Experiment

Turkey hands over samples to Japan for a space materials exposure experiment - Experiment to begin next spring on the exposed facility of "Kibo"!

On November 21, 2017, experiment samples were handed over from Tukey to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) at the JAXA Tsukuba Space Center (TKSC), where preparations for delivering the samples to the International Space Station (ISS) are now underway.

In September 2016, JAXA and the Republic of Turkey's Ministry of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications (MTMAC) signed a cooperation agreement related to Kibo utilization for two long-term exposure experiments using the Experiment Handrail Attachment Mechanism (ExHAM) installed on the Exposed Facility of the Japanese Experiment Module ("Kibo") and one-CubeSat deployment from Kibo. The first joint experiment has been underway since April 2017 and will be succeeded by a second experiment using the samples, which is scheduled to begin around the spring of 2018.

【The first experiment】Initiating the joint exposed experiment with the Republic of Turkey utilizing the Exposed Experiment Handrail Attachment Mechanism (ExHAM)

On November 21, two officials Istanbul Technical University, which proposed the experiment, hand-carried the experiment samples to TKSC and ensured that the samples were ready for installation on ExHAM by using a mockup and other means.

The images below show the handover and confirmation of samples on November 21 (with the fitting of samples with the ExHAM mockup being checked).

Officials from Turkey installing the experiment samples on ExHAM (Credit: JAXA)

Officials from Turkey and JAXA engaged in confirmation work (Credit: JAXA)

Turkey's experiment samples (for launch) (Credit: JAXA)

After fully completing the confirmation work, Turkish officials handed over the experiment samples to JAXA, which in turn presented the handover acknowledgement to the Turkish officials. The samples will be shipped to the US from Japan for delivery to the ISS onboard the US commercial cargo ship, which is scheduled for launch in March 2018.

Officials from Turkey receiving the handover acknowledgement from JAXA Officials on November 21, at sample handover at TKSC (Credit: JAXA)

Under overall coordination by MTMAC, the second experiment is expected to provide samples for the "verification experiment of radiation shielding material for spacecraft equipments" proposed by Istanbul Technical University. In the experiment, materials with self-repairing properties against damage caused by radiation exposure will be installed on ExHAM and exposed to the space radiation environment for about one year to examine their potential use in space.

Figure1　Experiment samples hand-carried from Istanbul Technical University, Turkey
(External view on the left and internal view on the right) (Credit: Istanbul Technical University)

Japan-Turkey cooperation on Kibo utilization is expected to contribute to the development of space utilization technology in Asia through Kibo utilization, aimed at establishing a future reciprocal and cooperative relationship among space agencies in the region, by taking full advantage of the fact that Japan is the only ISS partner from Asia.

*All times are Japan Standard Time (JST)