12.21.21
A SpaceX Dragon resupply spacecraft carrying more than 6,500 pounds of science experiments, crew supplies, and other cargo is now on its way to the International Space Station after launching early this morning from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
One of the experiments that Dragon is delivering to the space station includes Procter & Gamble’s Tide detergent. A second is studying a device that prints tissue structures.
The spacecraft, which launched for the company's 24th commercial resupply services mission for NASA, is scheduled to autonomously dock at the space station around 4:30 a.m. EST tomorrow (Dec. 22, 2021), and remain there for about a month.
Astronauts on the space station wear items of clothing several times, then replace them with new clothes delivered on resupply missions. Limited cargo capacity makes this a challenge, and resupply is not an option for longer missions, such as those to the Moon and Mars. In a collaboration with NASA, and sponsored by the ISS National Laboratory, Proctor & Gamble has developed Tide Infinity, a fully degradable detergent specifically designed for use in space, and the P&G Telescience Investigation of Detergent Experiments (PGTIDE) study the performance of its stain removal ingredients and the formulation's stability in microgravity. Once proven in space, Tide plans to use the new cleaning methods and detergent to advance sustainable, low-resource-use laundry solutions on Earth.
This isn't Tide's foray into space.
In another experiment, a German Aerospace Center study centers on bioprinting—using viable cells and biological molecules to print tissue structures. The German Aerospace Center study Bioprint FirstAid demonstrates a portable, handheld bioprinter that uses a patient's own skin cells to create a tissue-forming patch to cover a wound and accelerate the healing process. On future missions to the Moon and Mars, bioprinting such customized patches could help address changes in wound healing that can occur in space and complicate treatment. Personalized healing patches also have potential benefits on Earth, providing safer and more flexible treatment anywhere needed.
Coverage of arrival of the cargo will begin at 3 a.m. on NASA Television, the agency's website, and the NASA app.
One of the experiments that Dragon is delivering to the space station includes Procter & Gamble’s Tide detergent. A second is studying a device that prints tissue structures.
The spacecraft, which launched for the company's 24th commercial resupply services mission for NASA, is scheduled to autonomously dock at the space station around 4:30 a.m. EST tomorrow (Dec. 22, 2021), and remain there for about a month.
Astronauts on the space station wear items of clothing several times, then replace them with new clothes delivered on resupply missions. Limited cargo capacity makes this a challenge, and resupply is not an option for longer missions, such as those to the Moon and Mars. In a collaboration with NASA, and sponsored by the ISS National Laboratory, Proctor & Gamble has developed Tide Infinity, a fully degradable detergent specifically designed for use in space, and the P&G Telescience Investigation of Detergent Experiments (PGTIDE) study the performance of its stain removal ingredients and the formulation's stability in microgravity. Once proven in space, Tide plans to use the new cleaning methods and detergent to advance sustainable, low-resource-use laundry solutions on Earth.
This isn't Tide's foray into space.
In another experiment, a German Aerospace Center study centers on bioprinting—using viable cells and biological molecules to print tissue structures. The German Aerospace Center study Bioprint FirstAid demonstrates a portable, handheld bioprinter that uses a patient's own skin cells to create a tissue-forming patch to cover a wound and accelerate the healing process. On future missions to the Moon and Mars, bioprinting such customized patches could help address changes in wound healing that can occur in space and complicate treatment. Personalized healing patches also have potential benefits on Earth, providing safer and more flexible treatment anywhere needed.
Coverage of arrival of the cargo will begin at 3 a.m. on NASA Television, the agency's website, and the NASA app.