NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Scientists and payload developers can get more information on International Space Station research facilities by contacting the ISS Payloads Office or at 281-244-6187.

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Overview | Description | Applications | Operations | Results | Publications | Imagery

Facility Overview


Brief Facility Summary

The Advanced Biological Research System (ABRS) is a single locker system that is compatible with both the space shuttle and the International Space Station (ISS). The ABRS has two growth chambers; each chamber is a closed system capable of independently controlling temperature, illumination, and atmospheric composition to grow a variety of biological organisms.

Facility Manager(s)

David R. Cox, Kennedy Space Center, Kennedy Space Center, FL, United States

Co-Facility Manager(s)

David W. Reed, Bionetics Project Engineer, Kennedy Space Center, FL, United States

Facility Developer(s)

Bionetics Corporation, Cape Canaveral, FL, United States
Kennedy Space Center, Applied Technology Flight Integration, Cape Canaveral, FL, United States

Sponsoring Agency

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Expeditions Assigned

18,19/20,21/22,31/32,35/36

Previous ISS Missions

Information Pending

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Facility Description

Facility Overview

• The Advanced Biological Research System (ABRS) is a single middeck locker equivalent system with two independently controlled chambers. The ABRS is compatible with the space shuttle middeck and International Space Station (ISS) EXpedite the PRocessing of Experiments to Space Station (EXPRESS) rack.



• The ABRS may be used to grow plants, microorganisms, and small arthropods (e.g., insects and arachnids).



• Each ABRS chamber can provide atmospheric contaminant scrubbing, temperature control to 8 °C below ambient temperature, carbon dioxide control, relative humidity control, generic top-down imaging, power, and data services for a variety of experiment-unique equipment that can be mounted inside the chambers.

Description

The Advanced Biological Research System (ABRS) is a single-middeck-locker replacement facility. As a middeck locker replacement, the ABRS is compatible with both the space shuttle and the International Space Station (ISS) EXpedite the PRocessing of Experiments to Space Station (EXPRESS) rack. In the middeck, the ABRS is a rear-breathing, powered locker that can be used as a primary facility or as a specimen transportation device. In the EXPRESS rack, the ABRS is a subrack facility payload that takes advantage of both rear air breathing and intercooling via the moderate temperature loop. Sensor data and images are conveyed through the EXPRESS rack to the ground via Ethernet. The ABRS may be commanded from the ground or by the crew using an EXPRESS laptop. The current operating scenario includes a low-power ascent mode in the middeck and permanent residence on the ISS.

Each ABRS Environmental Research Chamber (ERC) can independently provide the following services:

• Temperature control to 8 °C below ambient


• PAR of 50 to 300 micromol/m2/sec illumination


• Continuous removal of ethylene to less than 25 parts per billion (ppb)


• Atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) control


• Continuous removal of volatile organic compounds (VOCs)


• Relative humidity control to between 60 and 90 percent


• Generic chamber imaging from three cameras


• Generic support of experiment-unique equipment, including a Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) imager.

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Operations

Facility Operations

Information Pending

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Results/More Information

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Availability

Information Pending

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Results Publications

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Ground Based Results Publications

Levine H, Mortenson TE, Reed DW, Shellack JL, Cox DR., Wells HW, Murdoch T, Regan MF, Albino SA, Cohen JN..  The Advanced Biological Research System (ABRS): A Single Middeck Payload for Conducting Biological Experimentation on the International Space Station. 47th Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit, Orlando, FL; 2009; Orlando, FL.

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ISS Patents

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Related Publications

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Related Websites

NIH BioMed-ISS Meeting, 2009—ABRS

NIH BioMed-ISS Meeting Video Presentation, 2009—ABRS

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Imagery

Advanced Biological Research System (ABRS) facility with locker shell removed for clarity. Image provided by NASA.
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ABRS facility with locker shell and front hatch removed for clarity. Image provided by NASA.
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ABRS Environmental Research Chamber (ERC). Image provided by NASA.
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The Advanced Biological Research System (ABRS) unit in an Expedite the Processing of Experiments to the Space Station (EXPRESS) at Kennedy Space Center. Image courtesy of the Bionetics Corporation.
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The Advanced Biological Research System (ABRS) unit in an Expedite the Processing of Experiments to the Space Station (EXPRESS) at Kennedy Space Center. Image courtesy of the Bionetics Corporation.
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NASA Image: ISS022E006919 - Expedition 22 Commander worked on the Transgenic Arabidopsis Gene Expression System (TAGES), performing Harvesting Part 1 A prime, then swapping the full TAGES memory cards for two new ones and initiating grow-out for Harvest 1B. The TAGES investigation uses the Advanced Biological Research System (ABRS) facility. Photo was taken at Expedite the Processing of Experiments to the Space Station (EXPRESS) Rack 2 in the U.S. Laboratory during Expedition 22.
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