FME dummy page

IMPORTANT NOTES
Information added or updated since this page went live on February 28, 2024, is in GREEN TEXT below.
Information still to be determined (if any) is in RED TEXT below.
Dates and times that are subject to change at NASA’s discretion are in PURPLE TEXT below.

Last update of this page: August 23, 2024, 12:04 m ET

This page provides all the information you need regarding the mini-laboratory used for experiments on SSEP Mission 19 to ISS — the Nanoracks Fluids Mixing Enclosure (FME) Mark II Mini-Laboratory, which Nanoracks has also referred to as a “Mixture Tube” or “MixStik”. To minimize ambiguity, SSEP webpages and documents will refer to the device as a “FME” or “Mini-lab“.

On this page you will find all the specifications for the mini-lab, a description of its straightforward operation, and all the constraints on your experimental design, including constraints due to the time it takes from shipping of your experiment to Houston, to arrival and operation on ISS, to return to Earth, and to return shipping to your community.

Before reading this page, be sure to read the Designing the Flight Experiment page. It will help you understand how to start thinking about a possible experiment.

This page is divided into the following sections (click to quickly scroll to each section):

1. 1. Introduction to the FME Mini-lab
   2. Operating the Mini-lab
   3. Fluids Mixing Enclosure (FME) Kits – You Get the Real Flight Hardware and Load It for Flight to ISS
   4. Ways to Think About Using the Different Mini-lab Types—Some Examples
   5. Mixing the Experiment Samples in the FME Once in Orbit: Available Crew Interaction Days and Allowed Crew Interaction

5.1 Allowed Crew Interaction Days for Mission 19 to ISS
5.2 Allowed Crew Interactions for Mission 19 to ISS

1. 1. Critical Experimental Design Constraints

6.1 Experiment Samples—Restrictions on the Fluids and Solids That You Can Use in Your Experiment
6.2 FME Dimensions, and Volumes for Fluids and Solids
6.3 Constraints Due to the Flight Timeline for SSEP Mission 19 to ISS
6.4 Thermal (Temperature) Control
6.5 Lack of Light
6.6 Other Important FME Constraints

1. Very Important Information for Experimenters

1. Introduction to the FME Mini-Lab

Figure 1: A Type 1 FME mini-lab containing 1 volume for fluids and solids. CLICK ON IMAGE ABOVE FOR ZOOM

The FME consists of a single silicone tube that can contain one, two, or three separate volumes of fluids and/or solids. The tube is divided into sub-volumes using up to two tube clamps. You can think of the FME as one, two, or three small test tubes that can be mixed in orbit.

Each tube is 6.7 inches long (170 mm), with an outer diameter of 0.5 inches (13 mm) and an inner diameter of 3/8-inches (9.5 mm).

Each flight experiment for SSEP Mission 18 to ISS must be designed for operation in a FME. The SSEP payload to the International Space Station will contain one FME for each flight experiment. The FMEs will be placed in a Payload Box which can contain up to 8 FMEs. SSEP flight experiments will share the Payload Box with flight experiments from professional researchers in academia, industry, and government. Nanoracks has the ability to fly multiple Payload Boxes to accommodate a payload of more than 8 FMEs. Once in orbit, the Payload Box is placed in a rack on Kibo—the Japanese Experiment module (JEM) on ISS.

2. Operating the FME Mini-Lab

The FME is a single silicone tube that can be divided into sub-volumes via clamps. At a prescribed time, an astronaut can open a clamp and and shake the mini-lab for a specified amount of time and intensity allowing the contents of the adjacent volumes to mix. Shaking the mini-lab is a “Crew Interaction Request” that the student research team can request.

Figure 2: A Type 2 FME mini-lab containing 2 volumes for fluids and solids. CLICK ON IMAGE ABOVE FOR ZOOM

There are three types of FMEs depending on how many different ‘test tubes’ your experiment will need:

Type 1 FME: contains only 1 experiment sample and no clamps. An experiment using a Type 1 FME by definition requires no mixing. Figure 1 provides a graphic of a Type 1 FME. Download Figure 1 as a pdf

Type 2 FME: contains 2 experiment samples, with the samples divided by 1 clamp. The samples do not need to be equal in volume. Figure 2 provides a graphic of a Type 2 FME. Download Figure 2 as a pdf

Type 3 FME: contains 3 experiment samples, with the samples divided by 2 clamps. The samples do not need to be equal in volume. Figure 3 provides a graphic of a Type 3 FME. Download Figure 3 as a pdf

Important notes:

1. 1. 1. 1. • Air Voids: A volume containing a fluid does not need to be completely filled. Air voids are fine.
            • Sterilization of the FME Mini-lab: The student flight team needs to assess if sterilization of the FME is needed prior to filling, based on the nature of their experiment. If heat sterilizing an FME, do not exceed 390 deg F for the silicone tube, or 200 deg F for clamps and end caps. Heat sterilization is not recommended for tubes partially filled with samples given it may damage those samples, or cause expansion of samples already loaded and possibly lead to failure of the tube or clamp. Alternatively, sterilization can be done by gas (e.g. ETO), radiation, or chemicals. Nanoracks has made available protocols for sterilization of the FME. NCESSE will provide the Nanoracks document Sterilizing the Nanoracks MixStik [Fluid Mixing Enclosure (FME) Mini-Laboratory] and Components to Mission 18 communities. You are also free to Contact NCESSE at any time to receive this document.
            • Sterilization of the Experiment Samples (Fluids and Solids): It is particularly important for a student team flying a biological experiment to consider the need to sterilize not just the mini-lab but also sterilize, or obtain in a sterilized form, the biological material and any other fluids and solids used. Without the use of sterilized fluids and solids, other unwanted biologicals will surely be present, such as microbes and fungi (e.g., yeasts and molds), and growth of these unwanted hitchhikers can easily cause failure of the experiment by killing the biologicals under study. This is one example of why it is vitally important for student researchers to work with professional researchers with expertise in the biological system to be studied. In addition, regarding more specific experiment samples, Nanoracks has made available protocols for sterilization of seeds and of fruit and vegetable samples. NCESSE will provide the Nanoracks documents i) Nanoracks Instructions for Seed Sterilization and ii) Instructions for Produce Wash to Mission 17 communities. You are also free to Contact NCESSE at any time to receive this Document.

3. Fluids Mixing Enclosure (FME) Kits – You Get the Real Flight Hardware and Load It for Flight to ISS

As part of the Baseline Program Cost, each participating community will receive a package of five Fluids Mixing Enclosure (FME) Kits, each Kit providing all the parts for the assembly and loading of a flight certified Type 1, Type 2, or Type 3 FME. Additionally, each community receives a package of two Fluids Mixing Enclosure (FME) Demo Kits. If a participating community would like more than 5 FME Kits, they are available as packages of five Kits for an additional cost.

Figure 3: A Type 3 FME mini-lab containing 3 volumes for fluids and solids. CLICK ON IMAGE ABOVE FOR ZOOM

1. 1. 1. Each FME Kit provides the ACTUAL flight hardware. Each experiment selected for flight will be conducted in an FME that the student team assembles from one of their Kits, loads, seals, and ships or hand-carries to Nanoracks in Houston for flight on the ISS. When Nanoracks receives your FME, they will heat seal two polyethylene bags around it to serve as a second and third level of containment (see Section 6.1 below),

add an additional zip tie and sealant to each end, 

1. 1. 1. load it in the Payload Box, and deliver the entire payload to NASA for integration into the launch vehicle. Therefore,

the package of five flight certified mini-lab kits is to be held for use by the selected flight experiment team. Three mini-lab kits are to be held safely in reserve for the flight experiment, and for conducting formal ground truth (or control) experiments (see Section 4 below). The other 2 kits can be used by the flight experiment team for testing and refining the flight experiment.  The demo kits are NOT flight certified and can be used by the community to demonstrate and assess the size and operation of the flight certified mini-labs. 

On return to Earth, the sealed FME will be shipped back to you, or provided to your team’s representative in Houston. Once received, the student team conducts their own harvesting of the samples from the FME, and analysis of the samples.

This approach allows students to get broad experience in all aspects of their experiment design and operation, and there is no third-party handling of the experiment samples before they are sealed in the FME destined for space. The other four FME Kits can be used by your community to demonstrate and assess the operation of the FME mini-lab, design and refine experiments, and conduct formal ground truth experiments (see Section 4 below) while the flight experiment is ongoing. The FME Kit is therefore also an exceptional experiment design tool, providing an understanding of precisely how the experiment can be conducted on ISS.

Important notes on testing and refinement of proposed experiments: All experiments that are being proposed as part of the community-wide design competition should be tested to the extent possible using standard laboratory test tubes and mixing protocols, in advance of writing a

Figure 4: Photo of Type 3 FME with three separated fluids.

1. 1. 1. ny proposal, in order to assess if the experiment is viable. The data from these tests should in fact be incorporated into the proposal. Once the flight experiment for the community is selected, the student flight team needs to assess and optimize the experiment using an actual FME before the final lock-in of the flight configuration of the experiment. To optimize their experiment, the student team typically has the following time available:

i) 5-8 weeks from the time of selection of their experiment for flight until they must fully identify their Experiment Samples (and the corresponding maximum volumes and concentrations to be used) for submission to NASA Toxicology for Flight Safety Review, and

ii) the period from submission to NASA Toxicology through 2 months before launch, though during this period no Experiment Samples can be added, and the volumes and concentrations of the Experiment Samples cannot be increased, only decreased (see the Mission 18 to ISS Critical Timeline for more information).

Important note on mini-lab assembly and loading: Nanoracks has created videos with detailed instructions for assembling, loading, and sealing the min-lab. The videos are found in the Document Library. In addition, Nanoracks will be available live via the Loading & Shipping Videoconference during the actual loading of experiment samples into the flight mini-lab by the student flight experiment team.

4. Ways to Think About Using the Different Types of FMEs—Some Examples

There are countless experiments that can be done in the FME mini-lab. To gain an understanding of the kinds of experiments possible in microgravity, first read the Designing the Flight Experiment page, and then the Microgravity Science Background and Microgravity Experiment Case Studies documents available for download at the Document Library. You can also read summaries of all SSEP experiments selected for flight to date.

Here are a few ways to think about using the different type FME mini-labs for microgravity experiments—

A Type 2 FME: is a good choice for experiments that need to be started with a single mix but do not need to be terminated. A dormant organism could be placed in one volume, and a suitable growth medium could be placed in the remaining volume. Once in orbit on ISS, the clamp between the two volumes is unlatched and the experiment is started. As one example, the Type 2 FME is well suited for an experiment exploring how a seed will germinate in microgravity. The dry seeds can be placed in one volume of the tube, and in cotton or felt to wick the growth medium when the clamp is unlatched. But the timing is crucial – if the experiment is started on arrival at ISS, seedlings will be long dead by the time they arrive back on Earth. One approach is to start the experiment closer to departure from ISS. Another approach might be to use a Type 3 FME (see below), to introduce a biological fixative to kill and preserve the seedlings for study when they arrive back on Earth.

A Type 3 FME: is good for any experiment that requires three separate samples to be brought together. A good example is an experiment that requires a first mix to activate the experiment, and a second mix to shut down the experiment. Consider a biological experiment where a first mix activates a freeze dried micro-organism by introducing a growth medium, and a second later mix introduces a biological fixative to kill and preserve the biology (or a growth inhibitor to greatly slow the biology) to terminate the experiment. Why might you want to do this? Imagine a biological experiment exploring how a microorganism behaves in microgravity. You may want the colony to grow for a very short period of time (just a few days), since colonies can grow rapidly, overwhelm the FME, and die.

Here is another consideration. It will take 2-4 days from the time the experiment returns to Earth until it is received by the student team for harvesting and analysis. If the experiment is not terminated on ISS, it will be operating in gravity for at least those 2-4 days, assuming harvesting and analysis takes place immediately on its return to the team. If the time the experiment is operating in gravity is appreciable relative to the experiment’s duration in microgravity, the results may be inconclusive, or the experiment might not even be viable. Introducing a biological fixative (or a growth inhibitor) before the FME is brought back to Earth allows the experiment to be terminated while still in a microgravity environment. For more information, read the Using Biologicals in SSEP Experiments: Dormant Forms, Fixatives and Growth Inhibitors document downloadable at the Document Library.

A Type 1 FME: provides a self-contained microgravity environment for an experiment that is ‘pre-loaded’ before launch, and requires no mixing of sample materials once in orbit. It may be that just exposure to microgravity is enough to conduct the experiment. As an example, a selected SSEP flight experiment was designed to test if synthetic blood has the same long shelf life in microgravity as here on Earth, which is an important question for addressing medical emergencies in space that require a transfusion (on long duration space flights, there will be no means to carry whole blood given its short shelf life.) The experiment required a Type 1 FME filled with synthetic blood sitting on ISS for many weeks, and on its return to Earth assessing if it degraded as compared to synthetic blood on Earth from the same manufacturing lot.

Note on the Importance of Ground Truth  “Control” Experiments: a ground truth, also called a “control” experiment, is one that is identical to the experiment in orbit, except it is conducted on the ground, and at the same time the experiment is conducted in orbit. The objective of a microgravity experiment is to assess the role of gravity in a physical, chemical, or biological system by taking the system to an environment where gravity is seemingly turned off, e.g., taking it to a continuously freely falling laboratory like ISS. But to determine the role of gravity in a system, one needs to compare the flight experiment on its return to Earth to an identical experiment conducted at the same time on Earth – in the presence of gravity. A control experiment is therefore always a vital element of microgravity experiment design. In addition, an experiment team should consider conducting multiple control experiments, since this is straightforward to do, and provides more data that can be used to define an average behavior on the ground.

A control experiment is also vital in the case of an experiment that is not terminated on orbit, e.g., an oxidation experiment. Such an experiment will likely continue after its return to Earth, and re-exposure to normal gravity can ‘contaminate’ the results. But the duration of the experiment on ISS may be substantially longer than the up to 4 days of exposure to gravity before you receive the FME (due to landing, transport back to Houston, and possible FedExing to you). The experiment will have been carried out mostly in microgravity, but also with a short exposure time to gravity. Comparison to a control experiment, which operated only in gravity, allows you to assess differences due to the microgravity exposure.

5. Mixing the Experiment Samples in the FME Once in Orbit: Available Crew Interaction Days and Allowed Crew Interactions

Specific astronauts on ISS will be assigned to oversee operation of the SSEP payload of experiments, and will receive training by Nanoracks on FME operation. Note, however, that to ensure SSEP operations fit within the overall schedule of crew activities, and to ensure astronaut training covers all possible FME interactions, Nanoracks in concert with NASA has defined–

Five Allowed Crew Interaction Days: there are only five specific days while the SSEP payload is aboard the space station when astronauts will be able to interact with the FMEs. These are designated the “Crew Interaction Days”, and are the only days that can be requested by student teams for crew interactions.

Allowed Crew Interactions: NASA has defined a list of likely the only specific crew interactions allowed with the FMEs. These are designated the “Allowed Crew Interactions”.

Important note: All student teams designing microgravity experiments must ensure that their experiment proposal only requests interactions on the allowed Crew Interaction Days, and only requests Allowed Crew Interactions. Any proposal submitted by a student team that does not adhere to these requirements should be rejected by the community and not forwarded to the community’s Step 1 Proposal Review Board.

5.1 Allowed Crew Interaction Days for Mission 19 to ISS
Student teams can only choose Crew Interaction Days from the Table below for the assigned astronaut to manipulate their FME – days which best fit their experiment design. For the days listed below, A=0 is the Day of Arrival, when the SSEP experiments payload is brought from the ferry vehicle through the hatch on ISS. U=0 is the Day of Undock, when the ferry vehicle with the SSEP experiments payload undocks from ISS for return to Earth.

Important note on adjustments to scheduled crew interaction days: NASA reserves the right to adjust crew interaction days in the event the crew has other assignments that must be addressed at that time, and/or if the interaction day falls on the weekend it may be rescheduled to a weekday.

Important note on the duration of your experiment: The significant length of time from handover of your FME to Nanoracks in Houston through its arrival on ISS implies that most experiments will need to be in a dormant (inactive) state until arrival on ISS (see Section 6.3 below for constraints imposed by the timeline). If your experiment is inactive until initiated with a mix, then your experiment can be initiated (activated) on any Crew Interaction Day listed above with an astronaut opening a clamp. In addition, you might design an experiment that can also be terminated with a second mix, which is possible using a Type 3 FME. You then have the latitude to define how long your experiment should proceed in microgravity before de-orbiting and returning to Earth. But only the Crew Interaction Days in the Table above are allowed. For example, if you only want your experiment to run for two days on ISS, you can choose Crew Interaction Days that are two days apart (A=0 and A+2 above). If you want your experiment to run roughly two weeks, choose Crew Interaction Days that give you a roughly two-week run time for your experiment (U-14 and U-2 above). Also note that the crew interactions you define for your experiment are independent of any other FME experiment being performed.

For the five Allowed Crew Interaction Days in the Table above, an experiment can run for: 2 days, 3 days, 9 days, and 12 days. Also note that the time from Arrival to Departure is nominally 4 to 6 weeks. Through choice of Crew Interaction Days, an experiment can also run for the entire time it is aboard ISS (from A=0 to U-2), as well as approximately 1 to 2 weeks less than the entire time (from A=0 to U-14).

5.2 Allowed Crew Interactions for Mission 19 to ISS
Each FME is self-contained, allowing each student flight experiment team to select appropriate Crew Interaction Days when mixing is to take place for their experiment. In the case of a Type 3 FME, mixing would require at least two crew interactions. To mix samples in the FME, the astronaut is instructed to “open” the appropriate clamp, and should also be instructed to “shake” the tube. An example of a crew interaction request to mix samples is “Open Clamp A, shake gently for 30 seconds”.  Allowed crew interactions also include an option to request that the astronaut “wait” a period of time between two interactions and/or to expose to the ambient lighting on the ISS (see Section 6.4 below), and to “close”.

The only currently Allowed Crew Interactions are listed in the Table below, along with allowed modifiers that can be used.

Important note on the total time that can be requested per day: the maximum total time per FME on any one Crew Interaction Day is 120 seconds.

Important note on the order of opening the two clamps for a Type 3 FME: to guard against human error in opening clamps for the Type 3 FME, Clamp A (located between Volumes 1 and 2) will be the first clamp opened by the astronaut, and will be color-coded as a GREEN clamp for the astronaut.

There are two possible configurations for opening Clamp B (located between Volumes 2 and 3):
i) Clamp B is opened at the same time as Clamp A. In this case Clamp B will also be color-coded as a GREEN clamp.
ii) Clamp B is opened on some later Crew Interaction Day. In this case, Clamp B will be color-coded as BLUE clamp.

Important note on other possible crew interactions and interactions that are not allowed: If a student team wants Nanoracks to consider allowing an interaction other than what is provided in the Table above, please alert NCESSE as soon as possible. The likelihood of any other interactions being approved is very low, but NCESSE is willing to assess the request with Nanoracks and NASA on a student team’s behalf.

6. Critical Experimental Design Constraints

Just like a professional researcher using a pre-existing laboratory or lab apparatus, you need to design your experiment to the constraints imposed by the equipment you are using and the environment in which it is to operate. Listed below are the critical design constraints you need to consider regarding: 1) the Experiment Samples (fluids and solids) that can be used; 2) the design of the FME and its operation on ISS; and 3) how long it will take: a) from receipt of your FME by Nanoracks in Houston to the time it arrives at ISS, and b) from your FME’s departure from ISS until it is received by you.

6.1 Experiment Samples—Restrictions on the Fluids and Solids That You Can Use in Your Experiment
Each SSEP experiment selected for flight must pass a NASA Flight Safety Review. The review is conducted by NASA Toxicology at Johnson Space Center, and is meant to ensure that the fluids and solid materials to be used in the experiment—the Experiment Samples—pose no risk to the astronaut crew, ferry vehicles, or ISS. The level of risk depends on the toxicity of the experiment samples AND how well they are contained in the mini-lab. The more “levels of containment” that are engineered into the mini-lab, the less the restrictions on the experiment samples. For each SSEP flight opportunity, NCESSE and Nanoracks work hard to ensure a high probability that each of the experiments passes Flight Safety Review. This is done by assessing the safety features engineered into the mini-lab to be used, and what restrictions this assessment imposes on allowable experiment samples.

As a benchmark of success, all of the 410 SSEP experiments selected for flight on the first 18 SSEP flight opportunities (SSEP on the final flights of Shuttles Endeavour and Atlantis, and SSEP Missions 1 through 16 to ISS) passed Flight Safety Review. However, it is important to note that the final decision on whether an experiment passes the Review is NASA’s and out of the control of NCESSE and Nanoracks.

Figure 5: FME Mark II mini-labs in nested heat-sealed bags. CLICK IMAGE ABOVE FOR ZOOM

1. 1. 1. For SSEP Mission 19 to ISS, the FME mini-lab has three nested and sealed enclosures surrounding the fluids and solids to guard against an accidental release into the crew cabin. This includes the main silicone tube, together with the two polyethylene bags Nanoracks will heat seal around the tube once the flight FME arrives in Houston (see Figure 5). The FME is said to have

three levels of containment,

1. 1. 1. and this provides so much redundancy against an accident that a very significant number of fluids and solids can be used by a student team. However, the following are restrictions and requirements regarding the fluids and solids that can be used in the FME mini-lab:

a. Prohibited Samples: Student teams must NOT use any of the following fluids and solids.

radioactive fluids or solids
perfumes
hydrofluoric acid
magnets
cadmium
beryllium
acetone
technology (see details below)

Technology is prohibited for use in the mini-lab and CANNOT be proposed by student teams. This includes batteries, lighting, and any device that is associated with electrical circuits and/or mechanical systems. Such technology is not covered by the NASA Flight Safety Review. It requires a more detailed and lengthy process of flight certification that does not fit within the timeline of SSEP Missions. SSEP therefore does not support flight certification of technology for placement inside the mini-lab.

A finalist proposal submitted to NCESSE that makes use of any of the substances listed above will be rejected automatically and will not move forward to the Step 2 Review Board for review.

b. Hazardous Samples: Nanoracks and NASA reserve the right to refuse other fluids/solids based on hazard level. All student teams proposing experiments are therefore advised to consider carefully the level of hazard posed by the samples they are planning to use, even if they are not included in the list of prohibited samples above. If your experiment makes use of a something that is known to be hazardous, NCESSE advises you to alert us as soon as the potential hazard is identified as part of your experiment brainstorming. This approach will allow NCESSE and Nanoracks to assess the hazard and any potential impact on NASA Flight Safety Review before your team invests lots of time in experiment design and proposal writing.

Examples of hazardous samples that either cannot be used, or require NCESSE and Nanoracks review as soon as such a sample is being considered by a student team, include:

1. 1. 1. 1. • Fluids and solids that are hazardous enough that there is concern that the student team is even handling these substances.
            • Fluids and solids that when mixed can result in chemical reactions that cause excess heat, light, and/or pressure inside the mini-lab, which could potentially lead to loss of containment, or that can adversely impact other mini-labs that share the payload box on ISS.
            • Biological samples with a designated BioSafety Level 2 High (BSL-2 High), or higher cannot be used. Biological samples designated BSL-2 Moderate will require:
              • the student team to demonstrate that they have access to a BSL-2 certified laboratory, and technicians, for receipt and handling of the sample(s), and may require;
              • student teams to follow additional safety precautions, including, but not limited to, taking on responsibility to correctly heat seal the double polyethylene containment bags (provided by Nanoracks) around the mini-lab before shipping to Nanoracks in Houston, given Nanoracks may deem handling of the mini-lab containing a BSL 2 biological too dangerous.
              • Important note: All biologicals are assessed by the NASA BioSafety Review Board on a case-by-case basis for every flight. Even though a biological may not be hazardous on the ground it may be hazardous in space and could be classified in such a way that it cannot be flown in the mini-lab.
              • See this CDC slideshow for information on BioSafety Level classifications.
            • Chemical samples with a designated Toxicity Level 2 (THL-2) cannot be used. Chemical samples designated THL-1 may require:
              • Additional safety precautions (similar to those detailed above for biologicals), and protective gear for handling.
              • Important note: All chemicals are assessed by the NASA BioSafety Review Board on a case-by-case basis for every flight. Even though a chemical may not be hazardous on the ground it may be hazardous in space and could be classified in such a way that it cannot be flown in the mini-lab.

c. Problematic Samples:
There are a significant number of fluids and solids that can adversely interact with the mini-lab’s tube assembly, including the silicone tube, nylon end caps, polycarbonate screw, Viton o-ring, and/or the heat-sealed polyethylene bags. These samples are found on the Nanoracks List of Problematic Samples document downloadable at the Document Library. These materials cannot be used at 100% concentration, but may be used on a case by case basis depending on mixtures, concentrations, pH values, etc. Any fluids or solids being considered for use should be checked against the List of Problematic Samples. If any samples are on the list student teams are: 1) STRONGLY advises to determine if any alternative, non-problematic samples are available for use in the place of the problematic sample, and 2) advised to contact NCESSE immediately if it is determined that no alternative, non-problematic is available, and the problematic sample is essential to the experiment as proposed.

Important note: Use of a problematic sample will likely require the student team to conduct a Mini-lab Compatibility Test. If required, the Compatibility Test must: be conducted in a mini-lab, include all experiment samples at the proposed volumes and concentrations (including the problematic sample), and run for entire time the samples will be in the mini-lab from loading through return to Earth, which can be assumed to be 6-8 weeks. If the sample is then found to have an adverse impact on the mini-lab, the experiment will be immediately rejected, and not forwarded to Step 2 Review. Also note that it could potentially take weeks for Nanoracks, in consultation with NASA (if necessary), to assess if a compatibility test is required. Student teams will then not have enough time to conduct any required compatibility tests before their proposal is due. If a compatibility test is completed after an experiment has been selected as the flight experiment for a community, and the results show incompatibility with the mini-lab, the community’s flight slot will be forfeit.  NCESSE therefore urges teams to find an alternative to any problematic sample.

d. Human Samples:
All human samples, such as blood, will need to be tested for Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, HIV-1, HIV-2, HTLV-1, and HTLV-2. Before an experiment using human samples can be selected as a flight experiment, the team must provide to NCESSE a letter from the sample vendor, or a medical laboratory, stating that tests for the presence of these viruses in the sample can and will be conducted, and the sample will be free of the viruses listed above. This letter must accompany any finalist proposal submitted to NCESSE if the use of human samples is proposed. In addition, before a flight experiment will be accepted for flight, a letter of certification from the sample vendor, or a medical laboratory, must be received by NCESSE stating the sample has been tested and is free of the viruses listed above.

e. Ethical Use of Animals:
The NASA Procedural Comments on the Care and Use of Animals (NPR 8910.1D) details guidelines for research pertaining to animals in experiments.  Per section 4.5 Vertebrate Animals and Higher Order Cephalopods Section Review (VACS), use of vertebrate animals and higher order cephalopods requires extensive review and IUCAC approval that is beyond the scope of the SSEP program to support.  Therefore, no vertebrate animals or higher order cephalopod experiments will be allowed in SSEP.  Vertebrate animals includes all fish, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and birds.  Higher order cephalopods include octopus, squid, and cuttlefish.

Additional requirements on experiment samples (fluids and solids) proposed for flight:

a.  Safety Data Sheets (SDS) and Certificates of Control (CoC):
Each student team with an experiment selected for flight is required to provide safety documentation for each of their experiment samples (except for food samples) as part of NASA’s Flight Safety Review. A Safety Data Sheet (SDS) is a document that provides information related to safety and health for the use of various substances. SDSs are internationally standardized documents used for chemicals, and particular materials or products. A Certificate of Control (CoC) is a document that provides information needed for the safe use of biological samples.

SDSs must be: in fact a SDS (Safety Data Sheet) and not the older version of the document the MSDS (Materials Safety Data Sheet); from the same vendor from which you will secure the sample; and dated within 5 years of the No Earlier Than (NET) launch date.

CoCs must:  be from the same vendor from which you will secure the biological sample; be obtained from a certified or reputable vendor; include the vendors letterheads and/or logo, and the species and/or strain of biological (e.g., seed, micro-aquatic organism, bacteria, insect, etc.; and confirm that the biological was maintained in a controlled environment with no cross contamination with other species and/or strains, and in the case of seeds, confirmation that no pesticides were used.

Important notes about SDSs and CoCs:

1. 1. 1. 1. • An easy way to secure a SDS is at the vendor’s website, by contacting the vendor, or by searching (e.g., Googling) the sample + SDS + the vendor. If for any reason you are unable to secure a SDS for a particular sample, please let us know.  NCESSE will work with your team to identify how you can meet the Flight Safety Review requirement.
            • Many vendors will have a standard CoC they are able to provide.  Others will not have a standardized form and will require guidance. If for any reason you are unable to secure a CoC for a biological, please let us know.  NCESSE will work with your team to identify how you can meet the Flight Safety Review requirement.  For example, if you are flying seeds and a CoC is not available, you can choose to sterilize the seeds using the Nanoracks Instructions for Seed Sterilization.
            • If the biological sample proposed is a seed, and that seed is an organic variety, an Organic Certification can take the place of a CoC. An Organic Certification is usually available at the seed vendor’s website.

b. Specificity of Samples: Before the selection of an experiment for flight can be confirmed, each flight experiment team must provide a list of their samples with the level of specificity described in the document Required Specificity for Description of Experiment Samples, which is available for download in the Document Library. Required information includes precise sample names, volumes, concentrations, and pH.

6.2 FME Dimensions, and Volumes for Fluids and Solids
The FME is a mini-laboratory, which means the volumes for experimental samples are small. So be sure you design an experiment with the specifications below in mind.

Interesting Facts: flying crew and payload to Low Earth Orbit is exceedingly expensive, e.g., NASA currently pays SpaceX $55,000,000 to fly a single astronaut to ISS (that is about $320,000 per pound for a 170 lb astronaut). The volume and mass of payloads must therefore be kept low to keep costs manageable. That’s why the FME as a professional microgravity mini-laboratory is small. But ‘small’ is relative – the volumes listed below are 50 times larger than those for the professional microgravity mini-labs used for cancer research – as well as SSEP – on the final two Space Shuttle flights.

Each FME tube is 6.7 inches long (170 mm), with an outer diameter of 0.5 inches (13 mm) and an inner diameter of 3/8-inches (9.5 mm).

Type 1 FME:
Total Sealed Volume: 10.00 ml (this is volume after the two barbed stoppers are inserted in each end of the tube)

Type 2 FME:
Total Sealed Volume = Volume 1 + Volume 2: 9.2 ml (this is volume after the two barbed stoppers are inserted in each end of the tube)
Note: compared to a Type 1 FME, introduction of one clamp in the Type 2 reduces total volume by 0.8 ml
Note: minimum volume for Volume 1 or Volume 2 (achieved when a clamp is placed as close to the end of the tube as possible): 1.2 ml

Type 3 FME:
Total Sealed Volume = Volume 1 + Volume 2 + Volume 3: 8.4 ml (this is volume after the two barbed stoppers are inserted in each end of the tube)
Note: compared to a Type 1 FME, introduction of two clamps in the Type 3 reduces total volume by 2 x 0.8 = 1.6 ml
Note: minimum volume for Volume 1 or Volume 3 (achieved when a clamp is placed as close to the end of the tube as possible): 1.2 ml
Note: minimum for Volume 2 (achieved when both clamps placed as close to one another as possible): 1.9 ml

6.3 Constraints Due to the Flight Timeline for SSEP Mission 19 to ISS
Important constraints on the design of your experiment are associated with the timeline from handover of your flight FME to Nanoracks in Houston, to when it arrives back in Houston after its flight in space. While the milestones listed below remain tentative until NASA sets precise launch and landing dates for the ferry vehicles to and from the ISS, the milestones make it possible for the student proposing teams to design their experiment with the mission timeline in mind.

The relevant critical milestones for the mission timeline for SSEP Mission 19 to ISS—

1. 1. 1. 1. • • Deadline for Nanoracks in Houston to receive your flight mini-lab: Launch minus 2.5 weeks
              • Handover of the SSEP Payload to NASA: Launch minus 1 week
              • SSEP payload is placed aboard the ferry vehicle: Launch minus 2 days
              • Target launch date for SSEP Payload to ISS: Current target – Late Spring/Summer 2025
                
              • Payload transferred from ferry vehicle to ISS: Launch plus approximately 2-3 days
              • Payload transferred from ISS to ferry vehicle: Undock and return to Earth minus 2 days
              • Spacecraft undocking and return to Earth: Launch plus approximately 4-6 weeks
              • Your mini-lab is ready for pickup in Houston, or for return shipping to your community: Landing +(24-72) hours

These dates lead to the following conclusions:

a. it will take about 3 weeks from the time you handover your flight FME to Nanoracks to the time it arrives at ISS

b. it will be on ISS for approximately 4 to 6 weeks before being transferred to the return vehicle, and the vehicle undocks for return to Earth

c. it will be 24 to 72 hours from the time the ferry vehicle undocks from ISS to when your FME is ready for pick up in Houston, or for return shipping to your community.

d. it will be 7.5 to 8.5 weeks from the time you give your FME to Nanoracks in Houston to it being ready for pickup in Houston, or for return shipping to your community, after its return from space.

These conclusions likely lead to the following constraints on your experiment design:

a. Your experiment likely needs to be in stasis (in a dormant or inactive state) until it arrives on ISS so that the experiment does not proceed in gravity for 3 or more weeks while awaiting launch. For example, if you are using biological samples, they need to be dormant until the experiment is initiated on ISS. Some examples of dormant biological samples include: seeds; dehydrated macroscopic organisms and eggs such as brine shrimp eggs; and hundreds of freeze-dried microscopic organisms like bacteria—all of which are commercially available. If the dormant biological sample is placed in one volume of the FME, the experiment can be initiated by an astronaut on ISS by unlatching the clamp and mixing the sample with a rehydration or nutrient fluid contained in the adjacent volume.

b. Dormant samples may benefit from refrigeration during transport of your flight FME from you to Houston and on to ISS. Nanoracks is arranging refrigeration for transportation of the FMEs from the moment your flight-ready FME arrives at Nanoracks to when it reaches the ISS (see Section 6.4 below).

Important note: refrigeration of FMEs aboard the ISS is not available.

c. Prior to the transfer of your FME to the ferry vehicle for return to Earth, you might want to terminate a biological experiment by introducing either a “fixative” which kills and preserves the biology, or by introducing a growth inhibitor which dramatically slows biological activity. This allows you to ‘shut-down’ the biology before it is re-exposed to a gravity environment for up to 2.5 days before you receive it in Houston (up to 4 days if FedEx overnight shipping is required from Houston to you). Terminating a biological experiment can be done in a Type 3 FME with a fixative or inhibitor in the third volume, where the appropriate clamp can be unlatched before the FME leaves ISS. For more information, read the document Using Biologicals in SSEP Experiments: Dormant Forms, Fixatives and Growth Inhibitors in the Document Library.

6.4 Thermal (Temperature) Control
There is no active thermal (temperature) control within the FME. You should therefore expect the FME to be subjected to whatever the temperature conditions might be along its route from handover of your FME to Nanoracks in Houston to return of your FME after its flight in space. So, as an example, if you ship via FedEx to Houston without any added thermal control, i.e., cold packs, depending on time of year, the FedEx truck can be exceedingly hot.

Provided for you below are the options and expectations for thermal control for different legs along the route.

Figure 6: SSEP Payload Box containing FME Mark 2 mini-labs. CLICK ON IMAGE ABOVE FOR ZOOM

SSEP is meant to offer real experiment opportunities on ISS that are interdisciplinary, and at the grade 5-16 level, intersect the science curriculum across the physical science, earth/space science, and biological science strands. That said, SSEP experiments are exceptionally well suited to biology, as long as biological samples can be maintained in a relatively dormant state until reaching ISS. While many biologicals can be kept in a dormant state at room temperature, some of them require refrigeration at a temperature of 2-8ºC. We therefore work with Nanoracks to make refrigeration available for an FME over much of it’s journey, including the following legs (unless otherwise noted):

a. shipping of your FME from you to Nanoracks in Houston: you can ship with cold packs (there are real constraints provided by Nanoracks for how to do this successfully)

b. Nanoracks storage of your FME until handover to NASA: a team can request their FME be refrigerated (at approximately 2-4ºC)

c. from Nanoracks handover to NASA, through loading aboard the ferry vehicle, launch, and transfer to ISS: a team can request their FME be refrigerated (at approximately 2-4ºC)

d. aboard ISS, over the 4 to 6 weeks or more that your FME will be aboard ISS, there will be no refrigeration. During this time, you should expect the ambient conditions of the crew cabin, with a temperature of 21-24ºC (70-75°F) – a shirtsleeve environment.

e. from loading aboard the return ferry vehicle, to undocking, to landing, and transport to Houston (expected duration: 24-60 hours): no refrigeration is available for this leg

f. shipping from Nanoracks in Houston to you: you can request your package be shipped with the same cold packs used when you sent the FME to Houston

Additionally, teams requesting refrigeration during transportation to ISS, may want to have their experiment initiated shortly after arrival at ISS, given that the FMEs will be brought to room temperature on arrival, and remain at room temperature for the remainder of their stay aboard ISS.

Note that for Mission 19 to ISS, the thermal controls described above are the only ones available. For example, there will be no access to an incubator aboard ISS, nor can any of the samples be kept frozen during transportation or aboard ISS.

6.5 Lack of Light
All FME mini-labs must be stowed in an opaque payload box, and there is no light source that can be placed in the payload box. Student Teams must assume that their experiment will proceed in the dark. The only available light will be no more than 120 seconds on a given Crew Interaction Day, if the requested interaction is to remove the FME from the payload box and expose it to the ambient light in the crew cabin using the “Wait” Allowed Crew Interaction.

6.6 Other Important FME Constraints
The FME:

1. 1. 1. 1. • has no means of active data acquisition on orbit
            • has no provided power

7. Very Important Information for the Experimenter

Make sure to read the Designing the Flight Experiment page for how to think about framing an experiment, and an overview of the science that might be explored in microgravity. Make sure to read about the suite of Teacher and Student Resources. Make sure to get very familiar with the SSEP Mission 19 to ISS: Critical Timeline, and information on the student team proposal process on the Flight Experiment Design Competition page.