5 Projects Coming Soon to The International Space Station

Orbital ATK's Cygnus cargo spacecraft. (Image courtesy of Orbital ATK.)

The upcoming Orbital ATK Cygnus launch will deliver payloads for five new investigations aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

#1: Saffire-I

Why is NASA setting its modules on fire?

Saffire-I will study fire in microgravity.

There’s a surprisingly good reason: it’s really the only way to study the effects of a fire on board a spacecraft. This is the purpose behind the Spacecraft Fire Experiment-I (Saffire-I).

The test will make the most of the next resupply run to the ISS by turning a Cygnus spacecraft into a floating fireball. While on its return trip to Earth, the unmanned spacecraft will house instruments configured to measure the properties of a growing fire in low-gravity conditions. These experiments are rarely conducted due to the obvious danger to the individuals piloting the craft and the difficulty in monitoring a fire in reduced gravity.

#2: Additive Manufacturing Facility

The Additive Manufacturing Facility to be installed on the ISS. The only thing cooler than a 3D printer is a 3D printer built for a space station. (Image courtesy of Made in Space.)

The Cygnus spacecraft is also responsible for delivering the Additive Manufacturing Facility (AMF) to be permanently installed on the space station. This new extrusion-based 3D printer is twice the size of its predecessor and will allow astronauts to produce tools and parts for repairs in a variety of composite materials, all from the comfort of orbit.

#3: Gecko Gripper

A small handheld Gecko Gripper with associated test instruments. (Image courtesy of NASA.)

The Gecko Gripper, an adhesive gripping device modeled after the feet of an insurance-selling reptile, will be tested in the harsh environment of space.

The gecko-adhesive device can stick on command by using tiny electrically charged setae to bear heavy loads. The potential uses for this are numerous, ranging from keeping operations manuals from drifting away to securing safety equipment. The adhesive could even allow for robotic handling of satellites and to retrieve large pieces of space debris safely.

These advancements could also prove useful on terra firma, handling delicate items in factories or in food production.

#4: Meteor

A meteoroid is easier to study before it becomes a meteorite.

Meteor will use high-resolution video and image analysis from the ISS in an effort to understand the physical and chemical properties of meteoroid dust. Atmospheric interference makes these properties difficult to monitor from Earth, so the experiment will be conducted from the ISS. This has the potential to improve our understanding of the development of planets and could lead to advancements in early meteor detection.

#5: Strata-1

Strata-1 will use regolith simulants made of glass beads, terrestrial materials and pulverized meteorite. (Image courtesy of NASA.)

Strata-1 will study the properties of regolith—the impact-shattered soil found on the Moon, asteroids and comets—by using simulants exposed to microgravity aboard the ISS. Researchers will study the long-term movement of particles and settling of fragments via video images and inspection after the samples are returned to Earth.

Understanding how these materials react in both low gravity and low atmosphere will bring us closer to exploring asteroids or even Mars’ moon, Phobos, which has been identified as a target of exploration for the Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM).

These experiments are bringing us another step closer to expanding humanity’s reach into space and with NASA expanding its partnerships, there will only be more opportunities going forward.

The Orbital ATK Cygnus spacecraft will launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket on March 22, 2016 from Cape Canaveral.

More information can be found on NASA’s website.