NASA, SpaceX Discuss Dragon Mission To Space Station

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Mar 27, 2013, 01:22 ET

WASHINGTON, March 27, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA and SpaceX will host a teleconference for news media at 1 p.m. EDT, Thursday, March 28, to discuss the Tuesday return of the company's Dragon spacecraft from a cargo mission to the International Space Station.

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A trove of scientific research was among more than 2 tons of cargo Dragon brought back to Earth. Included are investigations that could aid in food production during future long-duration space missions and enhance crop production on Earth. Others could help in the development of more efficient solar cells, detergents and semiconductor-based electronics. Dragon also brought back several research samples that will help scientists continue to examine how the human body reacts to long-term spaceflight. The results will have implications for future space exploration as well as benefits here on Earth.

The teleconference participants are:

-- Charles Bolden, NASA administrator

-- Julie Robinson, International Space Station Program scientist

-- Elon Musk, chief designer and CEO, SpaceX

-- Gwynne Shotwell, president and COO, SpaceX

For dial-in information, journalists must contact Trent Perrotto at [email protected] or 202-358-1100 by noon EDT, Thursday, March 28.

Audio of the teleconference will be streamed live on NASA's website at:

http://www.nasa.gov/newsaudio

For more information about NASA's International Space Station, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/station

For more information about SpaceX, visit:

http://www.spacex.com