[meteorite-list] NASA Sends Fire, Meteor Experiments to International Space Station on Commercial Cargo Spacecraft

[Ron Baalke]

March 23, 2016

RELEASE 16-036

NASA Sends Fire, Meteor Experiments to International Space Station on Commercial Cargo Spacecraft

Scientific investigations of fire in microgravity and grippers inspired by 
geckos are among the nearly 7,500 pounds of cargo headed to the International 
Space Station aboard an Orbital ATK Cygnus spacecraft, along with equipment 
to support some 250 other experiments and studies aboard the world's only 
orbital laboratory.

Orbital ATK's fifth cargo delivery flight under its Commercial Resupply 
Services contract with NASA launched at 11:05 p.m. EDT Tuesday on a United 
Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral 
Air Force Station in Florida. The Cygnus is scheduled to arrive at the 
orbiting laboratory Saturday, March 26.

The station's Expeditions 47 and 48 crews will employ these science 
payloads to support experiments in biology, biotechnology, physical science 
and Earth science - research that improves life on Earth -- including:

 * Saffire-I provides a new way to study a large fire on an exploration
   craft, which has not been possible in the past because the risks for
   performing such studies on spacecraft with astronauts aboard are too high.
 * Meteor will enable the first space-based observations of meteors
   entering Earth's atmosphere from space.
 * Strata-I could give us answers about how regolith behaves and moves in
   microgravity, how easy or difficult it is to anchor a spacecraft in
   regolith, how it interacts with spacecraft and spacesuit materials, and
   other important properties.
 * The Gecko Gripper study tests a gecko-inspired adhesive gripping
   device that can stick on command in the harsh environment of space.
 * The Additive Manufacturing Facility will add an upgraded 3-D printing
   capability to the station.

NASA astronaut and Expedition 46 Commander Tim Kopra will capture Cygnus at 
about 6:40 a.m. Saturday, March 26, using the space station's Canadarm2 
robotic arm to take hold of the spacecraft. Astronaut Tim Peake of ESA 
(European Space Agency) will support Kopra in a backup position. NASA TV 
coverage of capture will begin at 5:30 a.m.

Saffire-1 will remain on the spacecraft once all the other supplies are 
unloaded, and the vehicle will be attached to the space station for about two 
months. Once it departs and the spacecraft is a safe distance from the space 
station, engineers will remotely conduct the first Saffire experiment before 
the Cygnus' destructive reentry into Earth's atmosphere. Before detaching 
from the station, Cygnus will also be filled with about 3,000 pounds of 
trash, which will be burned up over the Pacific Ocean.

This is the second flight of an enhanced Cygnus spacecraft, and the second 
using the Atlas V launch system. The cargo freighter features a greater 
payload capacity, supported by new fuel tanks and solar arrays, and an 
extended pressurized cargo module that increases the spacecraft's interior 
volume by 25 percent, enabling more cargo to be delivered with each launch.

The space station is a convergence of science, technology and human 
innovation that demonstrates new technologies and makes research 
breakthroughs not possible on Earth. The space station has been continuously 
occupied since November 2000. In that time, it has been visited by more than 
200 people and a variety of international and commercial spacecraft. The 
space station remains the springboard to NASA's next great leap in 
exploration, including future missions to an asteroid and Mars.

For more information about Orbital ATK's mission, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/orbitalatk

For more information about the International Space Station, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/station

-end-