Last update to this page: May 5, 2013, 10:05 am ET
Payload Ferry Flights and ISS Crew Data
Ferry Vehicle to ISS: SpaceX-1, first operational flight of SpaceX Dragon
Launch Date: 8:35 pm, ET, October 7, 2012 (see NASA Consolidated Launch Schedule at nasa.gov)
Crew: none
Launch Site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida
Berthing at ISS: 1 to 4 days after launch
Ferry Vehicle for Return to Earth: Soyuz (TMA-05M) 31S
Crew: Malenchenko, Williams, Hoshide
Undocking/Landing Date: November 18/19, 2012 (see Flight Schedule and Expeditions Schedule at nasa.gov)
Landing Site: Kazakhstan
Payload Duration on ISS: 6 weeks
Notable: visit the NASA ISS website for a comprehensive overview of ISS construction, on-orbit research, operations, crews, and multimedia galleries; read about the SpaceX Falcon rocket and Dragon spacecraft at nasa.gov; read about the Soyuz TMA vehicle at nasa.gov
ISS Crew for SSEP Mission 2 Payload Operations: Expedition 33
Station Commander Sunita Williams (USA); Flight Engineers Yuri Malenchenko (Russia), Akihiko Hoshide (Japan), Kevin Ford (USA), Oleg Novitskiy (Russia), Evgeny Tarelkin (Russia)
SSEP Mission 2 to ISS: Payload and Program Data
Payload Designation: SSEP4 – Antares (named for Apollo 14 Lunar Module)
Number of Student Team Flight Experiments: 11
Payload: Suite of Fluids Mixing Enclosure (FMA) Mini-laboratories
Stowage: NanoRacks Express Rack on ISS
History:
The fourth SSEP flight opportunity—for SSEP Mission 2 to the International Space Station—was announced by the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education (NCESSE) on November 16, 2011, with an accompanying Video Clip by Center Director, Dr. Jeff Goldstein.
As a result, 11 communities across the U.S. joined Mission 2 to ISS, providing 15,120 grade 5-12 students, across 72 schools, the opportunity to design and propose real experiments to fly aboard ISS. Student teams submitted 1,125 proposals from which 11 were selected to fly to ISS—one for each community. Visit the SSEP Community Network Hubsite for descriptions of the Mission 2 selected experiments, profiles of the participating communities, the SSEP In the News page, and thoughts on program impact from students, teachers, and administrators on the In Our Own Words page.
Current Status:
Operations for SSEP Mission 2 to ISS have now been completed, except for one experiment from Russell County, VA, that was incorrectly activated on orbit. This experiment is being re-flown with the Mission 3 to ISS Falcon I payload aboard Orbital Sciences D-1 Cygnus in Fall 2013.
All on-orbit activities associated with the Mission 2 Antares payload of experiments are detailed on the SSEP Mission 2 to ISS: Experiment Log page.
A small number of Student Teams reported on initial experiment design at the 2nd Annual SSEP National Conference, held July 6-7, 2012, at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. Student teams will be reporting flight results at the 3rd Annual Conference, held July 2-3, 2013, at the Museum (see the 2012 SSEP National Conference page and the 2013 SSEP National Conference page). Visit the SSEP on STS-135 Scientific Return and Reporting page for videos of conference oral presentations.
A List of Important SSEP Mission 2 to ISS Subpages:
SSEP Mission 2 to ISS: Critical Timeline
SSEP Mission 2 to ISS: Mini-Laboratory Operation
SSEP Mission 2 to ISS: Mission Patch Art and Design Competition
SSEP Mission 2 to ISS: Flight Phase Operations
→ SSEP Mission 2 to ISS: Experiment Log
Launch Viewing Plans for SpaceX-1, Fall 2012