SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, on a Falcon 9 rocket, is positioned for launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex 40 on Dec. 15, 2017, for the company’s 13th commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station. Credits: NASA/Bob Granath

Media accreditation now is open for the launch of the next SpaceX delivery of supplies and equipment, including science investigations, to the International Space Station, currently targeted for no earlier than April.

A Dragon cargo spacecraft, previously flown on SpaceX’s eighth commercial resupply mission to the station for NASA, will launch on a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) in Florida.

Media prelaunch and launch activities will take place at CCAFS and NASA’s neighboring Kennedy Space Center. Credentialing deadlines are as follows:

• International media without U.S. citizenship must apply by 4:30 p.m. EST Thursday, March 1, for access to CCAFS or 4:30 p.m. Monday, March 19, for access to Kennedy media activities only.
• U.S. media must apply by 4:30 p.m. Friday, March 23.

All media accreditation requests should be submitted online at:

https://media.ksc.nasa.gov

For questions about accreditation, please email ksc-media-accreditat@mail.nasa.gov. For other questions, contact Kennedy’s newsroom at 321-867-2468.

Highlights of space station research that will be facilitated by Dragon’s arrival are:

• The Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor, an Earth observatory that will study severe thunderstorms and their role in the Earth’s atmosphere and climate.
• An investigation that seeks to better understand how the lack of gravity affects a process used to produce high-performance products from metal powders. This research could lead to improved manufacturing techniques.
• Continuing research on growing food in space, as the Veggie Passive Orbital Nutrient Delivery System experiment tests a new way to deliver nutrients to plants.

Among the cargo that will enable National Laboratory research, which is managed by the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, is a platform that will enable testing of materials, coatings, and components in the harsh environment of space, and investigations into the process of antibiotic release and technology for the evaluation of drug safety and effectiveness.

This is the 14th SpaceX mission under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services contract.

The International 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 occupied continuously since November 2000. In that time, more than 220 people and a variety of international and commercial spacecraft have visited the orbiting laboratory. The space station remains the springboard to NASA's next great leap in exploration, including future missions to the Moon and eventually to Mars.

For launch countdown coverage, NASA's launch blog, and more information about the mission, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/spacex

-end-

Press Contacts

Stephanie Martin
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-867-2468
stephanie.a.martin@nasa.gov

Stephanie Schierholz
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
stephanie.schierholz@nasa.gov

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