA in space.
• Kristen John, principal investigator at NASA's Johnson Space Center, will discuss the Hermes Facility, a reconfigurable testing facility that can accommodate up to four experiments at a time. The facility will be used for investigations into the formation and behavior of asteroids and comets, impact dynamics, and planetary evolution.
• Annmarie Eldering, project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, will discuss how OCO-3 observes the complex dynamics of Earth's atmospheric carbon cycle.
• Danilo Tagle, program director at the National Institutes of Health, and Geraldine Hamilton, president and chief scientific officer of Emulate, Inc., will discuss Tissue Chips in Space, research that will employ tissue chip technology to develop and advance novel medical technologies on Earth.
• 1 p.m. – Prelaunch news conference with representatives from NASA's International Space Station Program, SpaceX and the U.S. Air Force's 45th Space Wing.

Tuesday, April 30

• 4 a.m. – NASA TV launch coverage begins for the 4:22 a.m., liftoff
• 5:30 a.m. – Postlaunch news conference with representatives from NASA's International Space Station Program and SpaceX.

Thursday, May 2

• 5:30 a.m. – Dragon rendezvous and capture coverage begins. 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 May 31, 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 for information about media accreditation, email 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 

Learn more about the SpaceX resupply mission at:

https://www.nasa.gov/spacex

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nasa-to-broadcast-next-space-station-resupply-launch-prelaunch-activities-300837820.html

SOURCE NASA