HOUSTON – NASA, Astrium Space Transportation and NanoRacks LLC are teaming up to expand the research capability of the International Space Station through delivery of a small commercial centrifuge facility that will conduct molecular and cellular investigations on plant and animal tissue.
The centrifuge enhances NanoRacks’ existing suite of lab equipment aboard the space station, which includes microscopes and a plate reader used to detect biological, chemical or physical activity in samples.
Astrium Space Transportation handed over the research centrifuge to NanoRacks LLC, during a ceremony Tuesday, Feb. 14 in Houston. Astrium North America adapted the centrifuge — originally built for use on space shuttle missions — for use in the station’s NanoRacks Platform-3. The commercial research team funded the centrifuge.
To read more, visit the NASA website or download the Press Release here.