SpaceX CRS-27, also known as SpX-27, was a Commercial Resupply Service mission to the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was Assembly of the International Space Station, assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United ...

(ISS) launched on 15 March 2023. The mission was contracted by

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

and was flown by

SpaceX Space Exploration Technologies Corp., commonly referred to as SpaceX, is an America, American space technology company headquartered at the SpaceX Starbase, Starbase development site in Starbase, Texas. Since its founding in 2002, the compa ...

using Cargo Dragon C209. This was the seventh flight for SpaceX under NASA's CRS Phase 2.

Cargo Dragon

SpaceX plans to reuse the Cargo Dragons up to five times. The Cargo Dragon will launch without

SuperDraco SuperDraco is a hypergolic propellant rocket engine designed and built by SpaceX. It is part of the SpaceX Draco family of rocket engines. A redundant array of eight SuperDraco engines provides fault-tolerant propulsion for use as a launch escap ...

abort engines, without seats, cockpit controls and the life support system required to sustain astronauts in space.

Dragon 2 Dragon 2 is a class of partially reusable spacecraft developed, manufactured, and operated by the American space company SpaceX for flights to the International Space Station (ISS) and private spaceflight missions. The spacecraft, which cons ...

improves on

Dragon 1 SpaceX Dragon 1 is a class of fourteen partially reusable cargo spacecraft developed by SpaceX, an American private space transportation company. The spacecraft flew 23 missions between 2010 and 2020. Dragon was launched into orbit by the co ...

in several ways, including lessened refurbishment time, leading to shorter periods between flights. The new Cargo Dragon capsules under the NASA CRS Phase 2 contract will land east of

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

in the Atlantic Ocean.

Payload

NASA contracted for the CRS-27 mission from SpaceX and therefore determines the primary payload, date of launch, and

orbital parameters Orbital elements are the parameters required to uniquely identify a specific orbit. In celestial mechanics these elements are considered in two-body systems using a Kepler orbit. There are many different ways to mathematically describe the same o ...

for the Cargo Dragon. * Science investigations: ~ * Vehicle hardware: ~ * Crew supplies: ~ * Spacewalk equipment: ~ * Computer resources: ~- * External payloads:

STP-H9

technology demonstration A technology demonstration (or tech demo), also known as demonstrator model, is a prototype, rough example or otherwise incomplete version of a conceivable product or future system, put together as proof of concept with the primary purpose of show ...

mission which consists of the following payloads: * SWELL (Space Wireless Energy Laser Link), a test payload for laser power beaming. * Electric Propulsion Electrostatic Analyzer, A test device that will demonstrate re-boost using

ion propulsion An ion thruster, ion drive, or ion engine is a form of electric propulsion used for spacecraft propulsion. An ion thruster creates a cloud of positive ions from a neutral gas by ionizing it to extract some electrons from its atoms. The ions ...

. * Neutron Radiation Detection Instrument from NRL * Variable Voltage Ion Protection Experiment from NRL * ECLIPSE (Experiment for Characterizing the Lower Ionosphere and Production of Sporadic-E) * Glowbug, cosmic ray detector built in conjunction with NASA, an experiment that will study cosmic rays for two years. * SpaceCube Edge Node Intelligent Collaboration, an experiment built by NASA Goddard that will study microchips and artificial intelligence exposed to the vacuum of space. * SOHIP, a hyperspectral imager built by Livermore Labs that will study the atmosphere for two years.

Research

Various experiments were transported to the orbiting laboratory, and provided valuable insight for researchers. These include student projects that were given the opportunity to fly and operate their experiments on the ISS as part of DLR'
Überflieger 2
competition. Among them are the projects:
FARGO
(Ferrofluid Application Research Goes Orbital) of the Small Satellite Student Society of the University of Stuttgart
KSat e.V.

Glücksklee
* BRAINS (Biological Research using Artificial Intelligence for Neuroscience in Space)
ADDONISS
(Ageing and Degenerative Diseases of Neurons on the ISS) European Space Agency (ESA) research and activities: * ESA'
BIOFILMS
(Biofilm Inhibition On Flight equipment and on board the ISS using microbiologically Lethal Metal Surfaces) experiment investigating bacterial biofilm formation and antimicrobial properties of different metal surfaces under spaceflight conditions in altered gravity. NASA Glenn Research Center studies:

Materials International Space Station Experiment The Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE) is a series of experiments mounted externally on the International Space Station (ISS) that investigates the effects of long-term exposure of materials to the harsh space environment. T ...

MISSE-17: * Vitrimeric reversible adhesive for in-space assembly Mouse Habitat Unit-8 (MHU-8) mission - The NASA-JAXA Joint Partial-gravity Rodent Research Mouse Habitat Unit-8 (JPG-RR MHU-8) mission tested the impact of spaceflight and induced partial gravities on mice. The gravities tested were 0, 0.33, 0.66, 1 g. An interdisciplinary team of investigators will study how multiple biological systems (bone, muscle, cardiovascular system, neuro-performance, circadian rhythms, and microbiome) respond to these conditions.

CubeSats

CubeSat A CubeSat is a class of small satellite with a form factor of cubes. CubeSats have a mass of no more than per unit,, url=https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5418c831e4b0fa4ecac1bacd/t/5f24997b6deea10cc52bb016/1596234122437/CDS+REV14+2020-07-3 ...

s planned for this mission: '
NEUDOSE
'' The NEUtron DOSimetry & Exploration (NEUDOSE) mission from the McMaster Interdisciplinary Satellite Team aims to further our understanding of long-term exposure to space radiation by investigating how charged and neutral particles contribute to the human equivalent dose during low-Earth orbit (LEO) missions. NEUDOSE is a 2U CubeSat built by students at

McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood, Ontario, Ainslie Wood and Westdale, Ontario, Westd ...

. The scientific goals of the project are to: * Demonstrate the Charged & Neutral Particle Tissue Equivalent Proportional Counter (CNP-TEPC) instrument, that allows for the discrimination of dose from charged and neutral particles in real-time. * Map the contribution of charged and neutral particle dose rates in LEO. Th
mission objectives
also include providing early-career science and engineering students with valuable leadership, technical, and flight project development skills. Furthermore, the NEUDOSE mission is involved with the development of

amateur radio Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is the use of the radio frequency radio spectrum, spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, radiosport, contesting, and emer ...

operators and custom hardware. '
Northern SPIRIT
'' Three CubeSat satellites were built in part of the Northern Space Program for Innovative Research and Integrated Training (Northern SPIRIT). These CubeSats were constructed as a collaboration between

Yukon University Yukon University (formerly Yukon College) is a public university in the Canadian territory of Yukon. The university main campus is based in Whitehorse, although the institution also operates 12 campuses throughout the territory. The university co ...

, Aurora Research Institute in the Northwest Territories, and the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

. This initiative is supported by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) as a part of th
Canadian CubeSat Project (CCP)
In addition to what's below, all three satellites have a primary goal of gathering

magnetic Magnetism is the class of physical attributes that occur through a magnetic field, which allows objects to attract or repel each other. Because both electric currents and magnetic moments of elementary particles give rise to a magnetic field, m ...

field data of the

ionosphere The ionosphere () is the ionized part of the upper atmosphere of Earth, from about to above sea level, a region that includes the thermosphere and parts of the mesosphere and exosphere. The ionosphere is ionized by solar radiation. It plays ...

to study small scale field-aligned currents.
Ex-Alta 2
A 3U CubeSat built by students from the University of Alberta's student organizatio
AlbertaSat
Ex-Alta 2's primary mission is to obtain scientific data for

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a ...

research and prevention. Additionally, Ex-Alta 2 was designed to promote the long-term goal of a fully open-sourced cube satellite, and the development of the

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

n commercial space industry.
AuroraSAT
an
YukonSat
2U CubeSats built by students from the Aurora Research Institute and Yukon University in collaboration with the University of Alberta, who provided the bus for each cubesat and did final integration of payloads. One of the two primary missions is th
Northern Images Mission
which will display art on a small screen on the satellite, and then take images of this art from space with the

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

in the background. Children across

Northern Canada Northern Canada (), colloquially the North or the Territories, is the vast northernmost region of Canada, variously defined by geography and politics. Politically, the term refers to the three Provinces_and_territories_of_Canada#Territories, terr ...

will have the opportunity to have their artwork featured. The Northern Voices Mission will transmit and broadcast recordings of Northern Canadian stories and perspectives in

bands across the world. '
ELaNa 50
'' This new iteration of the

ELaNa Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) is an initiative created by NASA to attract and retain students in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines. The program is managed by the Launch Services Program (LSP) at NASA ...

(Educational Launch of Nanosatellites) initiative will consist of two cubesats from American education institutes:
ARKSat-1
1U CubeSat developed by students at the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. It is the Flagship campus, flagship campus of the University of Arkan ...

, its main mission will be to perform atmospheric measurements through the ground detection of a LED signal from orbit. Furthermore after the end of the mission the cubesat will make use of a Solid State Inflatable Balloon (SSIB) to increase the spacecraft's drag and speed up its re-entry.
LightCube
1U CubeSat developed by students at the

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

, it carries a flash bulb that can be remotely activated by radio amateurs to produce a brief flash visible from the ground.

Gallery

References

{{Orbital launches in 2023 SpaceX Dragon 2 SpaceX payloads contracted by NASA Supply vehicles for the International Space Station Spacecraft launched in 2023 Spacecraft which reentered in 2023 2023 in the United States