SpaceX, NASA Target Oct. 7 Launch for First Contracted U.S. Cargo Resupply Mission to Space Station; Media Accreditation Open

Sept. 20, 2012

Trent J. Perrotto
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-0321
trent.j.perrotto@nasa.gov

Katherine Nelson
SpaceX, Hawthorne, Calif.
310-363-6447
katherine.nelson@spacex.com

MEDIA ADVISORY: M12-189

SPACEX, NASA TARGET OCT. 7 LAUNCH FOR FIRST CONTRACTED U.S. CARGO RESUPPLY MISSION TO SPACE STATION; MEDIA ACCREDITATION OPEN

HOUSTON -- NASA managers, Space Exploration Technologies Corp.
(SpaceX) officials and international partner representatives Thursday
announced Sunday, Oct. 7, as the target launch date for the first
contracted cargo resupply flight to the International Space Station
under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract.

International Space Station Program managers confirmed the status and
readiness of the Falcon 9 rocket and its Dragon cargo spacecraft for
the SpaceX CRS-1 mission, as well as the space station's readiness to
receive Dragon.

Launch is scheduled for 8:34 p.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex 40 at
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. A back up launch
opportunity is available on Oct. 8.

Media accreditation to view the launch now is open. International
media without U.S. citizenship must apply for credentials to cover
the prelaunch and launch activities by Wednesday, Sept 26. For U.S.
media, the deadline to apply is Wednesday, Oct. 3.

Questions about accreditation may be directed to the Public Affairs
Office at NASA's Kennedy Space Center at 321-867-2468. All media
accreditation requests must be submitted online at:

https://media.ksc.nasa.gov

The launch of the Dragon spacecraft will be the first of 12 contracted
flights by SpaceX to resupply the space station and marks the second
trip by a Dragon to the station, following a successful demonstration
mission in May. SpaceX services under the CRS contract will restore
an American capability to deliver and return significant amounts of
cargo, including science experiments, to the orbiting laboratory -- a
feat not achievable since the retirement of the space shuttle.

The Dragon will be filled with about 1,000 pounds of supplies. This
includes critical materials to support the 166 investigations planned
for the station's Expedition 33 crew, including 63 new
investigations. The Dragon will return about 734 pounds of scientific
materials, including results from human research, biotechnology,
materials and educational experiments, as well as about 504 pounds of
space station hardware.

Materials being launched on Dragon will support experiments in plant
cell biology, human biotechnology and various materials technology
demonstrations, among others. One experiment, called Micro 6, will
examine the effects of microgravity on the opportunistic yeast
Candida albicans, which is present on all humans. Another experiment,
called Resist Tubule, will evaluate how microgravity affects the
growth of cell walls in a plant called Arabidopsis. About 50 percent
of the energy expended by terrestrial-bound plants is dedicated to
structural support to overcome gravity. Understanding how the genes
that control this energy expenditure operate in microgravity could
have implications for future genetically modified plants and food
supply. Both Micro 6 and Resist Tubule will return with the Dragon at
the end of its mission.

Expedition 33 Commander Sunita Williams of NASA and Aki Hoshide of the
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency will use a robot arm to grapple
the Dragon following its rendezvous with the station on Wednesday,
Oct. 10. They will attach the Dragon to the Earth-facing port of the
station's Harmony module for a few weeks while crew members unload
cargo and load experiment samples for return to Earth.

Dragon is scheduled to return in late October for a parachute-assisted
splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of southern California.


While NASA works with U.S. industry partners to develop commercial
spaceflight capabilities, the agency also is developing the Orion
spacecraft and the Space Launch System (SLS), a crew capsule and
heavy-lift rocket to provide an entirely new capability for human
exploration. Designed to be flexible for launching spacecraft for
crew and cargo missions, SLS and Orion will expand human presence
beyond low Earth orbit and enable new missions of exploration across
the solar system.

For information about the International Space Station, research in low
Earth orbit, NASA's commercial space programs and the future of
American spaceflight, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/exploration

For NASA TV downlink, schedule and streaming video information, visit:


http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

For more information about SpaceX, visit:

http://www.spacex.com


-end-



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