IMPORTANT NOTES
All information added or updated since this page first went up on January 6, 2015 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: May 9, 2016, 4:33 pm 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 7 Odyssey II 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 25 flight experiments comprising the SSEP Mission 7 Odyssey II payload (2 Mission 6 experiments are re-flying with the Mission 7 payload of re-flight experiments) from the time the mini-laboratories are received in Houston before the flight of SpaceX CRS-8 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 M7 Odyssey II payload, its main purpose is to provide updates to the student flight experiment teams as quickly as possible regarding the handling of their mini-laboratories in orbit, so that they can effectively conduct their ground truth experiments. The teams are advised to bookmark this page and check it for updates during the mission.
As per the SSEP Mission 7 to ISS: Re-Flight Phase 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 the SSEP Mission 7 to ISS: Experiment Log 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, the student team 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 individual experiments are assigned a flight Designation such as “NRP-10009-4, S/N 1021” together with the Community and Experiment names (see Section 4 below).
Original Launch Date: June 28, 2015
Ferry Vehicle: SpaceX CRS-7 (SpaceX Falcon rocket with Dragon spacecraft); rocket lost approximately 2 minutes after launch
Original Launch Site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida
Manifested for re-launch on SpaceX CRS-8: NET October 25, 2015
Rescheduled: to NET November 16, 2015
Rescheduled: to TBD (from November 2015-February 2016 any launch dates and slips were not public and were unavailable for posting on the Flight Operations timeline)
Rescheduled: to March 30, 2016 (TBD)
Rescheduled: to April 4, 2016 (TBD)
Rescheduled: to April 8, 2016 at 4:43 pm ET
April 8, 2016, 4:43 pm ET: SpaceX CRS-8 launches from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida
April 10, 2016: Capture was marked at 7:23 am EDT. The spacecraft arrived at station at which time astronauts Kopra and Peake used the robotic arm to capture the Dragon spacecraft.
April 11, 2016: The crew is expected to pressurize the space between the station and Dragon and open the hatch between the two spacecraft on this date. We anticipate A=0 crew interactions will take place on this day as well, but please await updates to the Experiment Log before interacting with ground truth mini-labs. Please also heed all recommendations to delay ground truth interactions by 24 hours to account for delays between on-orbit interactions and reporting.
4. Flight Experiment Log, On-Orbit Operations: Mission 7 Odyssey II 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 1021: Austin, TX, The Growth of Heterotrophic Algae Neochloris oleoabundans in Microgravity
(U-14) Action: Activated/Shaken; When Action Occurred on ISS: 5:45 AM ET, 04/27/16; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 4:48 PM ET, 04/27/16
(U-5) Action: Deactivated/Shaken; When Action Occurred on ISS: 4:40 AM ET, 05/06/16; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 4:46 PM ET, 05/06/16
NRP-10009-2, S/N 1021: Bear, Delaware, A Comparative Study of the Effects of Microgravity on Drosophila Melanogaster
(A=0) Action: Activated/Shaken; When Action Occurred on ISS: 1:30 PM ET, 04/11/16; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 6:44 PM ET, 04/11/16
(U-5) Action: Clamp Closed (Green/Activation Clamp)/Deactivated (Open Blue Clamp)/Shaken; When Action Occurred on ISS: 4:40 AM ET, 05/06/16; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 4:46 PM ET, 05/06/16
NRP-10009-3, S/N 1021: Brookhaven, Mississippi, Yeast as a Model Organism to Study COX-2 Enzyme Production in Microgravity
(A=0) Action: Activated/Shaken; When Action Occurred on ISS: 1:30 PM ET, 04/11/16; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 6:44 PM ET, 04/11/16
(A+2) Action: Deactivated/Shaken; When Action Occurred on ISS: 10:00 AM ET, 04/13/16; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 1:42 PM ET, 04/13/16
NRP-10009-4, S/N 1021: Burleson, Texas,What are the effects of hydrogel polymers when mixed with water in microgravity vs. on Earth?
(U-14) Action: Activated; When Action Occurred on ISS: 5:45 AM ET, 04/27/16; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 4:48 PM ET, 04/27/16
(U-2) Action: Clamp Closed (Green/Activation); When Action Occurred on ISS: 4:00 AM ET, 05/09/16; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 4:18 PM ET, 05/09/16
NRP-10009-5, S/N 1021: Camden, Delaware, Breakdown of Hydrogen Peroxide in Microgravity
(U-2) Action: Activated (Open Green Clamp)/Shaken/Deactivated (Open Blue Clamp)/Shaken; When Action Occurred on ISS: 4:00 AM ET, 05/09/16; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 4:18 PM ET, 05/09/16
NRP-10009-7, S/N 1021: Erie, Pennsylvania, Using the Statocyst System to Investigate how the Vestibular System Would Provide Orientation and Balance to Living Organisms in Microgravity
(A+2) Action: Activated (Open Green Clamp)/Deactivated (Open Blue Clamp)/Shaken; When Action Occurred on ISS: 10:00 AM ET, 04/13/16; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 1:42 PM ET, 04/13/16
NRP-10009-8, S/N 1021: Fitchburg, Massachusetts, How is the Growth of the Bacteria Rhizobium radiobacter Affected by Microgravity?
(U-5) Action: Activated/Shaken; When Action Occurred on ISS: 4:40 AM ET, 05/06/16; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 4:46 PM ET, 05/06/16
(U-2) Action: Deactivated/Shaken; When Action Occurred on ISS: 4:00 AM ET, 05/09/16; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 4:18 PM ET, 05/09/16
NRP-10009-9, S/N 1021: Grant County, Oregon, Does microgravity affect variation of the protein structures created?
(A=0) Action: Activated/Shaken; When Action Occurred on ISS: 1:30 PM ET, 04/11/16; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 6:44 PM ET, 04/11/16
(A+2) Action: Deactivated/Shaken; When Action Occurred on ISS: 10:00 AM ET, 04/13/16; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 1:42 PM ET, 04/13/16
NRP-10009-1, S/N 1022: Hartford, Connecticut, How Does Microgravity Affect the Production of Synthetic Insulin?
(U-5) Action: Activated/Shaken; When Action Occurred on ISS: 4:40 AM ET, 05/06/16; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 4:46 PM ET, 05/06/16
(U-2) Action: Deactivated/Shaken; When Action Occurred on ISS: 4:00 AM ET, 05/09/16; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 4:18 PM ET, 05/09/16
NRP-10009-2, S/N 1022: Hillsborough County, Florida, Operation Germination of Cottonseeds
(A+2) Action: Activated/Shaken/Clamp Closed (Activation/Green Clamp); When Action Occurred on ISS: 10:00 AM ET, 04/13/16; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 1:42 PM ET, 04/13/16
(U-14) Action: Deactivated/Shaken/Clamp Closed (Deactivation/Blue Clamp); When Action Occurred on ISS: 5:45 AM ET, 04/27/16; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 4:48 PM ET, 04/27/16
NRP-10009-3, S/N 1022: Johnson County, Nebraska, Germinating Red Clover (Trifolium pratense L)
(U-2) Action: Activated (Open Green Clamp)/Shaken/Deactivated (Open Blue Clamp)/Shaken; When Action Occurred on ISS: 4:00 AM ET, 05/09/16; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 4:18 PM ET, 05/09/16
NRP-10009-4, S/N 1022: Kansas City, Missouri, Will Sunflower Seeds Grow in Microgravity?
(U-14) Action: Activated/Shaken; When Action Occurred on ISS: 5:45 AM ET, 04/27/16; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 4:48 PM ET, 04/27/16
(U-2) Action: Deactivated/Shaken; When Action Occurred on ISS: 4:00 AM ET, 05/09/16; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 4:18 PM ET, 05/09/16
NRP-10009-5, S/N 1022: Knox County, Tennessee, Effects of Microgravity on the Efficacy of Ciprofloxacin on Escherichia Coli
(U-14) Action: Activated/Shaken; When Action Occurred on ISS: 5:45 AM ET, 04/27/16; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 4:48 PM ET, 04/27/16
(U-5) Action: Deactivated/Shaken; When Action Occurred on ISS: 4:40 AM ET, 05/06/16; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 4:46 PM ET, 05/06/16
NRP-10009-6, S/N 1022: LaVerne, California, Tardigrade Cryptobiotic Strategies vs. Microgravity
No crew interactions required
NRP-10009-7, S/N 1022: Littleton, Colorado, Ladybugs in Space
(U-14) Action: Activated/Shaken; When Action Occurred on ISS: 5:45 AM ET, 04/27/16; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 4:48 PM ET, 04/27/16
NRP-10009-8, S/N 1022: North Charleston, South Carolina (M6 experiment flying with M7), How does spaceflight affect the formation of tin whiskers on lead-free solder?
No crew interactions required
NRP-10009-9, S/N 1022: Pennsauken, New Jersey, Staphylococcus Epidermidis In Microgravity
(A=0) Action: Activated/Shaken; When Action Occurred on ISS: 1:30 PM ET, 04/11/16; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 6:44 PM ET, 04/11/16
(A+2) Action: Deactivated/Shaken; When Action Occurred on ISS: 10:00 AM ET, 04/13/16; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 1:42 PM ET, 04/13/16
NRP-10009-1, S/N 1023: Petaluma, California, At what rate will algae reproduce in a microgravitational setting versus on Earth?
(U-14) Action: Activated/Shaken; When Action Occurred on ISS: 5:45 AM ET, 04/27/16; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 4:48 PM ET, 04/27/16
(U-5) Action: Deactivated/Shaken; When Action Occurred on ISS: 4:40 AM ET, 05/06/16; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 4:46 PM ET, 05/06/16
NRP-10009-2, S/N 1023: Pharr, Texas, What is the effect of microgravity on the cell division of an onion root?
(U-14) Action: Activated/Shaken; When Action Occurred on ISS: 5:45 AM ET, 04/27/16; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 4:48 PM ET, 04/27/16
(U-2) Action: Deactivated/Shaken; When Action Occurred on ISS: 4:00 AM ET, 05/09/16; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 4:18 PM ET, 05/09/16
NRP-10009-3, S/N 1023: San Antonio, Texas, The Effects of Microgravity on the Rate of Plant Growth
(U-14) Action: Activated/Shaken; When Action Occurred on ISS: 5:45 AM ET, 04/27/16; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 4:48 PM ET, 04/27/16
(U-5) Action: Deactivated/Shaken; When Action Occurred on ISS: 4:40 AM ET, 05/06/16; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 4:46 PM ET, 05/06/16
NRP-10009-4, S/N 1023: Santa Monica, California, The Effect of Microgravity on Paper Chromatography
(U-2) Action: Deactivated (Blue Clamp Opened)/Arc/Wait/Close Clamp (Green/Activation Clamp Closed); When Action Occurred on ISS: 4:00 AM ET, 05/09/16; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 4:18 PM ET, 05/09/16
NRP-10009-5, S/N 1023: Sioux City, Iowa, “Go Nuts in Space”
(A=0) Action: Activated/Shaken; When Action Occurred on ISS: 1:30 PM ET, 04/11/16; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 6:44 PM ET, 04/11/16
(A+2) Action: Deactivated/Shaken; When Action Occurred on ISS: 10:00 AM ET, 04/13/16; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 1:42 PM ET, 04/13/16
NRP-10009-6, S/N 1023: Somerset, New Jersey, Evaporation Investigation
(A=0) Action: Activated; When Action Occurred on ISS: 1:30 PM ET, 04/11/16; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 6:44 PM ET, 04/11/16
(A+2) Action: Clamp Closed (Activation/Green Clamp); When Action Occurred on ISS: 10:00 AM ET, 04/13/16; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 1:42 PM ET, 04/13/16
NRP-10009-7, S/N 1023: West Fargo, North Dakota, How Does Rust Form Differently in a Microgravity Environment
(A=0) Action: Activated/Shaken; When Action Occurred on ISS: 1:30 PM ET, 04/11/16; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 6:44 PM ET, 04/11/16
NRP-10009-8, S/N 1023: Howard County, Maryland (re-flight), Core-Shell Micro/Nanodisks: Microencapsulation in Two Dimensions under Microgravity
(A=0) Action: Activated/Shaken/Deactivated (Green and Blue Clamps Opened); When Action Occurred on ISS: 1:30 PM ET, 04/11/16; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 6:44 PM ET, 04/11/16
(A+2) Action: Close Clamps (Activation/Green and Deactivation/Blue Clamps); When Action Occurred on ISS: 10:00 AM ET, 04/13/16; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 1:42 PM ET, 04/13/16
May 11, 2016: Currently, Dragon is scheduled to be released from ISS at 9:26 am ET, with splashdown in the Pacific expected at 2:56 pm ET. Back-up date is May 14, 2016. Possible slip in undock is weather dependent.
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 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.