ESA will be hosting the 'ISS Research Technology from Europe' Industry Day on 7 November 2006 at the ESTEC facility in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. The event is open to representatives from industry involved in the development and installation of European ISS research technology, and for interested media.

The day will highlight European technology on the International Space Station (ISS), which is either currently in use on the Station for research purposes or will add to the ISS research capabilities in the very near future. The event will also include a live in-flight call with ESA astronaut Thomas Reiter who is currently serving as a member of the ISS Expedition 14 crew. Much of the day will focus on the Pulmonary Function System (PFS), the Minus 80 degrees laboratory Freezer for the ISS (MELFI) and the European Modular Cultivation System (EMCS).

Pulmonary Function System (PFS)

The Pulmonary Function System that was launched to the ISS on the STS-114 mission in July 2005 is an ESA/NASA-developed device that analyses exhaled gas from astronauts' lungs to provide near-instant data on the state of crew health. It is accommodated in the NASA Human Research Facility located in the US Destiny Laboratory on the ISS though will be relocated into the European Columbus Laboratory following its launch in 2007. The hardware was developed for ESA by the Danish company Damec.

Minus 80 degrees laboratory Freezer for the ISS (MELFI)

MELFI was launched to the ISS on the STS-121 mission in July 2006, the same flight that brought Thomas Reiter to the ISS as the first European to become a member of an ISS Expedition Crew. It provides the Space Station with refrigerated volume for storage and fast freezing of life science and biological samples.

It was developed by the European Space Agency in the frame of international barter agreements. Two flight units have been supplied to NASA and one to the Japan Aerospace Exp
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Contact: Michel van Baal
michel.van.baal@esa.int
31-715-653-006
European Space Agency
31-Oct-2006