ROI Facilities

Flight Facilities aboard the International Space Station

The International Space Station (ISS or space station) provides a unique opportunity for scientists to observe what it’s like to live and work in space. Currently, the space station supports a wide range of scientific investigations concerning the human body and how it adapts to the space environment, many of which are described throughout NASA’s HRP website and the Space Station Research Explorer. 

The equipment housed aboard the Space Station within the Human Research Facilities often serve dual purposes: to monitor the health of current station crewmembers and for biomedical research.

For a description of ROI facilities and capabilities, download this overview, or click on one of the systems below. 

Ground Support Facilities

ROI manages a number of ground-based facilities to support the implementation of flight research, crew training, and pre- and post-flight data collection:

• Telescience Support Center (TSC) – B30M
  Located in the Building 30 Mission Control Center at NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC), the Telescience Support Center (TSC) is the primary operations control center for HRP flight experiments for the space station. The TSC provides the facility and infrastructure needed to manage, monitor, and control the science and experiment hardware activities during crew training, science verification, payload interface checkout, systems test, and on-orbit experiment activities. The TSC also provides the data processing systems, data warehouse, and tools essential to monitoring data for remote users over the Internet. Real-time operations, and providing data to remote users in real-time, can be critical in defining the outcome of a given experiment.
  
  The TSC provides air-to-ground voice communication, video, and telemetry experiment data between the researcher and the human subject (i.e., astronaut) during performance of an experiment. It also provides other resources and management functions in conducting spacebound science operations. The TSC manages and operates the data and data archive systems as well as the distribution of private medical data. In serving science communities located throughout NASA sponsored institutions and to bio-medical research laboratories around the world, the TSC is a focal point for human life sciences research within the human space program.[Read more]

• Baseline Data Collection Facility (BDCF) – B49
  Located in Building 49 at JSC, the Baseline Data Collection Facility is a multi-room facility located at JSC. The BDCF provides a suite of testing rooms and equipment for pre- and post-flight ground testing with space station crewmembers as part of ISSMP-implemented human research protocols. The BDCF also supports baseline data collection (BDC) sessions for international partners.
  Building Facilities include:
  • Individual testing rooms for data collection
  • Storage rooms for experiment equipment
  • Restrooms and shower facilities
  • A crash cart within the facility
  • Multiple freezers for cold storage

• Payload Development Laboratory (PDL) – B9
  Located in the Building 9 Space Vehicle Mockup Facility (SVMF) at JSC, the Payload Development Laboratory (PDL) is comprised of a cylindrical-shaped shell configured to emulate the Columbus Module on the ISS. The facility houses two high-fidelity Human Research Facility (HRF) Training Racks along with functional training versions of the rack mounted, sample collection, and portable systems maintained by ROI aboard the space station. The HRF Training Racks are used for training crewmembers on human research payloads aboard the ISS as well as for training with international partner payloads.
• Launch Integration Facility (LIF) – B241
  Located in Building 241 at JSC, the Launch Integration Facility and its personnel have more than 15 years of expertise providing the high-fidelity test bed required for space station facility class racks, sub-rack payloads and experiments using the Payload Rack Checkout Unit (PRCU). The checkout unit consists of seven subsystems that simulate the main payload interfaces aboard the ISS.
  
  The LIF provides testing for Flight Prototype Rack (FPR), EXPRESS racks, MELFI, MARES, Treadmill 2 and all stand-alone or Rack-mounted 28VDC payloads. The available space station systems are DC power, thermal, Command and Data Handling (C&DH), Payload Multiplexer Demultiplexer Module Flight Equivalent Unit (P/L MDM FEU),  Control and Telemetry (C&T), Fire Detection System/Rack Maintenance Switch (FDS/RMS), Video, Impedance, and Gas/Vacuum.
  
  The available FEU FPR systems are the Rack Interface Controller (RIC), Solid State Power Control Module (SSPCM), EXPRESS Memory Unit (EMU), and Payload Ethernet Hub Bridge (PEHB). Payload testing capabilities include real-time, end-to-end data flow and end-to-end commanding. The LIF also provides a panel of technical experts who can assist with initial health and status, commanding and troubleshooting of Racks, and/or Rack-mounted payloads.
   

Flight Analogs

Analogs play a significant role in problem solving for spaceflight research. Not all experiments can be done in space – there is simply not enough time, money, equipment, and crew. Analogs also offer the opportunity to test strategies and safeguards on Earth before trying them in space. ROI currently supports the management, planning, or implementation of experiments on the different analog platforms listed below. To learn more about analogs managed by NASA’s ROI Element, click on one of the specific Analogs below.

To learn more about mission analogs in general, including other environments not managed or supported by ROI, visit analogs.