Equipment for new Canadian science experiments launched to the ISS
Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
Last week NASA's SpaceX CRS-34 mission launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Dragon cargo vehicle is carrying supplies for the International Space Station (ISS), including equipment supporting Joshua Kutryk's mission, targeted to fly no earlier than .
The health of astronauts on long-duration space missions is the focus of many experiments performed on the ISS. Astronauts experience similar health challenges to certain conditions on Earth, but at an accelerated rate due to microgravity. This gives researchers the opportunity to gather data much faster.
The equipment heading to the Station will be used for:
- AstroFit: A new exercise protocol to determine if three exercise sessions throughout the day lessen the effects of microgravity on the body more effectively than one or two periods of exercise.
- Home-Base: An experiment to gather data on how astronauts keep track of their position in relation to other objects while in microgravity.
- SPARK: An experiment to understand why and how astronauts experience anemia in space.