Experiment examples in technology

The generation, use and conservation of energy are of major importance in space for future long-duration missions. The BugNRG experiment studies the influence of weightlessness on the output of two bacterial fuel cells. Since certain bacteria can transfer carbohydrates into free electrons, protons and carbon dioxide, a bacterial fuel cell that utilises these bacteria can produce electrical current.

APIS (Technology)

Proposed by students from Instituto Universitario 'Ignacio da Riva', Madrid, Spain. Conducted on board the ISS during the Spanish Cervantes mission in October 2003.

APIS shows students the rotational behaviour of rigid bodies with different mass distribution. The necessity for APIS to be conducted in weightlessness is that the specific problem of free rotating bodies is difficult to visualise and that a demonstration cannot be performed in a 1g environment.

For the experiment a mechanism was designed that could release a spinning sphere in weightlessness. The sphere could be equipped with different mass inserts that would generate stable or unstable rotational motion of the sphere. The rotating sphere can be seen as a simple model of a more complex structure like for example a spinning spacecraft. Video footage of the spinning sphere in different configurations was shot in orbit and was used as teaching material for university student.

THEBAS

Proposed by students from Instituto Universitario 'Ignacio da Riva', Madrid, Spain. Conducted on board the ISS during the Spanish Cervantes mission in October 2003.

The aim of THEBAS was to illustrate the principles of dynamics, ranging from the classical mechanics of solid bodies to the continuous media mechanics. As for APIS, video footage was shot whilst the experiment was conducted to be use for educational purposes.

Transparent closed containers filled with solid bodies (spheres) of different radii were used to study the effect of the interaction between the container and the particles inside during periodic oscillations in one dimension. On every occasion the mass of the content of the containers were the same.

The observations were compared to a ground-based reference experiment.