Experiment

Experiment Payloads for Kibo’s PM

All the experiment facilities operated or to be operated onboard Kibo, will be housed in the International Standard Payload Racks (ISPR). The ISPR has the ISS-common structures which meet rack locations of every module in the US segment. The ISPRs provide necessary electric power, coolant water and communication to the mounted experiment facilities, and have safety features such as detecting fire and shutting off electricity to the payloads.

The PM has 10 payload rack locations. Of these locations, five racks are for JAXA experiments, and five for NASA. Japan has already developed four payload racks, called RYUTAI Rack, SAIBO Rack, KOBAIRO Rack, and MSPR(Multi-purpose Small Payload Rack). RYUTAI Rack and SAIBO Rack were launched on the STS-123 (1J/A) Mission. KOBAIRO Rack and MSPR were launched on the second flight of H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV).

Developed Experiment Rack/Facility

RYUTAI Rack	Fluid Physics Experiment Facility (FPEF), Solution Crystallization Observation Facility (SCOF), Protein Crystallization Research Facility (PCRF), Image Processing Unit (IPU)
KOBAIRO Rack	Gradient Heating Furnace (GHF)
SAIBO Rack	Cell Biology Experiment Facility (CBEF), Clean Bench (CB), Mouse Habitat Unit (MHU)
MSPR [PDF: 197.4KB]	Chamber for Combustion Experiment(CCE) , Aquatic Habitat (AQH)
MSPR-2	Electrostatic Levitation Furnace (ELF)

Lab Support Equipments and Other Smaller Instruments

• The Minus Eighty Degree Celsius Laboratory Freezer for the International Space Station (MELFI)
• Biological Experiment Unit (BEU)
• High Definition TeleVision transmitting system (HDTV)
• Passive Dosimeter for Life Science Experiments in Space (PADLES)
• Holter ECG Monitor [PDF: 147KB]
• Payload Laptop Terminal (PLT)
• Microgravity Measurement Apparatus (MMA)
• Utility DC/DC Converter Unit (UDC)

Developing for the Kibo Second Phase Utilization

JAXA develops the following experiment facility.

• Electrostatic Levitation Furnace (ELF)