NASA to Broadcast Next Space Station Resupply Launch, Prelaunch Activities

WASHINGTON, July 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA commercial cargo provider SpaceX is targeting 7:35 p.m. EDT Sunday, July 21, for the launch of its 18th agency-contracted resupply mission to the International Space Station. Live coverage will begin on NASA Television and the agency's website Sunday with prelaunch events.

The Dragon spacecraft will deliver supplies and critical materials to directly support dozens of the more than 250 science and research investigations that will occur during Expeditions 60 and beyond. In addition to bringing research to station, the Dragon's unpressurized trunk is carrying the International Docking Adapter-3 (IDA-3), which, when installed on the space station, will provide the microgravity laboratory with two common ports enabling expanded opportunities for visiting vehicles, including new spacecraft designed to carry humans for NASA's Commercial Crew Program.

Dragon will dock to the space station Tuesday, July 23. When it arrives, NASA astronaut Nick Hague will grapple Dragon with NASA astronaut Christina Koch acting as a backup. NASA's Andrew Morgan will assist the duo by monitoring telemetry during Dragon's approach. The station crew will monitor Dragon vehicle functions during rendezvous. After Dragon capture, mission control in Houston will send ground commands for the station's arm to rotate and install it on the bottom of the station's Harmony module.https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/richard-r-arnold

Full mission coverage is as follows (all times Eastern):

Sunday, July 21

    --  9 a.m. - Prelaunch news conference from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in
        Florida with representatives from the agency's International Space
        Station Program, SpaceX and the U.S. Air Force's 45th Space Wing.
    --  12 p.m. - NASA Social What's on Board science briefing from Kennedy.
        This briefing will highlight the following research:
        --  Pete Hasbrook, office manager for NASA's International Space Station
            Program Science Office, will share an overview of the research being
            conducted aboard the space station and how it benefits exploration
            and humanity.
        --  Ken Shields, chief operating officer for the International Space
            Station U.S. National Laboratory, will discuss the lab's work in
            advancing science in space, and in developing partnerships that
            drive industrialization through microgravity research.
        --  Gene Boland, chief scientist at Techshot, Inc., and Ken Church,
            chief executive officer at nScrypt, will discuss the BioFabrication
            Facility, which is designed to print organ-like tissues in
            microgravity, acting as a stepping- stone in a long-term plan to
            manufacture whole human organs in space using refined biological 3D
            printing techniques.
        --  George Papakonstantopoulos, principal scientist at Goodyear Tire,
            will discuss pushing the limits of silica fillers for tire
            applications. A better understanding of silica morphology and the
            relationship between silica structure and its properties could
            improve the silica design process, silica rubber formulation, and
            tire manufacturing and performance on the ground.
        --  Valentina Fossati  from the New York Stem Foundation Research
            Institute and Andres Bratt-Leal from Aspen Neuroscience, will
            discuss the Space Tango - Induced Stem Cells investigation, where
            cells from patients with Parkinson's disease and Multiple Sclerosis
            will be cultured on the space station to examine cell to cell
            interactions that occur in neurodegenerative disease.
        --  Rasha Hammamieh, principal investigator from the United States Army
            and Melissa Kacena, co-investigator at Indiana University School of
            Medicine, will discuss the Cell Science-02 investigation comparing
            the ability of two different bone inducing growth factors, one novel
            and one currently used in bone healing therapies, to stimulate
            growth, differentiation and related cellular functions of osteoblast
            in the microgravity environment.
        --  Jason August, manager of the International Space Station  Mission
            Evaluation Room, will discuss the International Docking Adapter-3
            (IDA-3), where Boeing's CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX's Crew Dragon
            spacecraft will dock in the near future when bringing astronauts to
            the station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program.
    --  7 p.m. - NASA TV launch coverage begins for the 7:35 p.m. launch

Tuesday, July 23

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

Dragon will remain at the space station until Aug. 20, when the spacecraft will return to Earth with research and return cargo.

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/press-release/nasa-to-broadcast-next-space-station-resupply-launch-prelaunch-activities-1

Learn more about the SpaceX resupply mission at:

https://www.nasa.gov/spacex

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SOURCE NASA