The World may have stopped or at least taking a break through phases of dodging virulent strains or the lockdowns, but Human’s zeal to discover and test with our cosmic neighborhood has never been so enlightened.
While we lend our eyes here, the latest SpaceX Dragon resupply spacecraft will be paving its way to the International Space Station across orbits, after being launched at 1:29 p.m. EDT Thursday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (Florida).
The Dragon got packed with 7,300 lbs. (3,311 kilograms) of supplies, scientific experiments and hardware composed of the two new solar arrays for the space station’s power grid.
This was SpaceX’s 17th rocket of the year and company’s 22nd resupply mission to the International Space station for NASA on a two-stage Falcon 9 rocket.
It is scheduled to autonomously dock at the orbiting station around 5 a.m. Saturday, June 5, and remain there for about a month’s time.
The rocket had been tested earlier at company facilities in McGregor, Texas, and that trial provided sufficient confirmation for the flight to be ready.
Dragon is expected to reach at the orbiting lab-cum-station on June 5 at 5 a.m. EDT (0900 GMT), where already there’s another SpaceX vehicle by the name Crew Dragon “Endeavour,” carrying four astronauts.
However, the new Dragon is structured to hold about 20% more cargo, is bigger on the inside, contains twice as many powered lockers and is certified to fly five times, versus the three times its predecessor version can fly.
The rocket’s first stage returned to Earth after approximately 9 minutes from the launch. It landed on SpaceX’s drone ship sailing in the Atlantic Ocean called “Of Course I Still Love You,” which is one of two recovery vessels that catch its falling pieces and brings them back for reuse.
The other being “Just Read the Instructions” is also used for robot catching.
This can enable the researchers to acquire samples and data back faster within four to nine hours after its splashdown. Its good for SpaceX too as they can get the vehicle back more quickly, start performing inspections and maintenance for the next flight.
Weird experiments using the big cargo in Space:
Overall experiment involves two different animal adventures:
For symbiotic Relations: The ones to be performed inside Dragon while it drifts towards the space station.
This investigation, called UMAMI (Understanding of Microgravity on Animal-Microbe Interactions), is looking at symbiotic relationships impacted by the spaceflights on molecular and chemical reactions occurring between beneficial microbes and their animal hosts.
“Animals, including humans, rely on our microbes to maintain a healthy digestive and immune system, we do not fully understand how spaceflight alters these beneficial interactions”.
“The UMAMI experiment uses a glow-in-the-dark bobtail squid to address these important issues in animal health.” Explains the principal Investigator.
Here the animal model used is bobtail squid or Euprymna scolopes.
This can therefore be used to identify ways to protect and enhance these relationships aiming at better human health and well-being on Earth as well as flights.
For the stresses to undertake: The others being extremophiles have been sent to better understand about their ability to withstand the stressors of extreme environments, like microgravity.
Tardigrades, known as water bears are selected for this purpose.
Additionally, researchers have sequenced the genome of the tardigrade Hypsibius exemplaris, devising methods for assessing how different environmental conditions affect tardigrade gene expression.
This study can help shortlisting the stress factors affecting humans in space and avail the countermeasures. “Spaceflight can be a really challenging environment for organisms, including humans, who have evolved to the conditions on Earth,” says principal investigator.
“One of the things we are really keen to do is understand how tardigrades are surviving and reproducing in these environments and whether we can learn anything about the tricks that they are using and adapt them to safeguard astronauts.”
Miscellaneous Experiments for Space and Earth:
A better-resilient Cotton Plant: It is known that root growth patterns depend upon gravity, and TICTOC (Targeting Improved Cotton Through On-orbit Cultivation) could help identify the environmental factors and genes regulating growth in the absence of gravity.
“We are hoping to reveal features of root system formation that can be targeted by breeders and scientists to improve characteristics such as drought resistance or nutrient uptake, both key factors in the environmental impacts of modern agriculture.”
On-spot Butterfly IQ Ultrasonic Technology: A portable ultrasound to be used along with a mobile computing device in microgravity.
This investigation collects ultrasound images, including image acquisition, display, and storage in addition to the feedback in terms of ease of handling and quality.
“This type of commercial off-the-shelf technology could provide important medical capabilities for future exploration missions beyond low-Earth orbit, where immediate ground support is not available,” also having a great potential for medical applications in remote and isolated settings on Earth.
Better line of Robotic drivers: Testing for controlling robotic arms and spacecraft is necessary to be performed in microgravity as the ergonomic principles on Earth do not fit conditions experienced on a spacecraft in orbit.
Will be helpful for missions to the space station as well as future space vehicles for missions to the Moon and Mars.
Astronauts are more susceptible to developing kidney stones in space. “With this study, we hope to identify biomarkers or ‘signatures’ of cellular changes that occur during the formation of kidney stones,” says the principal investigator of the study.
Even the capsule is also delivering fresh fruits, including apples, navel oranges, lemons and avocados as a token to the crew.
It may sound so different to us; the fresh food in Space but according to NASA, new supplies of fresh food are brought now and then to ISS either by the Space Shuttle or by the unmanned Russian Progress supply ship.
These prove to be one of the most prized deliveries for astronauts working for Earth in the orbiting lab but must be eaten within the first 2 days of flight as the extra heat and no refrigerators make them easily perishable.
Boost to solar Power on the Station:
There are two new solar panels (first two of six new panels to be installed) to help boost the space station’s power by more than 30%.
These solar panels on ISS have a futuristic role in future missions including NASA’s upcoming Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), and the Lunar Gateway.
“After the launch of this mission, we have a busy June,” Joel Montalbano, ISS program manager for NASA said during a prelaunch briefing on June 2. “We have two EVA’s planned for June 16 and June 20 to support the deployment of the new solar arrays.”