Cape Canaveral, Florida – December 15, 2017– SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft has successfully begun its journey to the International Space Station on Friday after the thirteenth commercial resupply (CRS) mission launched from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 40 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Dragon carried “Crystals in Space,” the second of two DreamUp, NanoRacks, and Xtronaut experiments, to the Space Station.
On November 9, 2017, NanoRacks, DreamUp, NanoRacks, and Xtronaut announced a Kickstarter campaign to offer out-of-this-world STEM educational opportunities for learners. Xtronaut Space Station connects Earth-based experiments to science done by astronauts on the International Space Station, empowering students in classrooms, homes and afterschool programs to research in the stars.
The Crystal Growth in Space kit is designed to teach students about the similarities and differences of crystal growth in microgravity on the ISS and in Earth’s gravity at your home or school.
One of the distinctive features of the Crystals in Space experiment is that it is designed to be similar to what the astronauts are actually doing on the Space Station.
“On the Space Station, you cannot have an open cup with a sugar and water mixture – it would just float up in microgravity,” says NanoRacks Engineer Cody Burgey. “The at-home kit mimics this preparation, making it as similar as possible to what the astronauts are doing on station.”
In addition to the Crystals in Space experiment, the astronauts have also successfully completed the operations for the first Xtronaut-ISS experiment, Microbes in Space.
The Kickstarter has been successfully funded, surpassing the $20,000 goal.
Thank you to all that have contributed to the Kickstarter campaign. The kits are now moving into manufacture and production. You may also purchase the kits on pre-order on DreamUp’s website.
About NanoRacks
NanoRacks is enabling space research and in-space services to customers world-wide from multiple platforms and launch vehicles. The company offers low-cost, high-quality solutions to the most pressing needs for satellite deployment, basic and educational research and both at home and in 30 nations world-wide for those new to the industry and aerospace veterans. Since 2009, Texas-based NanoRacks has truly created new markets, and ushered in a new era of in space-services.
In July 2015, NanoRacks signed a teaming agreement with Blue Origin to offer integration services on their New Shepard space vehicle. NanoRacks, along with partners at ULA and Space Systems Loral was also selected by NASA to participate in the NextSTEPs Phase II program to develop commercial habitation systems in low-Earth orbit and beyond.
As of December 2017, over 600 payloads have been launched to the International Space Station via NanoRacks services, and our customer base includes the European Space Agency (ESA) the German Space Agency (DLR,) the American space agency (NASA,) US Government Agencies, Planet Labs, Millennium Space Systems, Space Florida, NCESSE, Virgin Galactic, pharmaceutical drug companies, and organizations in Vietnam, UK, Romania and Israel.