Firstpost
  • Home
  • Video Shows
    Vantage Firstpost America Firstpost Africa First Sports
  • World
    US News
  • Explainers
  • News
    India Opinion Cricket Tech Entertainment Sports Health Photostories
  • Asia Cup 2025
Apple Incorporated Modi ji Justin Trudeau Trending

Sections

  • Home
  • Live TV
  • Videos
  • Shows
  • World
  • India
  • Explainers
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Cricket
  • Health
  • Tech/Auto
  • Entertainment
  • Web Stories
  • Business
  • Impact Shorts

Shows

  • Vantage
  • Firstpost America
  • Firstpost Africa
  • First Sports
  • Fast and Factual
  • Between The Lines
  • Flashback
  • Live TV

Events

  • Raisina Dialogue
  • Independence Day
  • Champions Trophy
  • Delhi Elections 2025
  • Budget 2025
  • US Elections 2024
  • Firstpost Defence Summit
Trending:
  • Nepal protests
  • Nepal Protests Live
  • Vice-presidential elections
  • iPhone 17
  • IND vs PAK cricket
  • Israel-Hamas war
fp-logo
SpaceX launches its Crew Dragon with 'mighty' mice, beer barley, robot named Cimon onboard
Whatsapp Facebook Twitter
Whatsapp Facebook Twitter
Apple Incorporated Modi ji Justin Trudeau Trending

Sections

  • Home
  • Live TV
  • Videos
  • Shows
  • World
  • India
  • Explainers
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Cricket
  • Health
  • Tech/Auto
  • Entertainment
  • Web Stories
  • Business
  • Impact Shorts

Shows

  • Vantage
  • Firstpost America
  • Firstpost Africa
  • First Sports
  • Fast and Factual
  • Between The Lines
  • Flashback
  • Live TV

Events

  • Raisina Dialogue
  • Independence Day
  • Champions Trophy
  • Delhi Elections 2025
  • Budget 2025
  • US Elections 2024
  • Firstpost Defence Summit
  • Home
  • Tech
  • science
  • SpaceX launches its Crew Dragon with 'mighty' mice, beer barley, robot named Cimon onboard

SpaceX launches its Crew Dragon with 'mighty' mice, beer barley, robot named Cimon onboard

The Associated Press • December 6, 2019, 10:08:04 IST
Whatsapp Facebook Twitter

Cimon will spend upto three years in space and is designed to show empathy to its colleagues in orbit.

Advertisement
Subscribe Join Us
Add as a preferred source on Google
Prefer
Firstpost
On
Google
SpaceX launches its Crew Dragon with 'mighty' mice, beer barley, robot named Cimon onboard

SpaceX launched a three-ton shipment to the International Space Station on Thursday, including “mighty mice” for a muscle study, a robot sensitive to astronauts’ emotions and a miniature version of a brewery’s malt house.

The Dragon capsule also is delivering holiday goodies for the six station residents. NASA’s Kenny Todd isn’t giving any hints, but said, “Santa’s sleigh, I think, is certified for the vacuum of space.”

The recycled capsule should arrive Sunday.

STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD

The Falcon rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral a day late because of high winds. SpaceX recovered the new booster on a barge just off the coast in the Atlantic several minutes following liftoff so it could be reused. SpaceX employees in Southern California cheered when the booster landed, and again a few minutes later when the capsule reached orbit.

More from science
Careless Whispers: Scientists discover that plants can 'talk' to each other using smells Careless Whispers: Scientists discover that plants can 'talk' to each other using smells Life on Mars? European Space Agency’s Orbiter discovers ice water deposits at equator Life on Mars? European Space Agency’s Orbiter discovers ice water deposits at equator

Falcon 9’s 75th launch sends Dragon to the @space_station with critical supplies pic.twitter.com/Aa46A3OGpe

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) December 5, 2019

This is SpaceX’s 19th supply run for NASA.

Forty mice are aboard, including eight “mighty mice” with twice the muscle mass of ordinary mice, according to the experiment’s chief scientist, Dr Se-Jin Lee of the Jackson Laboratory in Farmington, Connecticut.

Researchers plan to bulk up some of the non-mighty space mice during or after their month-long flight in an attempt to build up muscle and bone. This therapy could one day help astronauts stay fit on lengthy space trips, said Lee and Dr Emily Germain-Lee of Connecticut Children’s Medical Center.

Before and after liftoff, the couple sang part of the theme song to the mid-20th-century superhero TV cartoon “Mighty Mouse”′ and even had others joining in at the launch site.

STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD

Germain-Lee was too emotional to sing right at liftoff. “I was sobbing so hard that I couldn’t even get my breath,” she told The Associated Press.

[caption id=“attachment_7746911” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”]SpaceX’s Falcon 9 Crew Dragon capsule stands ready for its launch to the ISS. Image credit: ISS SpaceX’s Falcon 9 Crew Dragon capsule stands ready for its launch to the ISS. Image credit: ISS[/caption]

In addition, there are barley grains aboard the Dragon for a beer-malting experiment by Anheuser-Busch. It’s the third in a series of Budweiser experiments to look at how barley germination is affected by weightlessness.

The shipment also includes a large, plastic 3-D printed robot head with artificial intelligence, according to its German creators. It’s named Cimon, pronounced Simon, the same as the prototype that flew up last year. This upgraded version is designed to show empathy to its human colleagues in orbit.

Cimon will spend up to three years at the space station, three times longer than its recently returned predecessor. The goal, said IBM’s Matthias Biniok, is to provide astronauts with constantly updated robotic helpers, especially at the moon and Mars.

The space station currently is home to three Americans, two Russians and one Italian.

STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD

Russia plans to launch its own cargo ship to the outpost Friday.

Tags
Beer Budweiser SpaceX Falcon 9 ISS Simon Crew Dragon Of Course I Still Love You SpaceXlaunch
End of Article
Latest News
Find us on YouTube
Subscribe
End of Article

Top Stories

Israel targets top Hamas leaders in Doha; Qatar, Iran condemn strike as violation of sovereignty

Israel targets top Hamas leaders in Doha; Qatar, Iran condemn strike as violation of sovereignty

Nepal: Oli to continue until new PM is sworn in, nation on edge as all branches of govt torched

Nepal: Oli to continue until new PM is sworn in, nation on edge as all branches of govt torched

Who is CP Radhakrishnan, India's next vice-president?

Who is CP Radhakrishnan, India's next vice-president?

Israel informed US ahead of strikes on Hamas leaders in Doha, says White House

Israel informed US ahead of strikes on Hamas leaders in Doha, says White House

Israel targets top Hamas leaders in Doha; Qatar, Iran condemn strike as violation of sovereignty

Israel targets top Hamas leaders in Doha; Qatar, Iran condemn strike as violation of sovereignty

Nepal: Oli to continue until new PM is sworn in, nation on edge as all branches of govt torched

Nepal: Oli to continue until new PM is sworn in, nation on edge as all branches of govt torched

Who is CP Radhakrishnan, India's next vice-president?

Who is CP Radhakrishnan, India's next vice-president?

Israel informed US ahead of strikes on Hamas leaders in Doha, says White House

Israel informed US ahead of strikes on Hamas leaders in Doha, says White House

Top Shows

Vantage Firstpost America Firstpost Africa First Sports
Latest News About Firstpost
Most Searched Categories
  • Web Stories
  • World
  • India
  • Explainers
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Cricket
  • Tech/Auto
  • Entertainment
  • IPL 2025
NETWORK18 SITES
  • News18
  • Money Control
  • CNBC TV18
  • Forbes India
  • Advertise with us
  • Sitemap
Firstpost Logo

is on YouTube

Subscribe Now

Copyright @ 2024. Firstpost - All Rights Reserved

About Us Contact Us Privacy Policy Cookie Policy Terms Of Use
Home Video Shorts Live TV