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NASA Officials To Discuss New Life Sciences Glovebox

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Lee Mohon

May 11, 2018
MEDIA ADVISORYM18-023
Karen Whitson demonstrates how the new Life Sciences Glovebox slots into the storage rack that will house it aboard the ISS.
Karen Whitson, engineering test lead at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, demonstrates how the new Life Sciences Glovebox slots into the storage rack that will house it aboard the International Space Station. The new glovebox facility, to be used for studies of cell biology, disease research and other scientific pursuits, is 26 inches high, 35 inches wide and 24 inches deep, with a 15-cubic-foot workspace. It features two 10-inch-diameter glove ports in the front window, two 8-inch-diameter ports on the right side and two 6-inch-diameter ports on the left side. The Life Sciences Glovebox is slated to be launched incrementally to the space station in 2018 by a series of commercial rockets. Credits: NASA/MSFC/Emmett Given

NASA engineers will discuss the Life Sciences Glovebox, the agency’s newest research facility for the International Space Station at 9 a.m. CDT Wednesday, May 16 at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The Life Sciences Glovebox will be used to study the long-term impact of microgravity on human physiology, revealing new ways to improve life on Earth while protecting human explorers during long-duration deep space missions.

Members of the news media are invited to inspect identical test hardware, tour facilities where glovebox testing and integration were completed, and interview NASA engineers. Available for interview are Marshall engineers Yancy Young and Susan Spencer, Life Sciences Glovebox project manager and deputy manager, respectively; and Marshall payload integration manager Chris Butler.

Scheduled for launch to the space station September 2018, the new glovebox is cousin to the veteran Microgravity Science Glovebox. That workhorse facility, installed on the space station in 2002 and currently housed in the station’s “Destiny” laboratory, has seen high demand for access from scientists around the world. The heavy volume of requests led to the development and construction of this new Life Sciences Glovebox, said Susan Spencer, deputy project manager for the new facility being developed at Marshall.

The glovebox was built by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and the Dutch firm Bradford Engineering. Its support structure and control systems were built and integrated at Marshall. Its avionics package and ancillary hardware are scheduled for launch onboard the SpaceX CRS-15 commercial resupply mission, while the core facility will launch on the Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle HTV-7. NASA anticipates glovebox experiments to begin before the end of 2018.

Marshall manages the Life Sciences Glovebox for NASA and monitors station science and communications from its Payload Operations Integration Center, supporting the ISS Program Office at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Learn more about International Space Station science research at:

https://www.nasa.gov/station/research     

For more information about the Life Sciences Glovebox, visit:

https://go.usa.gov/xQarA

Members of the media interested in covering the event should contact Janet Anderson in Marshall’s Office of Communications at 256-544-0034 no later than 4 p.m. Tuesday, May 15. Media must report to the Redstone Arsenal Joint Visitor Control Center at Gate 9, Rideout Road/Research Park Boulevard. Please plan to arrive by 8:15 a.m. to facilitate security processing and escort. Visitor parking will be available outside Building 4493.

Janet Anderson
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256-544-0034
janet.l.anderson@nasa.gov