Microgravity Experiment Research Locker/Incubator (MERLIN) was designed by University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Center for Biophysical Sciences and Engineering (CBSE) to operate as a hardmounted, single middeck locker equivalent within the ISS EXPRESS rack, the Space Shuttle, SpaceX Dragon, and Cygnus (spacecraft) . It is used to provide a temperature controlled environment for scientific experiments between -20 °C and 48.5 °C. MERLIN is also used to Support Crew Galley Operations.[1]
Description
- MERLIN is cooled using Thermoelectric elements, and can be cooled to -20 °C while using ISS water supply or -10 °C while only being air cooled. Resistive heating elements are used to provide an incubation capacity up to 48.5 °C.
- MERLIN contains temperature sensor connections inside the payload volume, for monitoring sample temperature, for up to 12 sensors.
- The internal sample volume is ~0.65 cubic feet (0.018 m3).
Additional Cold Stowage
MERLIN is one of multiple units available for storage on the ISS and/or transportation to and from the ISS.
- Minus Eighty Degree Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI)
- +4 °C to -80 °C
- GLACIER (General Laboratory Active Cryogenic ISS Experiment Refrigerator)
- +4 °C to –160 °C
- Polar (Research Refrigerator for ISS)
- +4 °C to -95 °C
See also
References
- ^ "Fact Sheet (Microgravity Experiment Research Locker Incubator (MERLIN))". NASA. Archived from the original on 25 November 2010. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
This page was last edited on 25 March 2024, at 19:47