3, 2, 1, LIFTOFF of SpaceX CRS14 Carrying ExoLab to the ISS!
We are participating in Flight 3 of Magnitude.io’s ExoLab experiment on board the International Space Station. ExoLab is a plant growth study in microGravity and we have one of the Earth Analogs. That means we have exactly the same setup as is on the ISS, except of course, we have gravity.
We held a launch party to see our experiment off to space with live coverage from NASAtv and SpaceX.
With a successful launch on Monday, April 2, followed by capture with the Candarm and berthing to the ISS on Wednesday, April 4, the ExoLab was unloaded from the Dragon capsule and put in the Express Racks in the Destiny Laboratory on Thursday, April 5.
Monday, April 9, the experiments will be initiated and we will be comparing the growth of the Arabidopsis thaliana plants in microG to those in Earth gravity. We are collaborating with a network of over 80 schools around the world! Through a web portal we can see how each other’s experiments are doing and what is happening on the ISS.
We will also be comparing our Arabidopsis to Brassica rapa plants that we will be growing concurrently with the ExoLab experiment.
