Cape Canaveral, Florida –15 July 2016 – NanoRacks is proudly advancing International Space Station (ISS) utilization across a wide range of users – from education to international organizations to professional researchers – both inside and outside of Station – all on one mission. On SpaceX’s Commercial Resupply Mission-9 (SpaceX-9), scheduled for the early hours of Monday July 18, are 25 payloads that will utilize NanoRacks commercial research facilities both in the U.S. National Lab and external to Station.
“NanoRacks is more than just a satellite deployment company,” says NanoRacks CEO Jeffrey Manber. “We offer a full scope of in-space opportunities, and we are watching the customer base grow larger and broader. NanoRacks will continue to offer the best research accommodations both inside and outside of the International Space Station, and beyond.”
Education and STEM Engagement
Working together, NanoRacks and DreamUp are launching 22 student experiments on the SpaceX-9 mission. Specifically, five of these payloads are being re-flown after being lost on Orbital CRS-3 and SpaceX CRS-7. These payloads come from the CASIS National Design Challenge, including the Awty International School of Houston, Duchesne Academy and the Cristo Rey Jesuit School.
Eaglecrest High School, a NASA HUNCH team funded by CASIS, is also on this mission, studying the crystallization of silver nitrate in microgravity on a silver cathode. Additionally, NanoRacks is launching 15 Student Spaceflight Experiment Program (SSEP) Mixstix on this mission. SSEP is a program of the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education (NCESSE). Including this launch, the NanoRacks-SSEP-DreamUp partnership has engaged over 65,000 students across the United States and Canada to date.
NanoRacks External Platform Customers
The first users of the NanoRacks External Payload Platform (NREP) have payloads on SpaceX-9 as well. Yosemite Space is launching GumStix, a mission is to analyze and evaluate GumStix performance in low-Earth orbit and study if these microprocessors can withstand the radiation environment in space. Additionally, Georgia Institute of Technology is launching Solar Cells, their experiment to study a new type of three-dimensional solar cells and their response to the continually changing sun angles in the harsh environment of space.
Displaying U.S. Leadership
NanoRacks is excited to be launching a student-based experiment that comes from NSL Satellites Ltd., an Israeli organization. The experiment explores whether microgravity affects the mixing of oil bubbles. The data from this investigation will benefit materials research and future mixing methods in space.
NanoRacks is proud to be continuing to grow our international customer base and remain the leading commercial provider of access to space.
New NanoRacks ISS Hardware, and Professional Researchers
As previously announced, NanoRacks is launching a 2nd generation Plate Reader (NanoRacks Plate Reader-2) to the ISS on SpaceX-9. This improved plate reader will provide for a seamless transition from earth-based life sciences research to conducting biological studies in orbit.
Sanford-Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute will be running test microplates as the first to use NanoRacks Plate Reader-2 in orbit, testing spectrophotometer functionality, temperature control, and communications. The plates specifically will study chemical reactions using fluorescence polarization, which produces changes in light when molecules bind together.
This broad range of customers truly highlights all of the possibilities available in low-Earth orbit, and NanoRacks is excited to be facilitating this phenomenon in space.
To join this group of in-space researchers, reach out to NanoRacks at info@nanoracks.com and be sure to follow @NanoRacks on twitter for continued updates.