NASA Television to Air Launch of Next Space Station Resupply Mission

NASA Television to Air Launch of Next Space Station Resupply Mission

WASHINGTON, March 26, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA commercial cargo provider SpaceX now is targeting its 14th resupply mission to the International Space Station for no earlier than 4:30 p.m. EDT Monday, April 2. Live coverage will begin on NASA Television and the agency's website Sunday, April 1, with pre-launch events.

Packed with almost 5,800 pounds of research, crew supplies and hardware, the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft will launch on a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. About 10 minutes after launch, Dragon will reach its preliminary orbit, at which point it will deploys its solar arrays and begins a carefully choreographed series of thruster firings to reach the International Space Station.

Grapple and berthing to the space station is targeted for April 4. Expedition 55 Flight Engineers Norishege Kanai of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, backed up by NASA astronaut Scott Tingle, will supervise the operation of the Canadarm2 robotic arm for Dragon's capture. After Dragon capture, ground commands will be sent from mission control in Houston for the station's arm to rotate and install it on the bottom of the station's Harmony module.

Full mission coverage is as follows:

Sunday, April 1

    --  2:30 p.m. - What's on Board science briefing, from NASA's Kennedy Space
        Center in Florida. This briefing will highlight the following research:
        --  Dan Close, chief scientific officer at 490 BioTech, will discuss the
            company's Metabolic Tracking investigation to evaluate the use of a
            new method to test, in microgravity, the metabolic impacts of
            pharmaceutical drugs. This could lead to more effective, less
            expensive medicines on Earth.
        --  Torsten Neubert of the National Space Institute at the Technical
            University of Denmark, and principal investigator for the
            Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor, will discuss how this Earth
            observatory will study severe thunderstorms and their role in the
            Earth's atmosphere and climate.
        --  The Multi-use Variable-g Platform (MVP), developed, owned and
            operated by Techshot Inc., will serve as a new test bed aboard the
            space station, able to host 12 separate experiment modules with
            samples such as plants, cells, protein crystals and fruit flies.
            Rich Boling, vice president for corporate advancement at Techshot,
            will discuss the platform, and Sharmila Bhattacharya, a senior
            scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center, will talk about the value
            of the research that will be conducted on it.
        --  Howard Levine, chief scientist in the Utilization and Life Science
            Office at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, will discuss continuing
            research on growing food in space, as the Veggie Passive Orbital
            Nutrient Delivery System experiment tests a new way to deliver
            nutrients to plants.
    --  4 p.m. - Prelaunch news conference at Kennedy with representatives from
        NASA's International Space Station Program, SpaceX and the U.S. Air
        Force's 45th Space Wing.

Monday, April 2

    --  4 p.m. - Launch coverage begins for the 4:30 p.m. launch
    --  6:30 p.m. - Postlaunch news conference at Kennedy with representatives
        from NASA's International Space Station Program and SpaceX.

Wednesday, April 4

    --  5:30 a.m. - Dragon rendezvous and capture. Capture is scheduled for 7
        a.m.
    --  8:30 a.m. - Dragon installation to the nadir port of the Harmony module
        of the station

The Dragon spacecraft will spend approximately one month attached to the space station, returning to Earth in May with results of completed experiments.

The deadline for media to apply for accreditation for this launch has passed, but more information about media accreditation is available by emailing ksc-media-accreditat@mail.nasa.gov.

For the latest schedule of prelaunch briefings, events and NASA TV coverage, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/content/spacex-crs-14-briefings-and-events/

Learn more about the SpaceX resupply mission at:

https://www.nasa.gov/spacex

CONTACT: Stephanie Schierholz, Headquarters, Washington, 202-358-1100, stephanie.schierholz@nasa.gov, or Stephanie Martin, Kennedy Space Center, Fla., 321-867-2468, stephanie.a.martin@nasa.gov

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SOURCE NASA