WASHINGTON, Feb. 15, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Media
accreditation now is open for the launch of the next SpaceX
delivery of supplies and equipment, including science
investigations, to the International Space Station, currently
targeted for no earlier than April.
A Dragon cargo spacecraft, previously flown on SpaceX's eighth
commercial resupply mission to the station for NASA, will launch on
a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral
Air Force Station (CCAFS) in Florida.
Media prelaunch and launch activities will take place at CCAFS
and NASA's neighboring Kennedy Space
Center. Credentialing deadlines are as follows:
- International media without U.S. citizenship must apply by
4:30 p.m. EST Thursday, March 1, for
access to CCAFS or 4:30 p.m. Monday, March
19, for access to Kennedy media activities only.
- U.S. media must apply by 4:30 p.m. Friday, March 23.
All media accreditation requests should be submitted online
at:
https://media.ksc.nasa.gov
For questions about accreditation, please email
ksc-media-accreditat@mail.nasa.gov. For other questions, contact
Kennedy's newsroom at 321-867-2468.
Highlights of space station research that will be facilitated by
Dragon's arrival are:
- The Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor, an Earth observatory
that will study severe thunderstorms and their role in the Earth's
atmosphere and climate.
- An investigation that seeks to better understand how the lack
of gravity affects a process used to produce high-performance
products from metal powders. This research could lead to improved
manufacturing techniques.
- Continuing research on growing food in space, as the Veggie
Passive Orbital Nutrient Delivery System experiment tests a new way
to deliver nutrients to plants.
Among the cargo that will enable National Laboratory research,
which is managed by the Center for the Advancement of Science
in Space, is a platform that will enable testing of materials,
coatings, and components in the harsh environment of space, and
investigations into the process of antibiotic release and
technology for the evaluation of drug safety and effectiveness.
This is the 14th SpaceX mission under NASA's Commercial Resupply
Services contract.
The International Space Station is a convergence of science,
technology and human innovation that demonstrates new technologies
and makes research breakthroughs not possible on Earth. The space
station has been occupied continuously since November 2000. In that time, more than 220 people
and a variety of international and commercial spacecraft have
visited the orbiting laboratory. The space station remains the
springboard to NASA's next great leap in exploration, including
future missions to the Moon and eventually to Mars.
For launch countdown coverage, NASA's launch blog, and more
information about the mission, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/spacex
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SOURCE NASA