NanoRacks, LLC Commercial Contributions to the US ISS National Laboratory Biological Research Facilities Michael D. Johnson1 NanoRacks, LLC , Webster, TX, 77598 Abstract. NanoRacks, LLC is a commercial space utilization company operating with the NASA ISS National Laboratory organization. The Company is developing a variety of capabilities and associated hardware (in collaboration with the WetLab team) to effectively utilize the ISS as an advanced biological research platform by leveraging off of recent advances in terrestrial biological research equipment. NanoRacks has flown miniature transmission and reflection microscopes and is flight hardening a state of the art off-the-shelf microplate spectrophotometer to take advantage of in- situ analysis on-board the ISS to reduce or eliminate sample return to Earth. NanoRacks has also developed and flown more conventional hardware that efficiently utilizes the current and future capsule based transportation systems to and from the ISS. This paper will provide a brief overview of NanoRacks’ hardware history and future plans. Keywords: NanoRacks, ISS, Research Facilities Nomenclature CU NanoRacks Cube Unit (10x10x10 cm, 1 kg) ISS International Space Station JEM Japanese Experiment Module NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration SBIR Small Business Innovative Research Ι. Introduction ASA’s International Space Station National Laboratory program and NanoRacks, LLC signed a NSpace Act Agreement on September 9, 2009 that started the commercial space efforts of NanoRacks. The mantra of NanoRacks is to reduce the cost and minimize the time required to fly items in space. As such, in the first two years of operations NanoRacks has launched two permanent facilities and thirteen different experiments on board the Shuttle, HTV, Soyuz and Progress spacecraft as well as returned payloads on the Shuttle and Soyuz. The Company has over 50 payloads currently manifested over the next three years. NanoRacks is committed to maximizing the utilization of the US National Lab by provided hardware for biological research that enables in-situ research on the ISS at unusually low cost. NanoRacks has flown and is planning on flying research hardware that has been requested by researchers in the field. The following are descriptions of the NanoRacks hardware currently available and planned for biological research. This includes miniature transmission and reflection microscopes, a microplate spectrophotometer and chemical/biological mixing apparatus. 1Chief Technology Officer, NanoRacks, LLC, Webster ,TX 77598, [email protected]. A. Microplate Reader NanoRacks,LLC is under contract with NASA’s US National Laboratory and in final development of a space flight qualified automated Microplate Reader spectrophotometer (Molecular Devices Spectra Max M5e), commonly known as a Microplate Reader, that is similar to commonly used tools in terrestrial biological laboratories to increase the on-orbit, in-situ analysis capacity of the ISS U. S. National Laboratory thus reducing or eliminating sample return to Earth. The Microplate Reader will allow semi autonomous, on-orbit, high throughput screening of a variety of experiment samples which will enable the on-orbit crew to conduct an experiment, collect and analyze data and then repeat the experiment on-orbit as necessary with guidance from ground researchers. NanoRacks chose the Molecular Devices Spectra Max M5e as a result of discussions with its current and prospective customers. The Microplate Reader may be transported on any spacecraft cargo carrier (e.g. Progress, Dragon, HTV, etc.) to the ISS and installed in a standard ISS EXPRESS Rack Locker location as a locker replacement unit. The Microplate Reader is scheduled for launch on the HTV-3 in June 2012. This project also includes design modifications of the microplate assembly to accommodate samples in microgravity using novel fluid management techniques. NanoRacks is keeping all technology associated with this project as open-source to promote a robust user community. Modifications of the Molecular Devices Spectra Max M5e include the following: • Enclosure fabrication to fit inside of a standard ISS Locker which fits inside of an ExPRESS Rack • Incorporation of an embedded Advantech PCM-9363 mini-computer • Removal of terrestrial power supply and replacement with a ISS 28 V DC compatible power supply • Incorporation of a microplate retainer spring for use in microgravity All other aspects of the Molecular Devices Spectra Max M5e remain the same as the terrestrial unit to maximize user community familiarity. Figure 1. NanoRacks Plate Reader System All of the features of the Spectra Max M5e are retained in the space version including: • Three mode cuvette port for assay development • Dual monochromator tunability • Automated Absorbance Pathlength Correction1 • Endpoint, kinetic, spectral and well-scanning read types • Microplate temperature control and shaking • Comprehensive Data Analysis with SoftMax Pro Software • Validation & compliance The Plate Reader can operate in the following modes: • UV-Visible Absorbance (Abs) • Fluorescence Intensity (FI) • Luminescence (Lum) • Time-Resolved Fluorescence (TRF) • Fluorescence Polarization (FP) The NanoRacks Plate Reader offers researchers a wide range of high performance multi-mode capabilities ideal for life science research and drug discovery screening on the US ISS National Laboratory. B. Microgravity Microplates/Cuvettes NanoRacks is modifying off-the-shelf microplate and cuvette designs to accommodate fluids in the microgravity environment for use in the Plate Reader. The following designs are currently under development. Vented Microplate The Vented Microplate is essentially a standard microplate with a Mylar seal over the wells including Gore-Tex gas permeable membranes. Filling of the Vented Microplate is accomplished on-orbit by injecting a liquid sample into each well using a hypodermic syringe through a rubber seal. Figure 2. NanoRacks Vented Microplate Reactor Microplate The Reactor Microplate is a modified microplate that contains liquid sample storage cells that contain pierceable membranes for mixing the fluids and thus activating experimental operations. The Reactor Microplate is loaded on the ground and activated by crew on-orbit. Analysis by the Plate Reader is unaffected. Figure 3. NanoRacks Reactor Microplate Cuvette System The Plate Reader has a top port for use with single cuvette samples or experimenters can use CuvettePlate™ by Perfector Scientific, which is an off the shelf microplate cuvette adaptor that can hold up to 8 screw cap sealed cuvettes in an adapter tray that is read in the Plate Reader. This permits experimenters to design and utilize a wide variety of cuvettes for use in microgravity including reactor cuvettes and miniature flow cytometry systems. Analysis by the Plate Reader is unaffected. Figure 4. Cuvette System (courtesy Perfector Scientific) C. Transmission Microscope NanoRacks flew a miniature Celestron Model 44330 USB transmission microscope to the ISS on HTV- 2. The system was recently tested by astronaut Mike Fossum and this system is ready for use by experimenters. It utilizes standard plastic microscope slides and is operated with a laptop computer. It has a maximum magnification of approximately 1880X. The ISS crew takes snapshots with the laptop and downlinks the images which are distributed to experimenters from a NanoRacks website. Figure 5. NanoRacks Transmission Microscope D. Reflective Microscope NanoRacks flew a miniature Celestron Model 44306 USB reflection microscope to the ISS on Progress 45. This system will be ready for use by experimenters by the end of 2011. It takes images directly off of sample surfaces and is operated with a laptop computer. It has a maximum magnification of approximately 200X. The ISS crew takes snapshots with the laptop and downlinks the images which are distributed to experimenters from a NanoRacks website. Figure 6. NanoRacks Reflection Microscope (example images inset) E. MixStiks The NanoRacks MixStiks were designed to provide experimenters with an on-orbit fluids mixing system that is crew safe for any fluids. They were first flown on HTV-2 and returned on Soyuz 24. Another set has just been flown to the ISS on Progress 45. They are essentially identical in construction and operation to a light stick. Twenty-four MixStiks are housed in a 2 Cube Unit (CU) NanoRacks Module. Each 2 component MixStik contains a glass inner ampoule with a volume of 1.29 ml and an outer Teflon tube with a volume of 6.33 ml (Figure 7). Each 3 component MixStik contains two glass inner ampoules with a volume each of 0.65 ml and an outer Teflon tube with a volume of 6.33 ml (Figure 7). The MixStik provides three (3) levels of containment. The inner solution is housed in a glass ampoule that is surrounded by an outer solution. A Teflon tube with bonded Teflon end caps holds the glass ampoule and outer solution and serves as the first level of containment. Two heat sealed polyethylene bags that enclose the Teflon tubing serve as the second and third levels of containment. The ampoule is manipulated (cracked open) by the crew by flexing the Teflon tube in the same manner as activating a light stick; the Teflon tube along with all levels of containment provides protection to the crew, preventing contact with the broken ampoule(s) and chemicals. The 2 component MixStik is flexed in the middle to activate while the 3 component MixStik is flexed first on the left side to activate and on the