- Operations: CREW TIME FOR LOADING + GROUND TELESCIENCE
- Category: Experiment Hosting Facilities with Centrifuges
- Operator/Vendor: ESA / DLR (MUSC, Cologne)
- Status: Active
- Flight Heritage: Columbus module, ISS; launched 7 February 2008 (Space Shuttle Atlantis)
- Year of First Launch: 2008
- Mass: Per ESA/Columbus payload documentation
- Size: Rack-mounted in Columbus; two rotor platforms in incubator
- Power: Per Columbus rack allocation
- Centrifuge Performance: Two rotor platforms; 1 g simulated for gravity comparison with weightlessness
- Temperature Range: Incubator-controlled (facility life support)
- Payload Volume Required: Columbus rack; experiment containers / vials (ATV, Progress, commercial cargo)
- Interface Definitions: Experiment containers; standard vials; MELFI storage interface
- Radiation Sensitivity: Standard ISS
- Heat Sink Required: Facility thermal control
- Supported Specimen Types: Micro-organisms, cells, tissue cultures, small plants, small invertebrates
- Specimen Size/Quantity: Standard experiment containers and vials; capacity per rotor platform
- Temperature Range at Sample: Incubator-controlled
- Experiment Duration: 1 day–3 months
- Centrifuge: Yes (1 g on rotor platforms)
- Imaging: Yes (video on rotor platforms; microscope; teleoperations)
- Key Applications: Life science µg vs 1 g; video/microscope teleoperations
- Crew Handling Required: Yes (insert containers, BioGlovebox loading, initiate automatic processing)
- Crew Time: Required for loading and initiation
- Autonomy: Yes (automatic processing after crew initiation; ground teleoperations)
- Sample Return Required: As per mission (cargo return)
- Compatibility with On-Orbit Sample Processing: Yes (BioGlovebox, Experiment Preparation Unit, MELFI)
See stress_analysis.py for centrifugal force and hoop stress calculations (max g-load, etc.).