SSEP Mission 8 to the International Space Station (ISS)

Information to be determined is in RED TEXT below.
Information that is subject to change is in GREEN TEXT below.

Last update of this page: September 7, 2016, 5:01 pm ET


Payload Ferry Flights and ISS Crew Data

Ferry Vehicle to ISS: SpaceX CRS-9 (SpaceX-9: Falcon 9 rocket, Dragon spacecraft)

Launch Date: July 18, 2016, 12:45 am ET (useful reference NASA Consolidated Launch Schedule at nasa.gov)
Crew: none
Launch Site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida

Berthing at ISS: July 20, 2016

Launch Date History:
Initial Launch Date: NET January 3, 2016
Rescheduled to: to be determined
Rescheduled to: June 24, 2016 (TBD)
Rescheduled to: June 27, 2016
Rescheduled to: July 16, 2016
Rescheduled to: July 18, 2016

Ferry Vehicle for Return to Earth: SpaceX-9 
Crew: none
Unberth/Landing Date: August 26, 2016 (splashdown expected at 11:47 am ET)
Landing Site: splashdown off the Pacific Coast of California
Payload Duration on ISS: 40 days

Notable: visit the NASA ISS website for a comprehensive overview of ISS construction, on-orbit research, operations, crews, and multimedia galleries; read about the Orbital Sciences Cygnus spacecraft and Antares rocket; 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 8 Payload Operations: Expedition 48/49
(see Expeditions Schedule at nasa.gov)
Station Commander Anatoly Ivanishin (Russia); Flight Engineers Jeff Williams (USA; Twitter @Astro_Jeff, Instragram @astro_jeffw, Facebook NASA Astronaut Jeff Williams), Oleg Skriprochka (Russia), Alexey Ovchinin (Russia), Kate Rubins (USA; Twitter @Astro_Kate7), and Takuya Onishi (Japan).


SSEP Mission 8 to ISS: Payload and Program Data

Payload Designation: SSEP10 – Kitty Hawk (named for Apollo 14 Command Module; starting with Mission 5 to ISS, SSEP experiments payloads are named for Apollo Command Modules; prior to Mission 5, payloads were named for Apollo Lunar Modules)

Number of Student Team Flight Experiments: 15
Payload: Suite of Fluids Mixing Enclosure (FME – Mark II) Mini-laboratories
Stowage: NanoRacks Express Rack on ISS

History:
The tenth SSEP flight opportunity—SSEP Mission 8 to the International Space Station—was announced by the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education (NCESSE) and the Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Space Education on October 9, 2015, with accompanying Video Clips describing SSEP by Center Director, Dr. Jeff Goldstein: Clip 1, Clip 2

Current Status:
As of August 30, 2016, all flight mini-labs have been returned to student experiment teams for harvesting and analysis.

A List of Important SSEP Mission 8 to ISS Subpages:
SSEP Mission 8 to ISS: Critical Timeline
SSEP Mission 8 to ISS: Mini-Laboratory Operation
SSEP Mission 8 to ISS: Mission Patch Art and Design Competition
SSEP Mission 8 to ISS: Flight Operations
→ Mission 8 to ISS Experiment Log
Launch Viewing Plans for SpaceX-9 and Flight of SSEP Mission 8 Kitty Hawk

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.