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European Modular Cultivation System
12.05.12
 
 

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

Facility Overview

This content was provided by Ulrich M. Kuebler, and is maintained in a database by the ISS Program Science Office.

Brief Facility Summary

The European Modular Cultivation System (EMCS) is a large incubator that provides control over the atmosphere, lighting and humidity of growth chambers to study plant growth. The European Space Agency (ESA) developed the EMCS facility.

Facility Manager(s)

  • Ulrich M. Kuebler, Astrium Space Transportation, Friedrichshafen, Germany

    • Co-Facility Manager(s)

    Information Pending

    Facility Developer(s)

    European Space Agency (ESA), Noordwijk, , Netherlands

    Sponsoring Agency

    European Space Agency (ESA)

    Expeditions Assigned

    13,14,15,16,17,18,19/20,21/22,29/30,33/34,35/36

    Previous ISS Missions

    Information Pending

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    Facility Description

    Facility Overview

    • The European Modular Cultivation System (EMCS) is a facility in which small organisms (e.g., plants, microbes, insects, or amphibians) can grow in variable gravity conditions (from 0.001 to 2.0 g) using a centrifuge.


    • The EMCS was designed for use in multigenerational experiments and studies to determine the effects of gravity on the early development and growth of plants and other small organisms.


    • The EMCS facilitates long-term growth studies, including multigenerational (seed to seed) and early development studies, studies to determine the influence of gravity on early development and growth (g-level threshold research), and studies of how plants perceive and respond to gravity when they grow.

    Description

    The EMCS is installed in an EXpedite the PRocessing of Experiments to Space Station (EXPRESS) rack and consists of the incubator (holding structure) and an International Subrack Interface Standard (ISIS) drawer. The gas-tight incubator contains two centrifuges whose speed can be set to exert a gravitational force ranging from nearly 0 to 2 g on four samples. Experiment samples (e.g., plants and seeds) are required to fit into the EMCS Experiment Containers (ECs). Experiment Unique Equipment (EUE) (e.g., the plant cultivation chamber) may be installed inside the EC to hold, guide, or support the scientific samples. The EMCS can be adapted to different applications: microscopic observation of plants, on-signal perception and transduction in plant tropisms, and studies of small invertebrates and aquatic species.

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    Operations

    Facility Operations

    The crew is involved in setting up the experiment and exchanging containers for resupply of consumables such as gas and water. Otherwise, the EMCS operates autonomously. The facility can be controlled by the ground via a TeleScience Support Center or by the crew via the EXpedite the PRocessing of Experiments to Space Station (EXPRESS) laptop computer.

    The EMCS centrifuges produce different g-forces by varying the rotor speed. The following values are valid for the outside edge of an Experiment Container (EC) attached to an EMCS rotor. The g-force values for the inside edge of an EC are smaller by a factor of 2.2.

    • 2.5 revolutions per minute (rpm) produces approximately 10-3g
    • 53 rpm produce approximately 1 g
    • 76 rpm produce approximately 2 g

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    Results/More Information

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    Availability

    Information Pending

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    Results Publications

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    Ground Based Results Publications

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    ISS Patents

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    Related Publications

      Helleseng KOlav, Gronnevik A, Fossum KRobert, Kittang A, Iversen T.  Utliization of the European Modular Cultivation System - opportunities and support functions.. 56th International Astronautical Congress. Fukuoka, Japan; 2005

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    Related Websites
  • European Modular Cultivation System (EMCS)

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    Imagery

    image The EMCS is installed in an EXpedite the PRocessing of Experiments to Space Station (EXPRESS) rack. It consists of an incubator containing two centrifuges with space for four experiment containers on each rotor.
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    image The photo shows a European Modular Cultivation System (EMCS) sample cartridge that will be spun in the EMCS centrifuge. The inset image is of Arabidopsis thaliana (thale cress) seedings similar to the ones used in the Tropi experiment. Tropi compared the growth of root tips toward light in the absence of gravity and allowed distinctions to be made between two redundant internal plant growth systems that respond to different colors of light.
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    image NASA Image jsc2006e02539: View of the European Modular Cultivation System (EMCS) prior to the launch of STS-121, which delivered the facility to the International Space Station.
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    image NASA Image ISS013E66810: European Space Agency Astronaut Thomas Reiter, Expedition 13 flight engineer, installing the EMCS into EXpedite the PRocessing of Experiments to Space Station (EXPRESS) rack 3A.
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    image NASA Image ISS013E65579: The EMCS is shown after its installation in EXpedite the PRocessing of Experiments to Space Station (EXPRESS) rack 3A during Expedition 13.
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    image NASA Image: ISS014E10645 - Astronaut Michael E. Lopez-Alegria, Expedition 14 commander and NASA space station science officer, replaces the European Modular Cultivation System (EMCS) Experiment Container (EC) in the Destiny laboratory of the International Space Station.
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