On July 18, 2016, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40, in Florida, carrying the Dragon resupply spacecraft to the International Space Station for the company’s ninth commercial resupply mission. Aboard was the SSEP Mission 8 Kitty Hawk experiments payload, which astronauts operated until it return to Earth on August 26, 2016. Photo-credit: NASA/Tony Gray CLICK FOR ZOOM
The SSEP Mission 9 to ISS flight experiments payload Endeavor is scheduled to launch tomorrow, Saturday, February 18, 2017, at 10:01 am ET from Launch Complex 39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida, aboard SpaceX CRS-10. If there is a scrub, NASA will recycle to Sunday, February 19, 2017, with launch at 9:38 am ET.
The launch will be covered live on NASA TV, and we have provided a video portal below if you’d like to watch right here on the SSEP National Program website. Also below is the February 15, 2017, NASA Media Advisory which provides NASA TV live coverage times for launch, and arrival at Station on Monday, February 20.
In addition, SpaceX will have a live webcast of the launch, and we have also provided a video portal for the SpaceX webcast below.
A heartfelt congratulations to all 84 student researchers comprising the 21 SSEP Mission 9 flight teams – we are all very proud of you.
To SSEP Mission 10 and 11 flight teams – consider this a dry run for launch of M10 Casper on SpaceX CRS-11 and M11 America on Spacex CRS-12 later this year. SSEP – real spaceflight all the time. That’s what we promised.
As of this writing, we are at T-minus 1 Day, 0 Hours and counting. Godspeed Dragon.
Dr. Jeff Goldstein
SSEP National Program Director
Center Director, Ntional Center for Earth and Space Science Education
Student Researchers Attending Launch at KSC – Available for Interview
There are 44 (of 84) SSEP student researchers traveling down for the launch of their experiments, representing 9 of the 21 Mission 9 communities: East Lyme, CT; Hillsborough County, FL; Boise, ID; Traverse City, MI; Springfield, NJ: Buffalo-Niagara, NY; North Charleston, SC; Knox County, TN; and Bellevue, WA.
Mission 9 to ISS Historical Data
Number of Participating Communities: 21
Scope: 11,900 grade 5-12 students fully engaged in experiment design
Number of student team proposals received: 2,466
Number of experiments selected for flight: 21, one for each community
Announcement of Opportunity: March 20, 0215
Experiment design competition and proposal writing: September 7 – November 6, 2015 (9 Weeks)
Flight experiment selection: December 17, 2015
MEDIA PACKAGE for Mission 9: Downloadable Documents (PDFs)
Visit the SSEP Mission 9 Media Page
SSEP National Program Overview for Congressional Briefings on Capitol Hill
Mission 9 Flight Experiments Summary Table
Mission 9 Flight Experiments: Research Teams and Experiment Descriptions – an experiment-by-experiment summary including community, school, grade level, research team (PIs, Co-Is and Collaborators), and experiment abstract
WATCH LIVE ON THIS NASA TV PORTAL
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/#.Ux37dCjn1sQ
WATCH THE SPACEX LIVE WEBCAST ON THIS VIDEO PORTAL
http://www.spacex.com/webcast
February 15, 2017
MEDIA ADVISORY M17-020
NASA to Air Prelaunch Briefing, Launch of Next Space Station Resupply Mission
NASA provider SpaceX is scheduled to launch its 10th Commercial Resupply Services mission to the International Space Station no earlier than 10:01 a.m. EST Saturday, Feb. 18. Live coverage of the launch will begin at 8:30 a.m. on NASA Television and the agency’s website.
The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft will lift off on the company’s Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying science research, crew supplies and hardware to the orbiting laboratory in support of the Expedition 50 and 51 crew members.
Media at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida will have the opportunity to participate in special tours and briefings Feb. 16 and 17, as well as view the launch. The deadline for media to apply for accreditation for this launch has passed.
About 10 minutes after launch, Dragon will reach its preliminary orbit, deploy its solar arrays and begin a carefully choreographed series of thruster firings to reach the space station. SpaceX also is planning to attempt to land its Falcon 9 first stage on land.
Astronauts Shane Kimbrough of NASA and Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency) will use the station’s robotic arm to capture Dragon when it arrives at the space station after its two-day journey. The spacecraft will be berthed to the Earth-facing port on the Harmony module. The following day, the space station crew will pressurize the vestibule between the station and Dragon, then open the hatch that leads to the forward bulkhead of Dragon.
Live coverage of the rendezvous and capture will begin at 7:30 a.m. Monday, Feb. 20, on NASA TV, with installation set to begin at 11:30 a.m.
If the launch does not occur Saturday, Feb. 18, the next launch opportunity is 9:38 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 19, with NASA TV coverage starting at 8 a.m.
For about a month, crew members will unload the spacecraft and reload it with cargo to return to Earth. About five-and-a-half hours after it departs the station on March 21, it will splash down in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of Baja California.
Science investigations launching on Dragon include commercial and academic research investigations that will enable researchers to advance their knowledge of the medical, psychological and biomedical challenges astronauts face during long-duration spaceflight.
One experiment will use the microgravity environment to grow stem cells that are of sufficient quality and quantity to use in the treatment of patients who have suffered a stroke. A Merck Research Labs investigation will test growth in microgravity of antibodies important for fighting a wide range of human diseases, including cancer.
In addition, NASA’s Stratospheric Aerosol Gas Experiment III mission and Lightning Imaging Sensor will provide continuity for key climate observations and data records.
For an updated schedule of prelaunch briefings, events and NASA TV coverage, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/content/spacex-crs-10-briefings-and-events
For NASA TV downlink information, schedules and links to streaming video, visit:
For the latest information and countdown coverage, visit:
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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.
The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), and Subaru of America, Inc., are U.S. National Partners on the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program. Magellan Aerospace is a Canadian National Partner on the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program.
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