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A microgravity environment
like that aboard the International Space Station can
offer scientists an opportunity to study biological
and physical phenomena and processes
without the masking effects of gravity.
The ISS has an extraordinary opportunity for researchers
to access this laboratory.
It's the most capable laboratory we've ever had in space
and we have crew members doing operations
on experiments full-time every week now.
Because of that, new experiments
that can use existing hardware can get to orbit
in as little as six months.
And sometimes if a user needs new custom designed hardware,
they still can fly as soon as they get
that hardware ready to fly.
Microgravity has both facilitated the development
of novel advanced materials and provided a unique vantage point
from which to study biological samples.
Understanding these phenomena
and processes will improve the understanding of Nature,
which will enable improved industrial processes
and improved consumer products.
Helping scientists and engineers to build more efficient machines
and consumer products for both Earth and space applications.
It can also help astronauts stay healthier while
in space for long durations.
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How matter is organized and moves
on the microscopic level [sneeze] profoundly affects the
macroscopic world.
The Light Microscopy Module, or LMM allows scientists
and engineers to directly observe what is happening
on the microscopic level in microgravity.
We're doing research on the International Space Station
because it teaches us all
about our stabilizing systems and our products.
Stabilizers keep everything together to make sure
that when somebody buys a product and uses it,
it keeps all the materials basically uniform throughout
the product.
So as I said, the space station provides us a really unique
opportunity to learn about the physics of these problems.
Usually the physics is very complicated.
With gravity there's lots of movement of the samples
and it becomes very difficult to untangle things
that are intrinsic to the physics and things
that are gravity driven.
We need to separate those two pieces in order
to understand the problem better.
And so the microgravity environment gives us a unique
opportunity to do that.
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The LMM uses a modified commercial Leica RXA
laboratory microscope.
It is configured to operate
in an automated mode allowing interaction and manipulation
of experiments from ground based staff
and researchers supporting the in-flight ISS crew.
The LMM allows detailed characterization of fluids,
colloids, two-phase media, and biological samples.
Aboard the International Space Station, the LMM is located
in the Fluids Integrated Rack, or FIR,
in the US Destiny laboratory module.
The FIR provides the microscope
with basic laboratory infrastructure including an
optics bench, temperature control, power conditioning,
illumination, imaging and frame capture,
data processing and more.
The LMM, coupled with the FIR,
forms a true space-based laboratory
for microscopy reducing payload development costs
and enhancing results.
The process for getting your experiment
to the space station is just the same as the process
for getting an experiment done in your laboratory at home.
First, you need to find the funding,
find a source of support for that.
And that can be through NASA through a research announcement,
but it can also be through another government agency
or a private sector partnership.
Then once you get that funding,
you start planning the experiment,
working with someone who's experienced in space,
just like you would work with someone experienced in setting
up a new experiment in your laboratory.
And then after that, plan the operation,
you carry out the operations.
We carry them out on orbit.
Sometimes you talk to the astronaut crew
and then you get your data home and analyze it.
NASA Glenn Research Center engineers equip the Leica RSA
with 23 micro motors, permitting remote control by scientists
on the ground and a tremendous reduction
in ISS crew time requirements in space.
This tends to increase the available time
for research, and time is the key.
Experiments vary in the amount of time they get in space.
Of course, we try to get experimenters to use
as little crew time as possible just
because that lets us have more experimenters at one time.
And so a lot of experiments can be automated when a lot
of things can be controlled from the ground.
Some experiments, because of their nature,
for example experiments using the human crew as a subject,
take more crew-time than others.
But what we've found is that we're able to support
about 200 investigations every six months
on the International Space Station.
Lenses allow magnification ranging
from 2.5 times to 63 times.
And with oil objectives, they can increase to 100 times.
The microscope uses simple backlighting
and epi-illumination through the microscope.
A commercial condenser will be added
to provide brightfield illumination.
High resolution color video microscopy, confocal microscopy,
darkfield and phase contrast capabilities are in development.
The Light Microscopy Module uses the existing electronics
of the Leica microscope supplemented with unique
and innovative internal and external electronics
to support enhanced automation and superior imagining.
Motors and linear actuators motorize the microscope's
manual functions.
Two identical high-resolution black
and white cameras can be mounted on the headpiece; one coaxially
in the viewing access of the microscope,
the other can be mounted at an angle on the tube assembly.
An additional small surveillance camera can be mounted inside the
Auxiliary Fluids Container.
The Auxiliary Fluids Container, or AFC,
is the LMM's main work area, where sample cells are processed
and fluids or shatterable materials can be contained.
It consists of two sealed glove ports and an attachment port
for the Equipment Transfer Module.
This is how experiment samples are transferred
from stowage to the LMM.
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The Equipment Transfer Module, or ETM,
is loaded with experiment modules on the ground
and launched to space.
They are contained on the ISS
until samples are used in an experiment.
This allows materials to be transferred without the risk
of damage or contamination release.
Inside the Auxiliary Fluids Container,
the experiment sample is always moved relative
to the fixed objective lens of the microscope.
Motors on the translation stage assembly and in the body
of the microscope automate movement of the sample
across the X-Y plane and along the main access or Z-direction.
The LMM can image regular
and specialty microscope slides containing colloids
and can also view OptiCells.
OptiCells provide oxygen transport through a membrane
and provide containment for a biological sample
and the sample medium.
Commercial applications are welcome
on the International Space Station.
Back in 2005, Congress designated the ISS a national
laboratory opening it up for users outside of NASA
from commercial companies, other private sector users,
non-profit organizations, and other government agencies.
And all of those users are now under an umbrella
of a management organization called CASIS,
the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space.
And this organization is helping to grow that side
of our applied users, from about 25 percent today
to a much larger portion in the future.
The Light Microscopy Module aboard the International Space
Station offers a unique opportunity for innovation
and new scientific knowledge for commercial
and academic applications.
The use of this international facility by U.S.
and international scientists will continue
to advance human understanding
of fundamental physics and biology.
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