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EXpedite the PRocessing of Experiments to Space Station Rack 1 (EXPRESS_Rack_1)
07.24.09
Scientists and payload developers can get more information on International Space Station research facilities by contacting the ISS Payloads Office or at 281-244-6187.

Overview | Description | Applications | Operations | Results | Publications | Images

Facility/Payload Overview

Brief Facility Summary

EXpedite the PRocessing of Experiments to Space Station Rack ? 1 (EXPRESS Rack-1) is a multipurpose payload rack system that stores and supports experiments aboard the International Space Station. The EXPRESS Rack system supports science experiments in any discipline by providing structural interfaces, power, data, cooling, water and other items needed to operate science experiments in space.

Facility Manager(s)

  • Annette Sledd, Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

    • Co-Facility Manager(s)

    Information Pending

    Facility Developer

    Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL and Boeing, Huntsville, AL

    Sponsoring Agency

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

    Expeditions Assigned

    |2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9|10|11|12|13|14|15|16|17|18|19|20|21|22|

    Previous ISS Missions

    EXPRESS Rack 1 was launched to ISS during Expedition 2.

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    Facility/Payload Description

    Facility Summary

    • The EXPRESS Rack provides simple standard interfaces to accommodate up to ten small payloads.


    • The EXPRESS Rack concept provides the capability for a simple and shortened integration.

    Description

    With standardized hardware interfaces and streamlined approach, the EXPRESS Rack (ER) enables quick, simple integration of multiple payloads aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The system is comprised of elements that remain on ISS, as well as elements that travel back and forth between ISS and Earth via the Space Shuttle or other carriers. ERs remain onorbit continually. Experiments are exchanged in and out of the ER as needed; remaining on ISS for three months to several years, depending on the experiment's time requirements.

    Payloads within an ER can operate independently of each other, allowing for differences in temperature, power levels and schedules. The ER provides stowage, power, data, command and control, video, water cooling, air cooling, vacuum exhaust, and nitrogen supply to payloads. Each ER is housed in an International Standard Payload Rack (ISPR) a refrigerator-size container that acts as the ER exterior shell. Each rack can be divided into segments; as large as half the entire rack or as small as a breadbox.

    The first EXPRESS Rack, ER1 was launched to ISS during Expedition 2 on flight 6A in April 2001.

    Experiments contained within ERs may be controlled by the ISS crew or remotely by the Payload Rack Officer (PRO) on-duty at the Payload Operations and Integration Center at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL. Linked by computer to all payload racks aboard ISS, the PRO routinely checks rack integrity, temperature control and the proper working conditions of ISS research payloads.

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    Operations

    Facility Operations

    ER was developed to provide ISS accommodations for small, subrack payloads. ER accepts Space Shuttle middeck locker-type payloads and International Subrack Interface Standard (ISIS) Drawer payloads, allowing previously flown payloads an opportunity to transition to the International Space Station. The ER system also includes transportation racks to transport payloads to and from ISS, Suitcase Simulators to allow a payload developer to verify ISS power and data interfaces at the development site, Functional Checkout Units to allow payload checkout at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) prior to launch, and trainer racks for the astronauts to learn how to operate the ERs prior to flight. Standard hardware and software interfaces provided by the ER simplify the analytical and physical integration processes and facilitate simpler ISS payload development. The ER has also formed the basis for the U.S. Life Sciences payload racks.

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    Results/More Information

    Information Pending

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    Availability

  • On-Board ISS

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    Related Web Sites
  • NASA Fact Sheet - ER1 and ER-2

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    Publications

    Results Publications

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      Related Publications

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        Images

        imageNASA Image: STS110-359-009 - Pilot Stephen N. Frick poses by EXPRESS Rack 1 in the U.S. Laboratory during the STS-110 mission during Expedition 4.
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        imageNASA Image: ISS009E05445 - Front view of EXPRESS Rack 1 in the U.S. Laboratory, Destiny, during Expedition 9. Storage lockers, the Microcapsulation Electrostatic Processing System (MEPS) and the Space Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS) II are visible.
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        imageNASA Image ISS007E14212 - EXPRESS Rack 1 in Destiny laboratory module during ISS Expedition 7.
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        Information Provided and Updated by the ISS Program Scientist's Office
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