With capsule, helicopter, boat, plane and car, the station’s scientific experiments are about to make a first trip back to scientists on earth.
On January 11, the SpaceX cargo Dragon spacecraft, which performs the 21st Commercial Reflection Services (CRS-21) mission for NASA, disconnected from the International Space Station and about 12 hours later en route to the coast of Florida. This upgraded Dragon transports significantly more science back to Earth than is possible in previous Dragon capsules and is the first space station cargo capsule to splash off the coast of Florida.
In addition, for the first time since the exit of the spacecraft from space station by NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, science is returning.
“I’m excited to finally see science return here, because we can get these time-sensitive experiments in the lab faster than ever,” said Jennifer Wahlberg, project manager at the Kennedy Space Center. “Sending science up into space and receiving it back on the runway was definitely something in the commute days we were really proud of, and it’s great to be back in that process.”
As the spacecraft returns to Earth, the experiments begin to experience the effects of gravity again. Splashdown is fast starting to return the samples and experiments to researchers around the world. After a SpaceX boat creates the capsule out of the water, a guard crew retrieves time-critical science from the spacecraft and loads it onto a guard helicopter. The helicopter will deliver this science ashore a few hours after the splash. Any remaining scientific cargo will return in a second helicopter load or remain on board the boat and be removed in port.
Recurring space station experiments include:
Cardinal Heart, which studies how changes in gravity affect cardiovascular cells at the cellular and tissue levels using 3D-made heart tissues, a type of tissue chip. Results can provide a new understanding of heart problems on Earth, help identify new treatments and support the development of screening measures to predict cardiovascular risk before space travel.
A study by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Space Organogenesis, demonstrating the growth of 3D organ nodes from human stem cells to analyze changes in gene expression. Results of this investigation may show benefits of using microgravity for the latest developments in regenerative medicine and may contribute to the creation of technologies needed to create artificial organs.
The Bacterial Adhesion and Corrosion Experiment, which identifies the bacterial genes used during biofilm growth, investigates whether these biofilms can corrode stainless steel, and evaluates the effectiveness of a disinfectant based on silver. This investigation can provide insight into better ways to control and remove resistant biofilms, contributing to the success of future long-term aircraft.
Fiber optic production, which includes the return of experimental optical fibers created in microgravity with a mixture of zirconium, barium, lanthanum, sodium and aluminum. The return of the fibers, called ZBLAN with reference to the chemical formula, will help to verify experimental studies suggesting that fibers created in space should show much better properties than those produced on Earth.
Rodent Research-23, which involves the return of live mice. This experiment studies the function of arteries, veins and lymph structures in the eye and changes in the retina before and after spaceflight. The purpose is to explain whether these changes impair visual function. At least 40 percent of the astronauts experience visual impairment, known as Spacefly-associated neuro-ocular syndrome (SANS) on long-range spaceplanes, which can adversely affect the success of the mission.
“Rodent Research-23 is designed to begin adapting rodent gravity responses as quickly as possible, making it an ideal candidate for this flight,” said Jennifer Buchli, deputy chief scientist for NASA’s International Space Station program. Johnson Space Center in Houston, said.
The helicopter will land the experiments at the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF), which was previously used for the return of spacecraft. Then a team by truck will transport most cargo to the Kennedy Space Center Processing Facility (SSPF), where science teams will wait.
“We are going to have a parade of scientists ready in the Kennedy Space Center waiting to receive samples,” said Mary Walsh, chief flight officer of the Research Integration Office.
The SSPF is traditionally used to prepare experiments for launch in space, and is home to world-class laboratories that provide the tools and workspace to instantly take data and analyze samples.
“The scientists will quickly look to get initial results and then send them back to their home base,” Wahlberg says. “The advantage of being able to observe science earlier is the ability to deny any gravitational effects on the research after it has been in space.”
From the center in Kennedy Space Center, the scientific monsters and experiments around the world will go to California, Texas, Massachusetts, Japan and more places. “For every flight, we have hundreds of people around the world preparing to put science on a vehicle. Similarly, we have all the people around the world preparing to receive these items,” says Walsh.
The vast amount of science returning to Earth on this mission is possible thanks to upgrades to the SpaceX cargo Dragon spacecraft, which doubles the ability to have the wardrobe of the company’s previous capsules. On return, it can support up to 12 powered lockers, allowing the transport of more cold cargo and power for additional payloads.
“The old capsule was like a cream-filled donut. You packed everything around the walls, and then put a big giant stack of bags in the middle,” Walsh said. “This upgraded cargo Dragon is more like a three-story house. You sit well in the basement, then you pack the second story, then you go upstairs and pack the third story. So it’s really different from a design perspective. “
This design also allows for faster downloading of research during splashdown, which, along with the new splashdown site off the coast of Florida, returns scientific samples to the researchers in record time.
“Using the previous Dragon spacecraft, it can take up to 48 hours from the time the capsule hits the waters in the Pacific Ocean before returning to Long Beach, California. We started distributing the samples about four to five hours later.” says Walsh. “Now we’re going to give science back earlier and give it to researchers just four to nine hours after the splash.”
On future missions, more scientists around the world could take advantage of these faster return features to expand into new areas of microgravity research.
“It allows us to do different kinds of science,” Buchli said. “If in the past you wanted to see how an organism has to adapt to gravity again, the best case scenario was by the time you got it back to the lab after you splashed it, and you got data within 18 hours. organisms within 13 hours. This faster return of only a few hours opens up a whole new field of science. “
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