{"id":55749,"date":"2020-03-07T04:59:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-07T09:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/?migration=converted-node-458744"},"modified":"2023-08-17T11:48:08","modified_gmt":"2023-08-17T15:48:08","slug":"spacex-dragon-heads-to-space-station-with-nasa-science-cargo-2","status":"publish","type":"press-release","link":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/news-release\/spacex-dragon-heads-to-space-station-with-nasa-science-cargo-2\/","title":{"rendered":"SpaceX Dragon Heads to Space Station with NASA Science, Cargo"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"\" class=\"hds-media hds-module wp-block-image\"><div class=\"margin-left-auto margin-right-auto nasa-block-align-inline\"><div class=\"hds-media-wrapper margin-left-auto margin-right-auto\"><figure class=\"hds-media-inner hds-cover-wrapper hds-media-ratio-none \"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/spx_launch_0.png\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/spx_launch_0.png?w=1920\" class=\"attachment-2048x2048 size-2048x2048\" alt=\"SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft launches on a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40\" style=\"transform: scale(1); transform-origin: 50% 50%; object-position: 50% 50%; object-fit: cover;\" block_context=\"nasa-block\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/spx_launch_0.png 1920w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/spx_launch_0.png?resize=300,169 300w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/spx_launch_0.png?resize=768,432 768w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/spx_launch_0.png?resize=1024,576 1024w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/spx_launch_0.png?resize=1536,864 1536w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/spx_launch_0.png?resize=400,225 400w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/spx_launch_0.png?resize=600,338 600w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/spx_launch_0.png?resize=900,506 900w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/spx_launch_0.png?resize=1200,675 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" loading=\"eager\" \/><\/a><\/figure><figcaption class=\"hds-caption padding-y-2\"><div class=\"hds-caption-text p-sm margin-0\">A SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft launches on a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 11:50 p.m. EST March 6, 2020. Dragon will deliver more than 4,300 pounds of NASA cargo and science investigations to the International Space Station, including a new science facility scheduled to be installed to the outside of the station during a spacewalk this spring. <strong>Credits: NASA Television<\/strong><\/div><\/figcaption><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<p><em><strong>Editor\u2019s Note: Updated March 7, 2020 to correct that Jessica Meir will grapple Dragon, backed up by Andrew Morgan.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft is on its way to the International Space Station after launching at 11:50 p.m. EST Friday. Dragon will deliver more than 4,300 pounds of NASA cargo and science investigations, including a new science facility scheduled to be installed to the outside of the station during a spacewalk this spring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The spacecraft launched on a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida and is scheduled to arrive at the orbital outpost on Monday, March 9. Coverage of the spacecraft\u2019s approach and arrival at the space station will begin at 5:30 a.m. EDT on NASA Television and the agency\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/live\">website<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dragon will join <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/feature\/visiting-vehicle-launches-arrivals-and-departures\">three other spacecraft<\/a> currently at the station. When it arrives, NASA Flight Engineer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/astronauts\/biographies\/meir-u-jessica\">Jessica Meir<\/a> will grapple Dragon, backed up by NASA\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/astronauts\/biographies\/andrew-r-morgan\/biography\">Andrew Morgan<\/a>. Coverage of robotic installation to the Earth-facing port of the Harmony module will begin at 8:30 a.m.<br>\nDragon is scheduled to remain at the space station until April 9, when the spacecraft will return to Earth with research and cargo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This delivery, SpaceX\u2019s 20th cargo flight to the space station under NASA\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mission_pages\/station\/structure\/launch\/index.html\">Commercial Resupply Services<\/a> contract, will support dozens of new and existing investigations. NASA\u2019s research and development work aboard the space station contributes to the agency\u2019s deep space exploration plans, including future Moon and Mars missions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are details about some of the scientific investigations Dragon is delivering:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>New Facility Outside the Space Station<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mission_pages\/station\/research\/experiments\/explorer\/Facility.html?#id=7799\">Bartolomeo<\/a> facility, created by ESA (European Space Agency) and Airbus, attaches to the exterior of the European Columbus Module. Designed to provide new scientific opportunities on the outside of the space station for commercial and institutional users, the facility offers unobstructed views both toward Earth and into space. Potential applications include Earth observation, robotics, material science and astrophysics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Studying the Human Intestine On a Chip<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Organ-Chips as a Platform for Studying Effects of Space on Human Enteric Physiology (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mission_pages\/station\/research\/experiments\/explorer\/Investigation.html?#id=8078\">Gut on Chip<\/a>) examines the effect of microgravity and other space-related stress factors on biotechnology company Emulate\u2019s human innervated Intestine-Chip (hiIC). This Organ-Chip device enables the study of organ physiology and diseases in a laboratory setting. It allows for automated maintenance, including imaging, sampling, and storage on orbit and data downlink for molecular analysis on Earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Growing Human Heart Cells<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Generation of Cardiomyocytes From Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-derived Cardiac Progenitors Expanded in Microgravity (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mission_pages\/station\/research\/experiments\/explorer\/Investigation.html?#id=7725\">MVP Cell-03<\/a>) examines whether microgravity increases the production of heart cells from human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs). The investigation induces stem cells to generate heart precursor cells and cultures those cells on the space station to analyze and compare with cultures grown on Earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These are just a few of the hundreds of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mission_pages\/station\/research\/index.html\">investigations<\/a> providing opportunities for U.S. government agencies, private industry, and academic and research institutions to conduct microgravity research that leads to new technologies, medical treatments and products that improve life on Earth. Conducting science aboard the orbiting laboratory will help us learn how to keep astronauts healthy during long-duration space travel and demonstrate technologies for future human and robotic exploration beyond low-Earth orbit to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/topics\/moon-to-mars\">Moon and Mars<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/feature\/nasa-counts-down-to-twenty-years-of-continuous-human-presence-on-international-space-station\">almost 20 years<\/a>, humans have lived and worked continuously aboard the International Space Station, advancing scientific knowledge and demonstrating new technologies, making research breakthroughs not possible on Earth that will enable long-duration human and robotic exploration into deep space. As a global endeavor, 239 people from 19 countries have visited the unique microgravity laboratory that has hosted more than 2,800 research investigations from researchers in 108 countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For more information about the International Space Station, its research, and crew, visit:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/station\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>-end-<\/p>\n\n\n<p>Kathryn Hambleton\u200b<br \/>\nHeadquarters, Washington<br \/>\n202-358-1100<br \/>\n<a href=\"mailto:kathryn.hambleton@nasa.gov\">kathryn.hambleton@nasa.gov<\/a><br \/>\nCourtney Beasley<br \/>\nJohnson Space Center, Houston<br \/>\n281-483-5111<br \/>\n<a href=\"mailto:courtney.m.beasley@nasa.gov\">courtney.m.beasley@nasa.gov<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Editor\u2019s Note: Updated March 7, 2020 to correct that Jessica Meir will grapple Dragon, backed up by Andrew Morgan. A SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft is on its way to the International Space Station after launching at 11:50 p.m. EST Friday. Dragon will deliver more than 4,300 pounds of NASA cargo and science investigations, including a [...]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":58021,"template":"","meta":{"nasa_hds_core_meta_l10n":"en-US","nasa_hds_core_meta_article_editor":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_article_contacts":[],"nasa_hds_core_meta_article_topic":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_linked_locations":[],"nasa_hds_core_meta_article_related_articles":[],"hds_migrate_meta_pr_release_id":"20-023","hds_migrate_meta_pr_release_type":"RELEASE","nasa_hds_core_meta_location_x":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_location_y":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_gallery_images":[]},"categories":[3190,2801,8368,2735,2861,2862,2867],"news-tags":[12372],"internal-terms":[12725,3915,11518,9514,9508],"coauthors":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"SpaceX Dragon Heads to Space Station with NASA Science, Cargo","url":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/news-release\/spacex-dragon-heads-to-space-station-with-nasa-science-cargo-2\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/news-release\/spacex-dragon-heads-to-space-station-with-nasa-science-cargo-2\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/spx_launch_0.png?w=150&h=150&crop=1","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/spx_launch_0.png"},"articleSection":"Missions","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"NASA"}],"creator":["NASA"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"NASA","logo":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/themes\/nasa\/assets\/images\/nasa-logo.svg"},"keywords":["NASA Centers & Facilities","NASA Headquarters","Commercial Resupply","Commercial Space","Expedition 62","International Space Station (ISS)","Johnson Space Center","Kennedy Space Center"],"dateCreated":"2020-03-07T09:59:00Z","datePublished":"2020-03-07T09:59:00Z","dateModified":"2023-08-17T15:48:08Z"},"rendered":"<meta name=\"parsely-title\" content=\"SpaceX Dragon Heads to Space Station with NASA Science, Cargo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-link\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/news-release\/spacex-dragon-heads-to-space-station-with-nasa-science-cargo-2\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-type\" content=\"post\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-image-url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/spx_launch_0.png?w=150&h=150&crop=1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-pub-date\" content=\"2020-03-07T09:59:00Z\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-section\" content=\"Missions\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-tags\" content=\"NASA Centers & Facilities,NASA Headquarters,Commercial Resupply,Commercial Space,Expedition 62,International Space Station (ISS),Johnson Space Center,Kennedy Space Center\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-author\" content=\"NASA\" \/>","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/nasa.gov\/p.js"},"read_time":4,"featured_image":{"id":58021,"file":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/spx_launch_0.png","title":"spx_launch_0","alt":"SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft launches on a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40","caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press-release\/55749"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press-release"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/press-release"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press-release\/55749\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":369700,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press-release\/55749\/revisions\/369700"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55749"},{"taxonomy":"news-tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-tags?post=55749"},{"taxonomy":"internal-terms","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal-terms?post=55749"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=55749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}