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: February 8, 2015, 8:49 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 6 Yankee Clipper 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 17 flight experiments comprising the SSEP Mission 6 Yankee Clipper II payload (1 Mission 6 experiment will re-fly with the Mission 7 payload of experiments) from the time the mini-laboratories are received in Houston before the flight of SpaceX-5 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 M6 Yankee Clipper 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 6 to ISS: 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 best fit 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 therefore 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 SSEP Mission 6 to ISS: Experiment Log page (the page you are reading now) 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 for 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 may want 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 1012” together with the Community and Experiment names (see Section 4 below).
Originally Projected Launch Date for SSEP Mission 6 to ISS Yankee Clipper payload: October 21,2014
Original Ferry Vehicle: Orbital Sciences 3 (Orb-3; Antares rocket, Cygnus spacecraft)
Original Launch Site: Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS), Virginia
With the tragic loss of Orb-3, the payload was re-designated Yankee Clipper II and manifested for launch on SpaceX-5.
Initial Projected Launch Date for SSEP Mission 6 to ISS Yankee Clipper II: December 9, 2014
Ferry Vehicle: SpaceX CRS-5
Launch Site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida
October 28, 2014: NCESSE is absolutely committed to re-flying the M6 payload as soon as a ferry vehicle is available to do so, this includes all M6 flight experiments as well as M5 and M6 mission patches. There are ferry vehicles scheduled to fly in the coming months. Very quickly after the accident, NanoRacks, our flight services providers, contacted us to let us know that they are already assessing and working a plan to re-fly the payload. NanoRacks will offer the re-fly at no cost to SSEP. NCESSE will underwrite the cost of labor hours and shipping of re-flight experiments to Houston.
October 29, 2014: NCESSE reports that NanoRacks has formally requested with NASA that the Yankee Clipper payload and mission patches are manifested on SpaceX-5 out of Cape Canaveral, Florida in December. Experiment handover will be late November.
November 5, 2014: NanoRacks is absolutely working towards a reflight on SpaceX-5, therefore NCESSE and all M6 flight teams are working against the SpaceX-5 launch date. Launch is currently scheduled from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL on December 9th at 5:15 pm ET. This is a stunning turn around from the loss of Orb-3 just 8 days ago.
Novemer 19, 2014: NanoRacks reports the primary launch date has slipped from December 9th to December 16th. This change was made in response to SpaceX request for delay after a thorough scrub of their ground processing schedules, and moves the launch to the next possible date which meets the T-Cell payload rendezvous requirement. The experiment handover deadline extended to November 25th.
December 11, 2014: NanoRacks reports launch date slipped from December 16th to December 19th. This change is in response to SpaceX request for delay.
December 17, 2014: NanoRacks reports SpaceX-5 is unable to support a launch on December 19th. December 20th is still a possibility, but not likely. December 23rd is good. December 26th is not. January 6th is the next possible.
December 18, 2014: NanoRacks reports that SpaceX-5 has slipped to January 6th at 6:20 am ET. A refresh opportunity is likely.
January 6, 2014: At T-1 minute 28 seconds the Space X-5 launch was aborted due to an anomaly in the second stage. Launch has slipped to NET January 9th at 5:09 a.m.
January 10, 2015, 4:47 am ET: SpaceX CRS-5 launches from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida
January 12, 2015, 5:54 am ET: Dragon is grappled by station’s robotic arm; approximately 2 hours later Dragon is successfully berthed with station
4. Flight Experiment Log, On-Orbit Operations:
Mission 6 Yankee Clipper 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 1015: Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, Baby Bloodsuckers in Outerspace
(U-14) Action: Activated; When Action Occurred on ISS: 9:30 AM ET, 01/27/15; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 4:39 PM ET, 01/27/15
(U-2) Action: De-activated; When Action Occurred on ISS: 6:55 AM ET, 02/08/15; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 8:45 PM ET, 02/08/15
NRP-10009-2, S/N 1015: Colleton County, South Carolina, Milk in Microgravity
No Crew Interactions Requested
NRP-10009-3, S/N 1015: Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada, Creating Crystals in Space
(A+2) Action: Activated; When Action Occurred on ISS: 1:15 PM ET, 01/15/15; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 4:10 PM ET, 01/15/15
(U-2) Action: De-activated; When Action Occurred on ISS: 6:55 AM ET, 02/08/15; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 8:45 PM ET, 02/08/15
NRP-10009-4, S/N 1015: Kansas City, Missouri, Biocides and Bacteria
(U-5) Action: Activated; When Action Occurred on ISS: 6:45 AM ET, 02/05/15; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 4:07 PM ET, 02/05/15
(U-2) Action: De-activated; When Action Occurred on ISS: 6:55 AM ET, 02/08/15; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 8:45 PM ET, 02/08/15
NRP-10009-5, S/N 1015: Plaquemine, Louisiana, The Effect of Microgravity on Geotropism on the Germination of Soybean Seeds
(U-5) Action: Activated; When Action Occurred on ISS: 6:45 AM ET, 02/05/15; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 4:07 PM ET, 02/05/15
(U-2) Action: De-activated; When Action Occurred on ISS: 6:55 AM ET, 02/08/15; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 8:45 PM ET, 02/08/15
NRP-10009-6, S/N 1015: San Marino, CA, The Effect of Microgravity on Early Musca domestica Growth
(A+2) Action: Activated; When Action Occurred on ISS: 1:15 PM ET, 01/15/15; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 4:10 PM ET, 01/15/15
NRP-10009-7, S/N 1015: Somerville, Tennessee, Reishi Mushroom VS. E. coli and Chronic Myeloid Leukemia
(A=0) Action: Activated; When Action Occurred on ISS: 7:58 AM ET, 01/13/15; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 8:28 AM ET, 01/13/15
(A+2) Action: De-activated; When Action Occurred on ISS: 1:15 PM ET, 01/15/15; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 4:10 PM ET, 01/15/15
NRP-10009-8, S/N 1015: Knox County, Tennessee, Waste in Space: Exploring the Effect of Microgravity on the Rate of Decomposition of Corn Starch by Rid-X
(U-14) Action: Activated; When Action Occurred on ISS: 9:30 AM ET, 01/27/15; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 4:39 PM ET, 01/27/15
(U-2) Action: De-activated; When Action Occurred on ISS: 6:55 AM ET, 02/08/15; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 8:45 PM ET, 02/08/15
NRP-10009-1, S/N 1016: Washington, District of Columbia, The Effects of Microgravity on the Development of Chrysanthemum morifolium Seeds
(U-5) Action: Activated; When Action Occurred on ISS: 6:45 AM ET, 02/05/15; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 4:07 PM ET, 02/05/15
NRP-10009-2, S/N 1016: Flushing, New York, Can Zero Gravity Affect the Germination of Chia Plants?
(U-14) Action: Activated; When Action Occurred on ISS: 9:30 AM ET, 01/27/15; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 4:39 PM ET, 01/27/15
(U-2) Action: De-activated; When Action Occurred on ISS: 6:55 AM ET, 02/08/15; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 8:45 PM ET, 02/08/15
NRP-10009-3, S/N 1016: Kalamazoo, Michigan, Microgravity’s Effect on Dry Lake Fairy Shrimp
(U-14) Action: Activated; When Action Occurred on ISS: 9:30 AM ET, 01/27/15; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 4:39 PM ET, 01/27/15
(U-5) Action: De-activated; When Action Occurred on ISS: 6:45 AM ET, 02/05/15; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 4:07 PM ET, 02/05/15
NRP-10009-4, S/N 1016: Long Branch, New Jersey, Hydroponics vs Microgravity
(U-14) Action: Activated; When Action Occurred on ISS: 9:30 AM ET, 01/27/15; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 4:39 PM ET, 01/27/15
(U-5) Action: De-activated; When Action Occurred on ISS: 6:45 AM ET, 02/05/15; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 4:07 PM ET, 02/05/15
NRP-10009-5, S/N 1016: Madison Heights, Michigan, Coliform Bacteria K-12 MicroKwik Culture Escherichia Coli
(U-14) Action: Activated; When Action Occurred on ISS: 9:30 AM ET, 01/27/15; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 4:39 PM ET, 01/27/15
(U-5) Action: De-activated; When Action Occurred on ISS: 6:45 AM ET, 02/05/15; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 4:07 PM ET, 02/05/15
(U-2) Action: Shaken; When Action Occurred on ISS: 6:55 AM ET, 02/08/15; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 8:45 PM ET, 02/08/15
NRP-10009-6, S/N 1016: Oakland, California, Composting in Microgravity
(A=0) Action: Activated; When Action Occurred on ISS: 7:58 AM ET, 01/13/15; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 8:28 AM ET, 01/13/15
NRP-10009-7, S/N 1016: Ocean City, New Jersey, Attachment of Escherichia Coli K-12 Strain to Lettuce
(A=0) Action: Activated; When Action Occurred on ISS: 7:58 AM ET, 01/13/15; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 8:28 AM ET, 01/13/15
(U-2) Action: De-activated; When Action Occurred on ISS: 6:55 AM ET, 02/08/15; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 8:45 PM ET, 02/08/15
NRP-10009-8, S/N 1016: Rockwall, Texas, How Microgravity affects Yeast Cell Division and How it Relates to Human Cancer Cells
(A=0) Action: Activated; When Action Occurred on ISS: 7:58 AM ET, 01/13/15; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 8:28 AM ET, 01/13/15
(A+2) Action: De-activated; When Action Occurred on ISS: 1:15 PM ET, 01/15/15; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 4:10 PM ET, 01/15/15
NRP-10009-9, S/N 1016: San Antonio, Texas, Crystal Tetras
(A=0) Action: Activated; When Action Occurred on ISS: 7:58 AM ET, 01/13/15; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 8:28 AM ET, 01/13/15
(A+2) Action: De-activated; When Action Occurred on ISS: 1:15 PM ET, 01/15/15; Time NanoRacks Notified NCESSE: 4:10 PM ET, 01/15/15
currently February 10, 2015
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.