New Target Launch Date for Aquarius, SSEP Mission 1 Payload to ISS

SpaceX has announced that they are targeting the historic launch of their Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station for April 30, 2012. NASA will set a formal launch date after a Flight Readiness Review currently scheduled for April 12, but, for now, April 30 at 12:22 p.m. EDT is the target for the launch of Aquarius, the SSEP Mission 1 payload to the International Space Station. See NASA’s Consolidated Launch Schedule for more details on the planned launch. The entire SSEP team is thrilled to be one step closer to the launch of this new era of commercial spaceflight to orbit with Aquarius on Dragon!

To All Flight Experiment Teams
Because of the new target launch date, NanoRacks has arranged a new deadline for the SSEP Mission 1 flight experiment teams to deliver their experiments for flight: the teams must provide their flight-ready mini-laboratories to NanoRacks no later than Friday, April 6, 2012.

Earlier SSEP National Blog Posts about Aquarius Being Launched on Dragon
SSEP Mission 1 Student Researchers to be Part of History: Aquarius Experiments Payload Officially on SpaceX Dragon to ISS (Feb 13, 2012)

TO ALL MISSION 1 FLIGHT EXPERIMENT TEAMS: Time Critical Update – Impact of Soyuz 30 Failure on SSEP Mission 1 to ISS (Feb 1, 2012)

 

The Student Space Flight Experiments Program [or SSEP] is undertaken by the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education (NCESSE), a project of the 501(c)(3) Tides Center, in partnership with NanoRacks, LLC. This on-orbit educational research opportunity is enabled through NanoRacks, LLC, which is working in partnership with NASA under a Space Act Agreement as part of the utilization of the International Space Station as a National Laboratory.

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The Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) is a program of the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education (NCESSE) in the U.S., and the Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Space Education internationally. It is enabled through a strategic partnership with DreamUp PBC and NanoRacks LLC, which are working with NASA under a Space Act Agreement as part of the utilization of the International Space Station as a National Laboratory. SSEP is the first pre-college STEM education program that is both a U.S. national initiative and implemented as an on-orbit commercial space venture.