STS-121 - Equipment Delivered To The ISS

Equipment Delivered To The ISS

Key items being delivered, as part of over 2 tons of cargo include: Multi Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) Leonardo on its 4th flight, 7th MPLM overall, carrying:

• −80 °C Freezer

This freezer is known as the Minus Eighty Degree Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI). The French-built unit comprises four independent drawers which can be set to operate at different temperatures. Initially, temperatures of −80 °C, −26 °C, and +4 °C will be used during on-orbit ISS operations. Both reagents and samples will be stored in the freezer. As well as storage, the freezer is designed to be used to transport samples to and from the ISS in a temperature controlled environment. The total capacity of the unit is 300 liters.

• The European Modular Cultivation System (EMCS) for biological experiments.

This consists of a gas tight incubator in which there are two centrifuges, each able to carry four experimental cartridges. Two "Ground controls"—exact copies of the equipment and experiments—will be run on the ground, one in Europe and one at NASA's Ames Research Center.

• New oxygen generation system

This device is considered a test for an equipment design with potential for use on proposed future long durations to the Moon and Mars. The system will initially run below its maximum capacity, though it is designed for enabling the ISS to support a crew of six in the future. It will supplement the Russian-built Elektron system operating in the Zvezda module.

• New cycling machine for the ISS crew

A Danish built device, the Cycle Ergometer with Vibration Isolation System (CEVIS)

• Replacement common cabin air assembly heat exchanger used to control the internal air temperature of the ISS.

All of the above equipment is to be installed in the Destiny Laboratory Module.

Also carried in the payload bay: an Integrated Cargo Carrier with the Trailing Umbilical System (TUS) for the Mobile Transporter (returning old one); an EATCS/Pump Module (PM); and 2 Fixed Grapple Bars for PM & TUS relocation during EVA. As well as an LMC carrying the DTO-848 TPS Repair Box.