When SpaceX launches its Falcon 9 rocket from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, currently scheduled for takeoff on Wednesday, July 24, 2019, it will be carrying a needed resupply for the astronauts on the International Space Station. It will transport 5,500 pounds worth of cargo, supplies, and science experiments into orbit, including one very unlikely item – an actual bag of Nickelodeon slime.
Slime in space? Yes! Take a look behind the scenes as researchers prepare to send Nickelodeon’s iconic slime to the ISS National Lab onboard the SpaceX #Dragon! Stay tuned to learn how non-newtonian fluids behave in microgravity. Who is going to get slimed?#slimeinspace pic.twitter.com/daOWyQq5xJ
— ISS National Lab (@ISS_CASIS) July 19, 2019
NASA announced that as part of its commercial partnership program for the resupply mission, which “will include 17 private-sector research projects sponsored by the U.S. National Laboratory,” like an Adidas soccer ball and novel silica forms from Goodyear Tire, they will also be sending into orbit the same green ooze that has been covering Nick Awards hosts for years. But this is not just some cosmic joke or intergalactic viral advertising. The scientists will use this slime in some real experiments conducted around 2,504 miles above the planet, all to teach kids about gravity.
Nickelodeon “plans to send its iconic slime to the orbiting lab for a series of science demonstrations that will educate students on the basic principles of fluid flow in microgravity versus normal gravity on Earth,” via eight demonstrations by ISS crew members. Some of the microgravity experiments they will hold are slime pong, slime jets, and slime spin, all leading up to an “epic sliming in space.”
I’m not joking, y’all. @Nickelodeon. SLIME. IN. SPAAAAACE. ????? #NASASocial #SlimeTimeLive pic.twitter.com/gwQ4z8ioJ3
— Chloe Condon ? (@ChloeCondon) July 23, 2019
This whole thing sounds like it will be fun….right up until it isn’t. As someone who grew up a huge fan of both You Can’t Do That on Television and The Simpsons, I am VERY worried about this bag of Nickelodeon slime getting loose and floating into the space station’s circuitry. So please, NASA, I know I am not a scientist, but my pop culture expertise could save lives. Tell everyone on the International Space Station that if someone asks where the slime is, under no circumstances should they ever answer “I don’t know.”
Featured Image: ISS National Lab
