14 DAY TRIAL // When the Space Exploration Technologies Corporation's (SpaceX) Dragon space capsule takes off to the International Space Station (ISS) on October 8, it will carry a series of 23 student experiments to orbit, as part of the Student Spaceflight Experiment Program (SSEP).
Around twelve of the experiments are being ferried to space for a second time, since they were not completed during Dragon's first visit to the orbital outpost, this May. The other eleven are brand-new.
“SSEP offers a unique flight opportunity that allows students to experience both the excitement and the challenges inherent in conducting research in a microgravity environment,” NASA Headquarters deputy associate administrator, Roosevelt Johnson, explains.
SpaceX is carrying out its first resupply, non-demo mission to the ISS, as part of a $1.6 billion COTS contract with NASA. The Hawthorne, California-based company has to complete 12 resupply flights to the station over the next few years.