On the upcoming SpaceX CRS-10 resupply mission to the International Space Station, a Dragon spacecraft will deliver the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) III instrument to further study ozone in the atmosphere. Photo courtesy of NASA

NASA, USA - February 7, 2017

NASA will host a media teleconference at 3 p.m. EST Wednesday, Feb. 8, to discuss research investigations launching aboard the next  SpaceX  commercial resupply flight to  the International Space Station.

Among the investigations are experiments with potential to fight human disease and a new autonomous spacecraft docking technology for testing.

Raven, a technology demonstration headed to the International Space Station on the next SpaceX cargo launch, scheduled for mid-February, will provide a real-time relative navigation system for future autonomous rendezvous missions. Photo courtesy of NASA

The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft is targeted to launch no earlier than mid-February, on a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

This will be the first mission from the historic launch pad since SpaceX began to modernize the pad’s structures in preparation to fly astronauts on NASA missions for the agency’s Commercial Crew Program.

To participate in the science preview teleconference, reporters must contact Tabatha Thompson at 202-358-1100 or tabatha.t.thompson@nasa.gov  by 1 p.m. Wednesday for dial-in information.

The Craft Academy is a great opportunity for your son or daughter to earn up to two years in college credit hours while they complete high school. The Craft Academy is located on the campus of Morehead State University, which is consistently ranked as one of the safest universities in Kentucky. Photo courtesy of NASA

The briefing participants will include:

• Danielle Gibson and Will Castro, students at Craft Academy at Morehead State University, to explain their experiment to use and evaluate smooth muscle cells to test theories about muscle contraction in the absence of gravity;

• Paul Reichert, associate principal scientist at Merck Research Laboratories, who will discuss a Merck investigation that tests growth in microgravity of antibodies important for fighting a wide range of human diseases;

• Michael Freilich, director of NASA’s Earth Science Division, to brief two Earth science payloads: NASA’s Stratospheric Aerosol Gas Experiment III mission and Lightning Imaging Sensor, which will provide continuity for key climate observations and data records;

• Ben Reed, deputy division director of the Satellite Servicing Projects Division at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, to discuss Raven, a technology demonstration to test autonomous rendezvous capability on the International Space Station; and

• Dr. Anita Goel, chairman and scientific director for Nanobiosym, to discuss an experiment to provide data valuable for antibiotic drug development.

NASA engineer Chip Holloway waits for the sun to align with the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment, or SAGE, III instrument during a clean room "sun-look" test on March 4, 2013, at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. SAGE III passed this test, successfully locking onto the sun and completing a series of measurements. SAGE III will measure aerosols, ozone, water vapor and other gases to help scientists better understand levels of ozone in the Earth's atmosphere. Photo courtesy of NASA Langley / Sean Smith

http://www.moreheadstate.edu/Admissions/Craft-Academy  

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/-experiments/1972.html

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/sage-iii-to-look-back-at-earths-atmospheric-sunscreen  

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/-experiments/2011.html

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/-experiments/1995.html

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/-experiments/2420.html

In the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, operations are underway to close out processing of NASA's Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment III, or SAGE, III instrument. On May 16, 2016, an engineer is working in a super-clean 'tent' built in the SSPF high bay to protect SAGE III’s special optics. The class '10K,' or 10,000, clean room provides an environment in which there is less than 10,000 particles of less than a half micron inside. That’s about 150 times cleaner than the air in the average living room. Photo courtesy of NASA / Charles Babir

The uncrewed Dragon cargo spacecraft will carry crew supplies, scientific research and hardware to the orbital laboratory to support the Expedition 50 and 51 crew members.

This launch is the tenth contracted mission by SpaceX under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services contract.

Engineers and technicians perform closeout operations on the agency's Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment III, or SAGE III, instrument. Since December 2015, SAGE III has been prepared for its launch to the International Space Station aboard a Dragon spacecraft which will lift off atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Photo courtesy of NASA / Charles Babir

Audio of the teleconference will stream live online at:
http://www.nasa.gov/live  

For launch countdown coverage, NASA's launch blog, and more information about the mission, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/spacex  

NASA's Aura satellite observed the most severe ozone hole over Antarctica in 2006. The severity of the ozone hole resulted from the high ozone-depleting substance levels and the record cold conditions in the stratosphere over the South Pole. Aura is dedicated to understanding the changing chemistry of Earth’s atmosphere. Photo courtesy of NASA

Contact:

Tabatha Thompson
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
tabatha.t.thompson@nasa.gov  


Video
Ozone Monitoring SAGE III Set to Launch on SpaceX CRS-10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVyNQXWxH24  

To better understand this ozone depletion in the stratosphere, the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment, or SAGE, II instrument was part of the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite, or ERBS, deployed by the crew of space shuttle Challenger in 1984. Photo courtesy of NASA / Smithsonian Institution / Lockheed Corporation

Source: NASA

https://www.nasa.gov  



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