SSEP Mission 14/15 to ISS: Experiment Log – SpaceX-22

Moreno Valley, CA (M15); Stamford, CT (M14); Bandera, TX (M14); Burleson, TX (M15); Lufkin, TX (M14)

IMPORTANT NOTES

All information added or updated since this page first went up on May 26, 2021 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 13, 2021, 10:23 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 14-15 Apollo and SkylabPayloads
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 5 flight experiments comprising the SSEP Mission 14/15 Apollo and Skylab payloads flying on SpaceX CRS-22 from the time the mini-laboratories are received in Houston before the flight of SpaceX CRS-22 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 Mission 14/15 Apollo and Skylab payloads, 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 14/15 to ISS: Flight Operations – SpaceX-22 page:

Updates to Student Teams on the Progress of Their Experiment
The International Space Station (ISS) crew will interact 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 the interaction will vary from one Crew Interaction day to the next.  After the crew has completed handling of the SSEP payload a report is sent from the ISS to mission control in Houston, the report is then forwarded to NanoRacks, who will forward the report to the SSEP flight operations team at NCESSE.  We will then post the details of the report – 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 ISS 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 experiment 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 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 to provide updates on the progress of the Mission. Each SSEP experiment is assigned a serial number before launch.  This serial number is used by NCESSE, NanoRacks, and NASA to identify individual SSEP experiments. For this log, the individual experiments are identified using a serial number, e.g., NRP-10009-4, S/N 1234, together with the Community and Experiment names (see Section 4 below).

 

2. Pre-Launch Activities

Originally Projected Launch Date: June 3, 2021 at 1:29 pm EDT
Payload Designation: S/N 1052; SSEP Mission 14 Apollo Payload and Mission 15 Skylab Payload
Ferry Vehicle: SpaceX CRS-22 (SpaceX Falcon rocket with Cargo Dragon 2 spacecraft)
Launch Site: SLC-39A Kennedy Space Center, Florida

 

3. Launch and Berthing

May 26, 2021 at 11:13 am EDT: Ambient mini-labs (Bandera, TX; and Lufkin, TX) were placed into refrigeration with cold stow mini-labs (Stamford, CT; Moreno Valley, CA; and Burleson, TX) at 11:13 am EDT. The payload box was then handed over to NASA and placed in cold stow at Kennedy Space Center.

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4. Flight Experiment Log, On-Orbit Operations: Mission 14/15 Apollo and Skylab Payloads

Interactions Scheduled Prior to Flight (subject to change) CLICK ON TABLE TO ZOOM

Record of Reported On-Orbit Interactions

NRP-10009-1, S/N 1052 Stamford, Connecticut: The Effect of Microgravity on the Ability of Galloflavin in the Absence of Membrane Based Cellular Signaling Pathways, to Inhibit the Enzymatic Activity of Lactase Dehydrogenase A
(A+2) Action: Green Clamp Opened/Shaken vigorously for 30 seconds; When Action Occurred on ISS: 7:10 AM ET, 6/7/21; Time Nanoracks Notified NCESSE:  9:30 AM ET, 6/7/21

 

NRP-10009-2, S/N 1052 Bandera, Texas: Will the growth of brewer’s yeast be affected in a microgravity environment?
(A=0) Action: Green Clamp Opened/Shaken vigorously for 90 seconds; When Action Occurred on ISS: 12:45 PM ET, 6/5/21; Time Nanoracks Notified NCESSE:  11:18 PM ET, 6/6/21
(U-5) Action: Blue Clamp Opened/Shaken gently for 60 seconds; When Action Occurred on ISS: 7:15 AM ET, 7/1/21; Time Nanoracks Notified NCESSE: 10:33 AM ET, 7/1/21

 

NRP-10009-3, S/N 1052 Lufkin, Texas: Can radish seeds develop in microgravity?
(U-14) Action: Green Clamp Opened/Tube Slightly Squeezed between Clamps/Shaken gently for 30 seconds; When Action Occurred on ISS: 10:50 AM ET, 6/22/21; Time Nanoracks Notified NCESSE:  9:55 AM ET, 6/23/21
(U-5) Unexpected Event: Upon pre-interaction inspection the Blue Clamp was identified as Open; When Inspection Occurred on ISS: 7:15 AM ET, 7/1/21; Time Nanoracks Notified NCESSE: 10:33 AM ET, 7/1/21; Resolution: The Nanoracks Team will investigate the on-orbit videos to determine the cause of the preemptively opened clamp

 

NRP-10009-4, S/N 1052 Moreno Valley, California: The effects of microgravity on passion fruit seeds
(A+2) Action: Green Clamp Opened/Shaken gently for 20 seconds; When Action Occurred on ISS: 7:10 AM ET, 6/7/21; Time Nanoracks Notified NCESSE:  9:30 AM ET, 6/7/21
(U-2) Action: Blue Clamp Opened/Shaken gently for 20 seconds; When Action Occurred on ISS: 11:10 AM ET, 7/4/21; Time Nanoracks Notified NCESSE:  5:33 PM ET, 6/7/21

 

NRP-10009-5, S/N 1052 Burleson, Texas: The effect of microgravity on cellular regeneration of the planarian flatworm
(A+2) Action: Green Clamp Opened/Shaken gently for 20 seconds; When Action Occurred on ISS: 7:10 AM ET, 6/7/21; Time Nanoracks Notified NCESSE:  9:30 AM ET, 6/7/21

 

 

5. Undocking and Landing

July 9, 2021 at 11:29 pm EDT: Wrapping up a 36-day mission to the International Space Station, SpaceX’s Cargo Dragon capsule splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico south of Tallahassee, Florida carrying SSEP Mission 14 & 15 student microgravity flight experiments. SpaceX confirmed the splashdown via tweet and recovery teams on SpaceX’s “Go Navigator” recovery ship pulled the capsule out of the ocean and onboard. The hatch was opened and time-sensitive research was retrieved, including the SSEP payload of experiments. The retrieved payloads were flown by helicopter to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

July 9, 2021 at  10:45 pm EDT:  Dragon fired its Draco thrusters for a nine-minute deorbit burn to slow the craft’s velocity enough to drop back into the atmosphere.

July 8, 2021 at 10:45 am EDT:  After a two delay delay waiting for Tropical Storm Elsa to move away from Florida,  SpaceX’s Cargo Dragon undocked from the ISS.

 

6. Return of Experiments to Student Teams

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.