“SpaceX Flight Director is GO for launch.” said a dry voice over a webcast. A few seconds later, “Ignition. Engines full power. And Liftoff. Go SpaceX, go Falcon, go CRS.” The voice uttered as the night sky was illuminated by the mighty plume of 9 Merlin engines carrying the CRS-31 resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS). In the late hours of Nov. 4, 2024, a Falcon 9 rocket lifted one of SpaceX’s Cargo Dragons into orbit, meeting with the ISS just under a day later.
Photo by Ashton Guitard
Inside Dragon sat over 2,700kg of crew supplies, scientific equipment, spacewalk hardware, and other essentials that Expedition 72 will need to continue their stay on the ISS. Most notable of its cargo are the scientific experiments being brought to the station for the crew to perform and gather data on. These include CODEX, an experiment measuring the solar wind, ARTEMOSS, an study on radiation resilience, and Nanolab Astrobeat, a self-contained experiment gathering data on cold welding.
CODEX, or the COronal Diagnostic EXperiment, has the goal of measuring and recording the solar wind, or the constant stream of high-energy particles blasted out from the Sun. These particles, like radiation, can damage DNA and thus cause cancer or other harmful effects to humans. Understanding solar wind is crucial to long-term space habitation, especially outside of Earth’s magnetic shield, such as on the Moon.
Another experiment testing the effects of radiation on biological material is ARTEMOSS, or the ANT1 Radiation Experiment with Moss in Orbit on the Space Station, which is meant to collect data on the effects of cosmic radiation and microgravity on species of Antarctic moss. As the name suggests, the experiment is closely related to NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to establish a permanent human presence on the Moon. This will require a detailed understanding of the effects of cosmic rays on biological tissue, something which is currently poorly understood given that in all of human history, only 24 people have ventured outside of Earth’s protective magnetic field – all of them Apollo astronauts.
The Euro Material Aging investigation aims to expose a wide variety of organic and non-organic construction materials to the vacuum of space for up to 18 months, before being returned to Earth for analysis. Space is a rough and demanding environment, requiring advanced and often complex materials for construction. Very few objects that are put in space for long periods of time are ever returned to the surface intact, and this leaves many blanks when scientists are trying to determine what materials to use when building, say, a Moon base.
Finally, Nanolab Astrobeat is a small, self-contained experiment which will test the practicality of using cold welding to repair the outer haul of a spacecraft. While it is not widely known, any two metals will naturally fuse into one if placed next to each other with nothing in between. This rarely happens on Earth because oxygen in our atmosphere tends to create a thin layer of oxidized metal on the surface of any metal chunk, and this oxidation prevents fusion. In space however, no such oxygen exists, and thus two metals can be welded together simply by placing them next to one another. Like many aspects of space travel, this is a process that must be better understood, as it could help or hinder our exploration ambitions.
With all the current uncertainty regarding the future of the American space program, it is important to remember the work going on behind the scenes. While it may not be as spectacular as an SLS launch, or as dramatic as a Super Heavy catch, it is important research like this being done on board mankind’s most advanced laboratory that continues to push the boundaries of scientific knowledge and brings humanity just a few steps closer to the stars.