NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

OpNom:

Overview | Description | Applications | Operations | Results | Publications | Imagery

Experiment Overview


Information provided courtesy of the Japan Aerospace and Exploration Agency (JAXA).
Brief Summary

The Multi-mission Consolidated Equipment (MCE) investigation consists of five small unique instruments that are located at Equipment Exchange Unit (EER) site 8 on the Japanese Experiment Module - Exposed Facility (JEF). These small investigations include two atmospheric observation investigations that study lightening and resonant scattering from plasma and airglow through the rim of the atmosphere, and three technological demonstration investigations that include inflatable structure deployment, robotic tether movement and the testing of a high definition television (HDTV) camera in the space environment.

Principal Investigator(s)

Tomoo Ushio, GLIMS: Osaka University, Japan

Keiji Murakami, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Tsukuba, Japan

Akinori Saito, IMAP: Kyoto University, Japan

Mitsushige Oda, REXJ: JAXA, Japan

Takahira Aoki, SIMPLE: Tokyo University, Japan

Hirohisa Oda, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Tsukuba, Japan

Co-Investigator(s)/Collaborator(s)

Information Pending

Developer(s)

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Tsukuba, , Japan

Sponsoring Space Agency

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)

Sponsoring Organization

Information Pending

Research Benefits

Information Pending

ISS Expedition Duration:

September 2011 - September 2014

Expeditions Assigned

29/30,31/32,33/34,35/36,37/38,39/40

Previous ISS Missions

Information Pending

^ back to top

---

Experiment Description

Research Overview

• The Multi-mission Consolidated Equipment (MCE) is a conglomeration of five unique investigations into a single payload assembly.



• IMAP (Ionosphere,Mesosphere,upper Atomosphere, and Plasmasphere mapping) studies the energy and plasma activity and related global transportation near the rim of atmosphere, at the highest altitudes, using a visible light spectrometer.



• GLIMS (Global Lightning and sprIte MeasurementS on JEM-EF) investigates the spatial distribution of lightning and plasma phenomena and their discharge characteristics throughout the atmosphere during night observation times.



• SIMPLE (Space Inflatable Membranes Pioneering Long-term Experiments) collects fundamental engineering data in orbit for inflatable space structures; with the expectation of applying such information to the design of future space structures.



• REXJ (Robot Experiment on JEM) demonstrates realtime ground control of a robotic system by providing validation data during robotic manipulation. This investigation is expected to lead to an application of an EVA assistant type robot.



• HDTV acquires data for evaluating how long a COTS-HDTV (COTS HTDV Verification) survives in the orbit environment. This evaluation includes a validation for inexpensive space HDTV systems.

Description

Information Pending

^ back to top

---

Applications

Space Applications

Information Pending

Earth Applications

Information Pending

^ back to top

---

Operations

Operational Requirements

Information Pending

Operational Protocols

Information Pending

^ back to top

---

Results/More Information

^ back to top

---

Related Websites

HTV

^ back to top

---

Imagery

Graphic depicting the MCE investigation and its associated sub-experiments (JAXA).
+ View Larger Image


NASA Image - ISS033E018906 - Image through the JEM window during Expedition 33 showing the extended arm of the SIMPLE (Space Inflatable Membranes
+ View Larger Image