Cellular Biotechnology Hardware
This hardware has been developed for use by investigators who are conducting experiments on the ground and or in flight. The Biotechnology Facility fits inside two Expedite the Processing of Experiments on Space Station (EXPRESS) racks. All of BSO's current flight hardware is designed to fit and function inside an EXPRESS Rack locker.
NASA's microgravity-based hardware is enabling new approaches to and opportunities in cellular biotechnology. The use of these technologies on Earth and in space is opening new vistas in the search for understanding and treatment of disease, tissue modeling, and drug development.
The following is a list of technologies currently being used by or developed in the Biological Systems Office (BSO) at NASA's Johnson Space Center.
Flight Hardware
Note: The Biotechnology Facility (BTF) will soon be available on the International Space Station (ISS) for flight research, starting in 2006.
Pre-BTF (Pre-2006)
- Biotechnology Cell Science Stowage (BCSS)
- Biotechnology Cell Science Stowage - Cryodewar (BCSS-CBC)
- Biotechnology Refrigerator (BTR)
- Biotechnology Specimen Temperature Controller (BSTC)
- Engineering Developing Unit 1 Reflight (EDU-1R)
- Experiment Control Computer (ECC)
- Gas Supply Module (GSM)
- Microencapsulation Electrostatic Processing System (MEPS)
- Rotating Wall Perfused System (RWPS)
BTF (2006 and Beyond)
- Biotechnology Cell Science Stowage (BCSS)
- Biotechnology Cell Science Stowage - Cryodewar (BCSS-CBC)
- Biotechnology Facility (BTF)
- ARCTIC Freezer
- Automated Culture Water Assembly (ACWA)
- Automated Rotating Culture System (ARCS)
- Automated Stationary Culture System (ASCS-A)
- Biotechnology Facility Gas Supply Module (BTF-GSM)
- Hydrodynamic Focusing Bioreactor (HFB-S)
- Microencapsulation Electrostatic Processing System (MEPS)
Ground Hardware - Bioreactors
- High Aspect Ratio Vessel (HARV)
- Hydrodynamic Focusing Bioreactor (HFB)
- Slow Turning Lateral Vessel (STLV)