2023-06-06 12:45:29
NASA’s 28th supply flight for the International Space Station (ISS), includes provisions, accessories and equipment for new experiments.
SpaceX’s Dragon cargo spacecraft lifted off on June 5, 2023 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA, carrying more than 3 tons of cargo and powered by a SpaceX Falcon 9 launcher.
On June 6, the spacecraft automatically docked with the Harmony module of the International Space Station. NASA astronaut Woody Hoburg oversaw the operations. The Dragon will remain docked at the orbital complex for about three weeks.
Among the accessories transported by the freighter to the space station, a couple of solar panels stand out which, once installed on it, will increase its capacity to generate electricity.
These experiments for the ISS for which the ship carries equipment are also noteworthy:
The observation of storms from the space station is the purpose of one of the experiments, of the European Space Agency (ESA). The privileged observation point provided by the ISS will allow researchers to see the electrical activity of storms from above, in particular the start, frequency and altitude of certain blue discharges of a recently discovered phenomenon. The goal is to make the most accurate estimates possible of the energy of these discharges to determine their effect on the atmosphere. A better understanding of lightning and the other electrical activity that occurs in Earth’s atmosphere could improve atmospheric models and provide a better understanding of Earth’s climate and weather.
Launch of the Dragon cargo spacecraft on June 5, 2023. (Photo: NASA)
Plants exposed to environmental stress, including that caused by the weightlessness (or microgravity) of space, undergo changes to adapt to their environment. One experiment, Plant Habitat-03 (PH-03), will focus on finding out whether space-grown plants can transfer such adaptations to the next generation and, if so, whether the changes continue through subsequent generations or they stabilize. In this research, a second generation of plants will be grown using seeds previously produced in space. The results could provide insights into how to grow multiple generations of plants to provide food and other services on future space missions.
Telomeres, genetic structures that protect our chromosomes, shorten with age and wear. But previous research has revealed that in space, telomeres get longer. In the Genes in Space-10 experiment, a technique for measuring telomere length in weightlessness will be tested. In the absence of terrestrial gravity, the methods commonly used in our world are very problematic to use.
The experiment will explore whether the lengthening of telomeres in space is caused by the proliferation of stem cells (undifferentiated cells that give rise to specific body components and often have long telomeres).
Understanding the underlying mechanism of telomere lengthening could reveal potential effects on astronauts’ health during long-duration missions. It could also lay the foundations to initiate various lines of research on aging. (Fountain: NCYT de Amazings)
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