Tag: ISS Research

What is In Space Production Applications?

NeRD

NASA supports In Space Production Applications (InSPA) awards to help the selected companies raise the technological readiness level of their products and move them to market, propelling U.S. industry toward the development of a sustainable, scalable, and profitable non-NASA demand for services and products in low-Earth orbit. These commercialization awards provide opportunities for NASA to reduce its future costs in LEO enabling deep-space missions farther from Earth, including the Moon and Mars. NASA is leading commercial LEO development efforts to stimulate non-NASA demand for commercially owned and operated orbital destinations from…

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AWE Launching to Space Station to Study Atmospheric Waves via Airglow

NeRD

4 min read AWE Launching to Space Station to Study Atmospheric Waves via Airglow NASA’s Atmospheric Waves Experiment, or AWE, mission is scheduled to launch to the International Space Station in November 2023, where it will make use of a natural, ethereal glow in Earth’s sky to study waves in our planet’s atmosphere. Built by Utah State University’s Space Dynamics Laboratory in North Logan, Utah, AWE will be mounted on the exterior of the space station. From this perch, AWE will stare down toward Earth, tracking undulations in the air…

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NASA’s SpaceX CRS-29 Mission Flies Research to the Space Station

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The 29th SpaceX commercial resupply services (CRS) mission for NASA carries scientific experiments and technology demonstrations, including studies of enhanced optical communications and measurement of atmospheric waves. The uncrewed SpaceX Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to launch to the International Space Station from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida no earlier than Nov. 5. Download high-resolution photos and videos of the research mentioned in this article. Here are details on some of the research launching to the orbiting lab: Laser Communication from Space NASA’s ILLUMA-T investigation tests technology to provide…

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Station Science 101: Growing Plants in Space

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Thale cress plants from the Plant Habitat-03 investigation just before a harvest. NASA As NASA plans missions to the Moon and Mars, a key factor is figuring out how to feed crew members during their weeks, months, and even years in space. Astronauts on the International Space Station primarily eat prepackaged food, which requires regular resupply and can degrade in quality and nutrition. Researchers are exploring the idea of crews growing some of their food during a mission, testing various crops and equipment to figure out how to do this…

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Station Science 101: Microbiology

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NASA astronaut Joe Acaba with one of the Microbial Air Samplers, devices that monitor microbes in the air of the space station. NASA Wherever there are humans, there are microbes, too. Bacteria and fungi live all around us, in our homes, offices, industrial areas, the outdoors – even in space. People literally could not live without these tiny organisms, many of which are beneficial. The trick is limiting potentially harmful ones, particularly in a contained environment such as a spacecraft. So from the launch of the very first module of…

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