A malfunction in the International Space Station, which requires a spacewalk to be performed after the removal of spare parts for a spacesuit in the Dragon 3 cargo spacecraft of the SpaceX company. The dragon will also bring with it a planter for growing vegetables
Update, 14/4/14 at 23:25 p.m.: The launch of the Dragon spacecraft on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was canceled due to a helium leak from the first stage of the launcher. If the fault is fixed, the next launch window is expected for this Friday.
The International Space Station: waiting for the supply spacecraft carrying spare parts for a space suit and a facility for growing vegetables
Astronauts on the International Space Station will perform a spacewalk next week as part of an emergency plan to replace a backup computer that broke down, and which controls several systems on the space station, including robotic systems. However, NASA will not continue preparations for the spacewalk until the spare parts arrive for the leaking space suit that almost caused a disaster last summer.
The spare parts are on the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft, the launch of which has been delayed for a long time. The launch is expected today (Monday) at 16:58 EST - two minutes to midnight Israel time. The spacewalk is supposed to dock at the station on April 22 if indeed the Dragon spacecraft arrives on the scheduled date - Wednesday.
An experimental facility that will be launched today to the space station will allow astronauts to grow vegetables for food
A chamber specially adapted for growing plants at the International Launch Station will be launched today aboard SpaceX's Dragon supply spacecraft, with the aim of expanding the food production capacity in several ways and it allows astronauts to receive what we take for granted here on earth - fresh food.
NASA's Veg-01 experiment will be used to test the performance and controls of an expandable plant growing facility known as Veggie and its 'plant pads'. The research will focus on the cultivation and development of romaine lettuce whose seeds will be sent on the same flight, and observation of the plant's adaptation to space conditions.
Veggie will provide a new resource for astronauts and researchers when we start growing other types of plants on the space station," says Gioia Massa, NASA's scientist in charge of Veggie. "Determining food safety is one of our main tasks in the feasibility study we carry out."
Veggie is an inexpensive chamber for growing plants that uses the technology that is used to create LED displays in red, blue and green colors for growing the plant in the various stages and to allow the staff members to watch it. Its design allows it to shrink to a volume of half a cubic meter when plants grow out of it.
The width of the growing area is 28 centimeters and the depth of the cell is 36 centimeters, which makes the facility the largest cell used for growing plants that has been launched into space so far," said Massa.
The facility was developed by Orbital Technologies Corporation (ORBITEC) of Madison, Wisconsin, as part of NASA's Small Business Innovative Research Program.
