SpaceX is sending Nickelodeon slime, an Adidas soccer ball, and 5,500 other experiments and supplies to space

Nickelodeon slime

Slime will be delivered to the International Space Station via SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket to promote STEM-related interest in elementary and middle school students though educational videos and digital content.
Crew members will conduct experiments "to spark an interest in microgravity research and help students learn about STEM topics such as fluid flow and materials engineering."
The Falcon 9 rocket will carry 5,500 other experiments and supplies on board, including an Adidas soccer ball to study the aerodynamics of free-flying soccer balls in microgravity.
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Over the years, Nickelodeon slime has come in contact with celebrities, musicians, and athletes here on Earth — and soon, it will reach astronauts in outer space.

According to a press release published earlier this month, the green substance will be delivered to the International Space Station to promote STEM-related interest in elementary and middle school students though educational videos and digital content.

Crew members will conduct experiments "to spark an interest in microgravity research and help students learn about STEM topics such as fluid flow and materials engineering," according to the press release. The experiments will reveal the effects of microgravity on slime, which is a non-Newtonian fluid — a material that can change its viscosity or resistance to flow.

The slime, alongside 5,500 other experiments and supplies, will be aboard the SpaceX Falcon 9, which is set to launch at 6:24 pm ET on Wednesday from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. It will be the SpaceX's 18th cargo resupply mission to the space station for NASA thus far.

"We're going to slime a couple of astronauts and put it through a couple demonstrations," Andrew Machles, a vice president of public affairs at Viacom, which owns Nickelodeon, told CNN.

The educational content could be made public as soon as September via Nickelodeon's television and online streaming, Machles said.

While the Falcon 9 will carry other scientific experiments on board, such as cell cultures, microbial growths, and lab rats, the rocket has another unlikely passenger: an Adidas soccer ball.

"Observing and measuring the motion of soccer balls in microgravity improves understanding of the general behavior of free-flying objects," NASA told CNN. "This could contribute to better design and use of free-flying objects such as small robots in spacecraft."

ISS crew members will investigate the aerodynamics of free-flying soccer balls in microgravity by measuring "the spin speed, wobble, and spin axis of balls with different shapes and textures and compare the data to Earth-based experiments," according to the press release.

"Current aerodynamic research on soccer balls uses wind tunnel experiments to link aerodynamic forces and surface characteristics," the press release stated. "With microgravity, some of the physical constraints of wind tunnel experiments are removed, providing the opportunity for new data to fill in the gaps in knowledge of spherical aerodynamics."

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