SS Sally Ride to carry new experiments to International Space Station

Nov. 7 (UPI) -- A resupply spaceship carrying 8,200 pounds of scientific investigations and cargo blasted off from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia early Monday for the International Space Station.

The Northrop Grumman Cygnus resupply spacecraft is expected to reach the space station on Wednesday morning. Upon arrival, NASA astronaut Nicole Mann will use the space station's robotic Canadarm2 to capture Cygnus.

The spacecraft, named the SS Sally Ride in honor of the first American woman in space, is carrying a variety of experiments to the space station.

"This is a very exciting time for research on the International Space Station," said Heidi Parris, NASA's associate program scientist for the station program. "Every new vehicle that launches is bringing up not only new research but also new capabilities."

Some of the experiments being delivered by the flight include bioprinting tests to see if microgravity enables the printing of tissue samples of higher quality than those printed on the ground as well as tests to examine the development of plants in space and observe ovarian cell development in microgravity. Another investigation also could help develop and validate models to predict the spread and velocity of debris flow after natural disasters.

The spaceship also carries the first satellites from Uganda and Zimbabwe as part of the Joint Global Multi-Nation Birds Project-5, which could help distinguish bare ground from forest and farmland and possibly indicate the quality of agricultural growth.

The launch was delayed a day because of a fire alarm at Northrop Grumman's flight control center in Dulles, Va. The alarm forced a building evacuation.