Space station delivery rich in science and technology

(AP) — A space station supply ship is set to blast off Tuesday night with a commercial-quality 3-D printer for astronaut as well as public use — for a price — and the makings for a large-scale fire.

NASA project manager Gary Ruff said this blaze will be second in size only to the 1997 fire on the Russian Mir space station, which was caused by a defective oxygen-generating canister.

Orbital ATK's capsule, named Cygnus after the swan constellation, holds nearly 8,000 pounds of station supplies for NASA.

An Atlas rocket provided by United Launch Alliance will provide the ride from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

NASA will deliberately set a fire inside the trash-packed Cygnus cargo ship, once it leaves the space station in May and is a safe distance away.

A new camera will provide high-definition video of meteors entering Earth's atmosphere.

Researchers at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, have based their new mechanical spring-loaded grippers on the thousands of tiny sticky hairs found on geckos' feet.

The reusable grippers can be turned on and off, and adhere to multiple surfaces, making them ideal for future space station use, according to NASA scientist Pete Hasbrook.