IMPORTANT NOTES
All information added or updated since this page first went up on May 26, 2017 is in GREEN TEXT below.
Information still to be determined (if any) is in RED TEXT below.
Dates and times that are subject to change at NASA’s discretion are in PURPLE TEXT below.
Last update of this page: July 3, 2017, 9:28 am ET
Quick Jump:
1. Introduction and Nomenclature for the Log
2. Pre-Launch Activities
3. Launch and Berthing
4. Flight Experiment Log, On-Orbit Operations: Mission 9 Endeavor Payload
5. Undocking and Landing
6. Return of Experiments to Student Teams
1. Introduction and Nomenclature for the Log
This page provides student flight experiment teams a log of all activities associated with the 11 flight experiments comprising the SSEP Mission 10 Casper payload from the time the mini-laboratories are received in Houston before the flight of SpaceX CRS-11 to the point when the mini-labs are shipped back to the flight teams after return to Earth. While this page will feature general progress reports on the status of the SSEP M10 Casper payload, its main purpose is to provide updates to the student flight experiment teams as quickly as possible regarding the handling of their mini-labs on station, so that they can effectively conduct their ground truth experiments. Teams are advised to bookmark this page and check it for updates throughout the mission.
As per the SSEP Mission 10 to ISS: Flight Operations page:
Updates to Student Teams on the Progress of Their Experiment
Astronauts will work with the SSEP payload at times of the day that fit best in their overall work schedule. Even though crew interactions with the experiments are to take place on pre-specified Crew Interaction Days, the time of interaction can vary from one Crew Interaction day to the next. While the SSEP program team may know the astronauts’ planned work schedule a few days in advance, we’ll not know exactly when the payload is handled until the task is complete. After the astronauts have completed handling of the SSEP payload, NanoRacks will forward a report on the activity to the SSEP program team at NCESSE, and we will then post the details – including the time at which the payload was handled – on this page to make the information available to all student teams as quickly as possible. The report will be posted as soon as it is received, but it may take up to 24 hours for the information from the International Space Station to make its way to the Log. That means, for example, that the details of an activity conducted by the astronauts on the afternoon of a specified Crew Interaction Day will be posted on the Experiment Log no later than the afternoon of the following day (and likely far sooner than that).
Conducting Your Ground Truth Experiments
Ground truth experiments – the control versions of the experiment conducted on Earth while the microgravity experiment is being conducted in orbit – are an essential part of analyzing the results of the flight experiment. Once the flight experiment returns to Earth, simultaneous harvesting and analysis of both the flight experiment and the ground truth experiments allows the research team to assess the role of gravity in the physical, chemical, or biological system under study. It is hard to imagine how the role of gravity can be determined without ground truth experiments conducted at the same time as the flight experiment.
However, given that it may take up to a day to receive a report on exactly what time of day a specific activity was conducted with an experiment aboard the ISS, student teams are encouraged to shift activities with their ground truth experiments by 1 day (24 hours). That will allow teams to ensure that the timing of activities they carry out on their ground truth experiments accurately reflects the timing of activities with their experiment aboard the station. This is especially important for experiments that are sensitive to exact timing. For example, if a microbiological experiment is likely to produce different results depending on whether it is active for 40 or 50 hours, the teams will want to match the exact timing of the experiment aboard the station with their ground truth experiment.
Nomenclature: The purpose of this log is to provide the student flight experiment teams information on the handling of their experiment, as well as providing updates on the progress of the Mission. For this log, the serial numbers assigned by NanoRacks (e.g., NRP-10009-1, S/N 1028) are used together with the Community and Experiment names (see Section 4 below).
Originally Projected Launch Date: February 1, 2017
SSEP Mission 10 to ISS CasperPayload
Ferry Vehicle: SpaceX CRS-11 (SpaceX Falcon rocket with Dragon spacecraft)
Launch Site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida
Rescheduled: to March 2017
Rescheduled: to March 7, 2017
Rescheduled: to April 9, 2017
Rescheduled: to TBD, 2017
Rescheduled: to NET mid-May, 2017
Rescheduled: to NET May 31, 2017
Rescheduled: to June 1, 2017 at 5:52 pm ET
Rescheduled: to June 3, 2017 at 5:07 pm ET
June 1, 2017, ~5:30 pm ET: launch was scrubbed due to lightning in the area. The next available attempt scheduled for 5:07 pm ET, June 3, 2017.
June 3, 2017, 5:07 pm ET: SpaceX CRS-11 launched from Space Launch Complex 39 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida marking the historic 100th launch from pad 39A. Another landmark for SpaceX, the Dragon cargo capsule used for SpaceX CRS-11 is a refurbished capsule previously launched in September 2014 and spent 34 days in orbit before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean. SpaceX replaced the heat shield and other parts, but the structure and other parts of the capsule are original. Following launch, the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket returned to Earth without issue.
June 5, 2017, 9:52 am ET: Dragon was captured by Astronauts Peggy Whitson and Jack Fischer using the Canada-arm at 9:52 am ET. Later Monday, ground teams at mission control in Houston maneuvered Dragon to a berthing port on the Harmony module where it was installed for its one-month stay at ISS.
4. Flight Experiment Log, On-Orbit Operations: Mission 10 Casper Payload
Interactions Scheduled Prior to Flight (subject to change) CLICK ON TABLE TO ZOOM
Record of Reported On-Orbit Interactions
NRP-10009-1, S/N 1028: Elk Grove, California, Does the structure of a fairy shrimp change in microgravity?
(U-14) Action: Activated (Green Clamp Opened)/Shaken; When Action Occurred on ISS: 4:05 AM ET, 06/18/17; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 5:03 PM ET, 06/18/17
(U-5) Action: Deactivated (Blue Clamp Opened)/Shaken; When Action Occurred on ISS: 11:00 AM ET, 06/27/17; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 3:58 PM ET, 06/27/17
NRP-10009-2, S/N 1028: Middletown, Delaware, Growth and Development of Fathead Minnows in Microgravity
(A+2) Action: Activated (Green Clamp Opened)/Shaken; When Action Occurred on ISS: 10:05 AM ET, 06/08/17; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 2:06 PM ET, 06/09/17
(U-14) Action: Deactivated (Blue Clamp Opened)/Shaken; When Action Occurred on ISS: 4:05 AM ET, 06/18/17; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 5:03 PM ET, 06/18/17
NRP-10009-3, S/N 1028: Lansing, Kansas, Possible Effects of Microgravity on the Development of Dictyostelium discoideum
(A+2) Action: Activated (Green Clamp Opened)/Shaken; When Action Occurred on ISS: 10:05 AM ET, 06/08/17; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 2:06 PM ET, 06/09/17
NRP-10009-4, S/N 1028: University Systems of Maryland (USM), Maryland, Bacterial Motility in Microgravity
(U-5) Action: Activated (Green Clamp Opened)/Shaken; When Action Occurred on ISS: 11:00 AM ET, 06/27/17; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 3:58 PM ET, 06/27/17
(U-2) Action: Deactivated (Blue Clamp Opened)/Shaken; When Action Occurred on ISS: 1:49 PM ET, 06/30/17; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 3:49 PM ET, 06/30/17
NRP-10009-5, S/N 1028: Clark County, Nevada, Soybean Germination in Microgravity
(U-14) Action: Activated (Green Clamp Opened)/Shaken; When Action Occurred on ISS: 4:05 AM ET, 06/18/17; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 5:03 PM ET, 06/18/17
(U-2) Action: Deactivated (Blue Clamp Opened)/Shaken; When Action Occurred on ISS: 1:49 PM ET, 06/30/17; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 3:49 PM ET, 06/30/17
NRP-10009-6, S/N 1028: Summit, New Jersey, Tiny Wings of Glory
(A+2) Action: Activated (Green Clamp Opened); When Action Occurred on ISS: 10:05 AM ET, 06/08/17; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 2:06 PM ET, 06/09/17
(U-5) Action: Deactivated (Blue Clamp Opened)/Shaken; When Action Occurred on ISS: 11:00 AM ET, 06/27/17; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 3:58 PM ET, 06/27/17
NRP-10009-7, S/N 1028: Houston, Texas, Role of Gravity in Flatworm Regeneration
(U-5) Action: Deactivated (Blue Clamp Opened)/Shaken; When Action Occurred on ISS: 11:00 AM ET, 06/27/17; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 3:58 PM ET, 06/27/17
NRP-10009-8, S/N 1028: San Antonio, Texas, Antibiotic Effectiveness in Microgravity: the Good, the Bad and the Astronaut
(U-5) Action: Activated (Green Clamp Opened)/Shaken; When Action Occurred on ISS: 11:00 AM ET, 06/27/17; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 3:58 PM ET, 06/27/17
(U-2) Action: Deactivated (Blue Clamp Opened)/Shaken; When Action Occurred on ISS: 1:49 PM ET, 06/30/17; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 3:49 PM ET, 06/30/17
NRP-10009-1, S/N 1029: Camden, Arkansas, Testing the formation of a polymer in microgravity
(U-5) Action: Activated/Deactivated (Green and Blue Clamps Opened)/Shaken; When Action Occurred on ISS: 11:00 AM ET, 06/27/17; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 3:58 PM ET, 06/27/17
(U-2) Action: Shaken; When Action Occurred on ISS: 1:49 PM ET, 06/30/17; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 3:49 PM ET, 06/30/17
NRP-10009-2, S/N 1029: iLEAD Consortium, California, The Effects of Microgravity on Oxidation
(A=0) Action: Activated (Green Clamp Opened)/Shaken; When Action Occurred on ISS: 12:50 PM ET, 06/06/17; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 2:04 PM ET, 06/06/17
NRP-10009-3, S/N 1029: Lennox, California, Benefits of Mint
(U-14) Action: Activated (Green Clamp Opened)/Shaken; When Action Occurred on ISS: 4:05 AM ET, 06/18/17; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 5:03 PM ET, 06/18/17
(U-2) Action: Deactivated (Blue Clamp Opened)/Shaken; When Action Occurred on ISS: 1:49 PM ET, 06/30/17; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 3:49 PM ET, 06/30/17
Anticipated: July 2, 2017
July 2, 2017: Release and return of Dragon delayed for 1 day (rescheduled to July 3rd) due to rough seas off the coast of California at the landing zone.
July 3, 2017, 8:14 am ET: SpaceX confirms the successful splashdown of Dragon off the coast of Baja California. The return of Dragon marked the first completed mission of the reused capsule, and the predawn return marked the first splashdown in total darkness. The space capsule was released from station at 2:45 am ET.
6. Return of Experiments to Student Teams
Anticipated: shipment on July 5 or 6
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 NanoRacks LLC, 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 National Partners on the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program.