Sammendrag
Once a biological experiment is accepted for execution onboard the International Space Station, the specific scientific requirements are manifested into suitable hardware, the Experiment Unique Equipment (EUE). The Gravi2 EUE was developed by AIRBUS (Germany) to support germination and growth of lentil seeds inside an Experiment Container (EC), in the European Modular Cultivation System (EMCS). The EMCS is located in the Columbus Module and operated by N-USOC (Norwegian User Support and Operations Center). A new and very important feature of the Gravi2 EUE (compared to the Gravi1 EUE) was the ability to perform automated fixation of the samples while still inside the EMCS, preserving the “in situ” cellular biochemical reactions. The Gravi2 experiment was successfully executed in May 2014 and during the two experiment runs the seeds were exposed to four different g-stimulations (0.01g, 1g, and 2g for 5 min and 2g for 15 min). The cellular responses to these g-stimulations were preserved by automatic fixation at the end of each experiment run. Gravi2 integration products and hardware performance tests were all developed and executed by the N-USOC team, in cooperation with the science and engineering teams. The test program was outlined in accordance to the ECSS standard and all tests were executed in either the EMCS Engineering Model (equal to the EMCS on ISS) or the EMCS Reference Model, both located at N-USOC, Trondheim. Lessons learned from the Gravi2 integration phase include early familiarization of the hardware for all involved partners and retaining an interdisciplinary approach during the initial requirements collection stage and experiment design development phase as well as throughout the entire test campaign.
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