Members of MKI’s NICER Detector and Science teams attended the successful launch of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 to the International Space Station. The Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) is one of the scientific instruments onboard. The launch took place at 5:07pm EDT on Saturday, June 3, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

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Left to right: Drew Malonis, Gregory Prigozhin, Ron Remillard, Jack Steiner, Jeroen Homan, Beverly LaMarr, Mark Egan, DJ Pasham

Dr. George Ricker, Senior Research Scientist, is the MIT PI for NICER. Members of MKI’s NICER Detector team also include Rick Foster, Tom Hoyle, Michael Vezie, and Joel Villasenor. Former MKI employees Fred Miller and Colum Murphy were also involved in the project.

For additional coverage of the launch on June 3 and the rendezvous with the International Space Station on June 5:

SpaceX Successfully Launches Used Dragon Cargo Ship in Historic First
New NASA Experiments, Research Headed to International Space Station
Launch video
Dragon supply ship delivers to space station for second time
Dragon Captured After Two-Day Flight to Station

Credit: NASA TV/Spaceflight Now (bottom photo)