National Aeronautics

and Space Administration

Microgravity Research Division

NASA/TM–1999-209757
NASA’S MICROGRAVITY RESEARCH PROGRAM

In the microgravity environment of space, the

effects of Earth’s gravity are dramatically reduced,

allowing scientists to pursue research not possible

in ground-based laboratories

ANNUAL

REPORT
National Aeronautics and 

Space Administration

George C. Marshall Space Flight Center

Marshall Space Flight Center, Alabama 35812

NASA/TM–1999-209757

NASA’S MICROGRAVITY RESEARCH PROGRAM

ANNUAL

REPORT

ANNUAL

REPORT
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1 2 3

i

On the cover . . .

Descriptions of the cover

photographs are provided

below. Samples produced

in microgravity are at the

top of each pair of photos;

Earth-based samples are

shown on the bottom of

each pair.

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1 Biotechnology

Understanding the structure of the protein raf kinase is important

for cancer research. When grown in microgravity (top), the protein

forms long, thin crystals that are approximately an order of magnitude larger than the small, needle-like crystals grown on Earth

(bottom). Large, uniform crystals generally yield better structural

information when analyzed through X-ray diffraction, which in

turn can lead to a better understanding of how the structure of a

protein is related to its function in the human body.

2 Combustion Science

Research on flame spread across pools of liquid fuel reveals

numerous differences in flame spread behavior in microgravity

when compared with ground-based experiments. In microgravity

(top), flame spread is much slower and steadier than in Earth’s

gravity, and much of the flame is dimmer with no apparent soot

or plume. In Earth’s gravity (bottom), the flame spread has a

pulsating character, and the flame advances in a fast/slow periodic

motion. The effect of buoyancy in the gas phase of the normalgravity sample can be seen in the soot-filled plume that develops

in the trailing portion of the flame.

3 Fluid Physics

In Earth’s gravity, when a stream of liquid emitted from a downward pointing nozzle is perturbed at a given frequency, the

stream begins to waver, creating wave-like undulations at the

surface. The 1 g photo (bottom) shows the undulations in a stream

of silicon oil. Generally, this process occurs in microgravity as

well; however, for low enough flow rates in microgravity, an

absolute instability occurs in which streaming ceases altogether.

This absolute instability is shown by the growing drop of liquid in

the microgravity sample (top). The liquids in both photos are

flowing at the same low rate. A theory has been developed to predict

when this absolute instability will occur for any given fluid; the

theory can be used for jet stream applications in space. 

4 Fundamental Physics

Making a substance thinner and thinner will eventually change

the properties of the material. This is called the finite size effect

and is an important area of study for physicists. This effect is

best studied in microgravity using liquid helium. Data obtained

in ground-based studies (bottom) show a helium sample’s ability

to retain heat and suggest that the level of heat retention is much

lower than it actually is. This is because gravity makes it impossible to reach the region dominated by finite size effects.

Measurements made in microgravity (top), show a much higher

level of heat retention. The filled circles in the graphs represent

measurements above the superfluid transition in helium. The

open circles represent measurements below the transition. The

superfluid transition in helium is analogous to the superconducting

transition in other materials.

5 Materials Science

Theories of coarsening in solid-liquid mixtures dictate that the

larger particles in such a mixture will grow at the expense of the

smaller particles, which decrease in size, while the total number of

particles in the mixture decreases. This phenomenon occurs in

metallurgical systems, such as the high-temperature materials

used in turbine blades, and degrades the strength of alloys.

Researchers studying coarsening behavior in microgravity are able

to greatly reduce the effects of gravity, which causes sedimentation

to occur in ground-based studies. In the cross section photos of

samples containing tin particles, sedimentation is evident in the

ground-based study (bottom), where all of the tin particles have

risen to the top of the sample; in the microgravity sample (top),

the particles are evenly dispersed.
iii

Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), located in Huntsville,

Alabama, serves as NASA’s lead center for the Microgravity

Research Program (MRP). To support that work, MSFC’s

Microgravity Research Program Office (MRPO) is responsible

for advancing the microgravity mission through the coordination

of microgravity science research at other NASA field centers, at

universities, and with industry partners. Basic and applied

research in the five microgravity disciplines (biotechnology, combustion science, fluid physics, fundamental physics, and materials

science), and work conducted on behalf of the MRP’s acceleration

measurement, glovebox, and technology programs, are managed

by the MRPO and implemented at the following NASA centers:

the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, which

oversees investigations in fundamental physics and is responsible

for microgravity advanced technology development and transfer

activities; Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, which

manages the cell and tissue culture portion of the biotechnology

discipline; Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, which

supervises studies in the combustion science and fluid physics disciplines as well as microgravity measurement and analysis support

services for all the microgravity science disciplines; and MSFC,

which, in addition to serving as NASA’s lead center for the MRP,

manages studies in the biotechnology and materials science disciplines and is responsible for the microgravity glovebox program.

The MRP’s goals for fiscal year (FY) 1998 are listed below:

Executive Summary

Program Goals for FY 1998

To use the microgravity environment of space as a tool to

advance knowledge; to use space as a laboratory to explore the

nature of physical phenomena contributing to progress in science

and technology on Earth; and to study the role of gravity in technological processes, building a scientific foundation for understanding the consequences of gravitational environments beyond

Earth’s boundaries.

— From the Microgravity Research Program’s Mission Statement

Goal 1

Sustain a leading-edge research program focused in the

areas of biotechnology, combustion science, fluid physics, fundamental physics, and materials science that effectively engages

the national research community.

Goal 2

Foster an interdisciplinary community to promote synergy,

creativity, and value in carrying out the research program.

Goal 3

Enable research through the development of an appropriate infrastructure of ground-based facilities, diagnostic

capabilities, and flight facilities/opportunities, and promote

the use of smaller apparatus.

Goal 4

Promote the exchange of scientific knowledge and technological advances among academic, governmental, and industrial

communities. Disseminate results to the general public and to

educational institutions.

Goal 5

Raise the awareness of the microgravity research community

regarding the long-term direction of the Human Exploration

and Development of Space Enterprise, and discuss with the

community the role of microgravity research in support of

agency objectives.
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Performance Goals

While the five program goals listed above are qualitative and

program-oriented, the MRP has also developed a set of performance goals that describe specific activities, methods for implementation, and planned outcomes. In addition to guiding the

progress of the program, these goals will also serve as measures,

allowing more quantitative evaluation of the program. The performance goals were developed in response to the general call to

reinvent government and the Government Performance and

Results Act of 1993, which directs agencies within the executive

branch to develop customer-focused strategic plans that align

their activities with concrete missions and goals statements. In FY

1998, the MRP initiated the task of developing performance goals

that support the MRP’s mission statement. The mission statement

is as follows:

• To use the microgravity environment of space as a tool to 

advance knowledge.

• To use space as a laboratory to explore the nature of physical 

phenomena, contributing to progress in science and technology on Earth.

• To study the role of gravity in technological processes, building

a scientific foundation for understanding the consequences of

gravitational environments beyond Earth’s boundaries.

The MRP’s performance goals were finalized in FY 1998 in

fulfillment of Congress’ mandate and will be used in FY 1999

and FY 2000 to assess the program’s progress. The MRP annual

report for FY 1999 will include information about that assessment.

Program Approach

To meet these goals, the MRP focused in FY 1998 on providing

its researchers with opportunities to perform their experiments in

microgravity facilities on Earth and in space. The fourth United

States Microgravity Payload mission (USMP–4), the last scheduled dedicated microgravity science mission to be carried on the

space shuttle, flew in FY 1998 carrying microgravity combustion

science, fundamental physics, and materials science experiments

onboard. Work was also completed in preparation for STS-95, a

multidisciplinary research mission launched in late October 1998

with astronaut John Glenn aboard. Microgravity experiments in

biotechnology and fluid physics were selected to fly on this mission. FY 1998 also marked the completion of the last stay of an

American astronaut aboard the Russian Space Station Mir as

part of Phase I of the International Space Station (ISS). Phase I

provided NASA with invaluable experience in living and working

for long periods in a microgravity environment and with the

opportunity to gain experience in carrying out microgravity

experiments in a space station laboratory.

In anticipation of the close of the NASA/Mir program and

the last scheduled opportunities for dedicated microgravity missions on the space shuttle for some time to come, the MRP shifted

its emphasis in FY 1998 to the use of short-duration microgravity

facilities (sounding rockets, KC-135 aircraft, drop towers and

tube). This shift was made in an effort to maintain the access to

microgravity environments needed by researchers while the space

shuttle, which has been the primary vehicle for performing

experiments in microgravity, is engaged in assembly flights for

the ISS. The MRP also worked to prepare for the deployment of

microgravity facilities to the ISS by developing utilization plans

and a schedule for the first Microgravity Research Division–funded

research that will be conducted on the station. The first utilization

of the ISS for microgravity experiments is scheduled for early 2000.

Program Highlights in FY 1998

In FY 1998, the MRP continued to solicit and select new

research proposals as well as support ongoing research projects.

Proposals from the 1997 biotechnology and combustion science

NASA Research Announcements (NRAs) were selected for

funding, and NRAs soliciting proposals in fluid physics and

materials science were prepared and released. Research chosen

from these NRAs will form the core of the program at the beginning of the ISS era. The approximately $100.4 million FY 1998

research budget supported ongoing research projects headed by

377 principal investigators. Results from these projects were published in 683 journal articles and addressed in 823 technical presentations. (Refer to the “Introduction” section of this report for

more details.)

The release of the National Research Council’s review of

microgravity research in support of NASA’s Human Exploration

and Development of Space (HEDS) Enterprise confirmed that

microgravity research has an important role to play in the success

of future exploration missions. Research focused on developing

technologies to support exploration missions to the Moon and

Mars continues to be a priority of the program. Projects are

underway in this area, and proposals addressing these issues are

encouraged in recent and upcoming NRAs.

Eight microgravity investigations were conducted during the

flight of USMP–4, which was launched on November 19, 1997.

This 16-day mission hosted microgravity experiments in combustion science, fundamental physics, and materials science. The

mission produced groundbreaking results concerning the effects

of confinement on the properties of materials and the first video

images of dendrites forming in microgravity. For more details

about these results, please see the Confined Helium Experiment

in the “Fundamental Physics” section of this report and the

Isothermal Dendritic Growth Experiment in the “Materials

Science” section. 

Five microgravity experiments in biotechnology, fluid

physics, and acceleration measurement were prepared for flight

on the multidisciplinary mission STS-95, which launched in early
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FY 1999. Two experiments investigating the behavior of colloidal

systems (suspensions of solid particles in a fluid) were part of the

mission. The second Colloidal Disorder-Order Transition

(CDOT-2) experiment revealed new information about the

physics of crystallization, and the second Colloidal Gelation

(CGEL-2) experiment investigated three different kinds of colloidal systems to compare their behaviors in microgravity. For

more details about CDOT-2 and CGEL-2, see the “Fluid

Physics” section of this report. 

The NASA/Mir program hosted eight experiments in

biotechnology in FY 1998. A single instrument known as the

Diffusion-Controlled Apparatus for Microgravity accommodated

324 protein samples for crystallization during flight. On the cell

science side of the biotechnology discipline, an experiment in

which rat renal cells were cultured helped to verify the function

of two new equipment units, a cell incubator and a refrigerator,

and helped researchers to better understand the mechanisms

behind the expression of hormones important in the treatment of

kidney diseases. For more details on these and other experiments

flown on Mir, see the “Biotechnology” section of this report. 

In January 1998, 15 of the international partners in the

development of the ISS signed new intergovernmental agreements

establishing a framework for the assembly of the ISS over the

next five years. Meetings of international collaborators in the

microgravity programs of several of the participating nations

were aimed at continuing the work of establishing joint

development and utilization plans for microgravity facilities on

the station. The group of participants, known as the International

Microgravity Strategic Planning Group, will help to ensure that

the right capabilities will be available for performing the widest

range of experiments on the space station with a minimum of

overlap in facility development by the individual partner nations. 

The MRP continued its cooperation in FY 1998 with other

federal agencies including the National Institutes of Health

(NIH) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In cooperation with the NIH, NASA has produced the first in-vitro

culture system that permits the study of the disease cycle of HIV

in human lymphoid tissue. Work with the FDA through an

interagency agreement is enabling the use of NASA-developed

novel fiber-optic probe technology to study the ocular effects of

diabetes. Researchers hope to develop techniques for early

detection of the disease and methods for combating its adverse

effects on human eyesight. For more details on these activities,

see the “Biotechnology” and “Fluid Physics” portions of this

report.

Reaching out to the community in order to increase the

awareness of NASA’s microgravity activities is mandated by the

MRP’s mission statement and program goals and helps to maintain

the strength and relevance of its science program. The following

are highlights of education and outreach activities in FY 1998:

• Microgravity News, a quarterly update on NASA’s 

Microgravity Research Program, reached increasing numbers

of people in the past year. The total distribution for each 

issue of the newsletter grew to over 10,300 copies in calendar

year 1998.

• Through NASA’s Graduate Student Research Program, 13 

graduate students received funding to perform groundbased microgravity research, supporting a commitment to 

encourage the next generation of microgravity researchers. 

• Microgravity science posters, teacher’s guides, mathematics 

briefs, microgravity demonstrator manuals, and supplemental curricular materials were made available to more 

than 39,000 elementary and secondary school teachers and 

administrators in attendance at annual meetings of science,

technology, and mathematics teachers’ associations.

For details on these and other education and outreach 

activities, refer to the “Education and Outreach” portion of

this report.
vii

Table of Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Microgravity Research Conducted in FY 1998 . . . 3

Biotechnology

Combustion Science

Fluid Physics

Fundamental Physics

Materials Science

Acceleration Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Education and Outreach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Program Resources for FY 1998. . . . . . . . . . . . 57

For More Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Acronyms and Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

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Table 1 FY 1994–1998 Research Task Summary: Overview Information and Statistics

(includes some continuing projects at no additional cost)

1

This fiscal year (FY) 1998 annual report describes key elements of the NASA Microgravity Research Program (MRP) as

conducted by the Microgravity Research Division (MRD) within

NASA’s Office of Life and Microgravity Sciences and

Applications. The program’s goals, approach taken to achieve

those goals, and available resources are summarized. A “snapshot”

of the program’s status at the end of FY 1998 and a review of

highlights and progress in ground- and flight-based research are

provided. Also described are major space missions that flew during

FY 1998, plans for utilization of the research potential of the

International Space Station, technology development, and various

educational/outreach activities. The MRP supports investigators

from academia, industry, and government research communities

needing a space environment to study phenomena directly or

indirectly affected by gravity.

Because they are natural extensions of traditional Earth-based

laboratory science, the experiments conducted under the MRP

benefit from the stable, long-duration microgravity environment

available on orbiting spacecraft. The microgravity environment

affords substantially reduced buoyancy forces, hydrostatic pressures, and sedimentation rates, allowing gravity-related phenomena

to be isolated and controlled, and permitting measurements to

be made with an accuracy that cannot be achieved in groundbased laboratories.

Table 1 summarizes information from the Microgravity

Science and Applications Program Tasks and Bibliography for

FY 1998 that may be of particular interest to the reader. Data for

FY 1994–1997 are shown for comparison with FY 1998 statistics.

Introduction 1

Number of principal investigators

Number of co-investigators

Number of research tasks

Total number of bibliographic listings

■ Proceeding papers

■ Journal articles

■ NASA technical briefs

■ Science/technical presentations

■ Books/chapters

Number of patents applied for or awarded

Number of students funded

Number of degrees granted based

on MRD-funded research

Number of states with funded research

(including District of Columbia)

FY MRD Budget ($ in millions)

FY 1994 FY 1995 FY 1996 FY 1997 FY 1998

243 290 358 329 377

252 287 396 375 446

316 347 508 414 465

944 1,200 1,573 1,428 1,868

145 140 237 177 305

371 526 600 576 683

13 11 14 10 31

391 509 706 647 823

24 14 16 18 26

11 248

434 534 780 748 853

125 178 247 243 277

36 34 35 36 36

188 163.5 159 105.3 100.4
Table 2 Microgravity Research Tasks and Types by Fiscal Year

(responsibilities by center) 

94 95 96 97 98 94 95 96 97 98 94 95 96 97 98 94 95 96 97 98

Center Ground Flight ATD* Center Totals

2

The Microgravity Research Program supports both basic

and applied research in five key areas:

• Biotechnology — focusing on macromolecular crystal

growth as well as the use of the unique space environment to

assemble and grow mammalian tissue.

• Combustion science — focusing on the processes of ignition,

flame propagation, and extinction during combustion of

gaseous, liquid, and solid fuels, and on combustion synthesis

in a low-gravity environment.

• Fluid physics — including aspects of fluid dynamics and

transport phenomena affected by the presence of gravity.

• Fundamental physics — including the study of critical phenomena; low-temperature, atomic, and gravitational physics;

and other areas of fundamental physics where significant

advantages exist for studies in a low-gravity environment.

• Materials science — including electronic and photonic materials, glasses and ceramics, polymers, and metals and alloys.

Experiments in these areas are typically directed at providing

a better understanding of gravity-dependent physical phenomena

and exploring phenomena obscured by the effects of gravity.

Scientific results are used to challenge or validate contemporary

scientific theories, identify and describe new experimental techniques that are unique to the low-gravity environment, and

engender the development of new theories explaining unexpected

results. These results and the improved understanding accompanying them can lead to improved combustion efficiency and fire

safety; reduced combustion-generated pollutants; the development

of new technologies in industries as varied as medicine, chemical

processing, and materials processing; the development or

improvement of pharmaceuticals; and the expansion of fundamental knowledge in a broad range of science disciplines destined

to become the foundation for scientific and technological discoveries in the future.

A complementary document to this MRP annual report is

the Microgravity Research Division Program Tasks and Bibliography

for FY 1998, available online at

http://peer1.idi.usra.edu/peer_review/taskbook/micro/mg98/mtb.CFM.

Detailed information on the research tasks funded by the MRD

during FY 1998 is listed in that report, which serves as an excellent

reference for supplementary information to this annual report.

Also of interest is the NASA Microgravity Science and Applications

Program Strategic Plan, issued in June 1993, a guide for development and implementation of the MRP plans and activities to the

year 2000. The Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) Strategic

Implementation Plan, January 1996, describes MSFC’s lead center

role for the MRP.

Table 2 lists the number of research tasks and types performed

at each NASA center for FY 1994–1998.

Jet Propulsion Laboratory 27 28 45 23 42 7 5 7 5 9 3 3 3 3 3 37 36 55 31 54

Johnson Space Center 10 34 32 42 37 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 10 35 34 44 39

Lewis Research Center 131 125 203 137 152 35 32 46 40 44 5 6 6 7 6 171 163 255 184 202

Marshall Space Flight Center 62 76 124 117 127 25 25 32 31 39 4 6 4 5 3 91 107 160 153 169

Research Task Totals 233 266 406 319 358 69 65 87 78 93 13 16 15 17 13 315 347 508 414 464

*Advanced Technology Development
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2 Microgravity Research Conducted in FY 1998

Biotechnology Overview

Biotechnology research manipulates biological molecules,

tissues, and living organisms to obtain products or perform specific

functions. Research conducted in microgravity allows scientists to

greatly reduce the effects of gravity, which can adversely impact

experiment results. NASA’s microgravity biotechnology program

addresses major areas that support NASA’s exploration goals, the

application of NASA technology to terrestrial commercial and

biomedical entities, investigation of the adaptation of terrestrial

life to the space environment, and research aimed at understanding

the effects of microgravity on biological processes. The microgravity biotechnology program investigates the use of low gravity

in protein crystal growth (PCG) and in cell science as it relates to

tissue engineering. PCG researchers grow protein crystals and

other biological molecules and assemblies, such as DNA, RNA,

and viruses, to provide materials for high-resolution structural

analysis by X-ray diffraction and to understand the basis for

crystal formation in low-gravity environments. Cell science investigators study and evaluate the benefit of low gravity, which

promotes three-dimensional growth of mammalian cells for

tissue engineering. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in

Huntsville, Alabama, is the microgravity biotechnology managing

center and directly supports research in protein crystal growth.

Cell science and tissue engineering are conducted at Johnson

Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas.

A NASA Research Announcement in biotechnology,

released in December 1997, garnered 164 research proposals. The

proposals were reviewed in July 1998, resulting in the selection of

48 new investigations for funding. 

Academic, industrial, and federal government researchers,

armed with space-grown protein crystals that provide improved

resolution of the structure of key protein molecules, are creating a

new generation of rationally designed drugs. Researchers use the

structural data to aid in the design of drugs that will interact with

specific regions of the proteins and thereby treat specific diseases.

A critical stage in drug design is identification and characterization

of the target structure so that the proper “key” can be designed to

unlock — or lock — a protein’s function. High-quality crystals

yield the best resolution of protein molecular structures through

X-ray analysis. Microgravity often substantially improves the

quality of crystals and increases structural resolution. During this

past year, the program’s success in acquiring such critical data

continued. Macromolecular crystals grown in space revealed new

information about the three-dimensional structure of important

proteins. Results from recent experiments aboard the space shuttle

and the Russian space station, Mir, are the basis for developing

techniques and equipment for experiments on the International

Space Station (ISS). For example, the Diffusion-Controlled

Apparatus for Microgravity on Mir yielded novel insights into the

role of microgravity in producing larger, higher-quality crystals.

Crystallographic research in microgravity augments the

development of superior drugs for treatment of a wide range of

clinical conditions, thus minimizing the trial-and-error approach

to drug development. BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Alabama),

Bristol-Myers Squibb (New Jersey), DuPont Merck (Delaware),

Eastman Kodak (New York), Eli Lilly (New Jersey), Schering

Plough (New Jersey), Smith Kline Beecham (Pennsylvania),

Upjohn (Michigan), and Vertex (Massachusetts) partner with

NASA and NASA-funded researchers to produce high-quality

protein crystals for new drug development. The first set of drugs

from NASA-sponsored research is in Phase III clinical trials, the

last series of trials prior to approval for general use. Although not

all drugs successfully complete clinical trials, progression to Phase

III emphasizes the important contributions of NASA research to

general public health issues. Treatment for a deadly cutaneous

T-cell lymphoma is the result of the joint research efforts of

MSFC; the Center for Macromolecular Crystallography in

Birmingham, Alabama; and BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. The

new skin cancer treatment is currently in Food and Drug

Administration human clinical trials.

NASA PCG success is underscored in the structural analysis

of an antibody to fight respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). RSV

attacks the respiratory airways and lungs. According to the

National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine in

Washington, D.C., every year nearly 4,000,000 children ages one

to five are infected by the virus in the United States.

Approximately 100,000 of these children require hospitalization

and 4,000 die annually from the infection. No vaccine is available,

and physicians considered the virus the most serious infectious

disease for infants in the United States. Daniel Carter, president

of New Century Pharmaceuticals in Huntsville, Alabama, determined the three-dimensional molecular structure of the RSV

antibody using protein crystals grown aboard the space shuttle.

This research will help scientists understand key interactions

between the antibody and virus, facilitating development of

treatments for the disease.

In fiscal year (FY) 1998, researchers in the Microgravity Research Program’s five science disciplines — biotechnology, combustion science,

fluid physics, fundamental physics, and materials science — worked to advance human understanding of fundamental physical phenomena and

processes through their investigations, which quantify the effects of and overcome the limitations imposed by gravity. Ground-based experiments,

coupled with experiments selected for flight definition, comprise a compelling and coherent strategy for understanding and using the microgravity space environment. Highlights of research activity in FY 1998 are presented below.
4

Protein crystal growth highlights in fiscal year

(FY) 1998 included:

• Improved structural analysis of Factor D protein crystals for 

anti-inflammatory drug therapy for open heart surgery 

patients. Human clinical testing is set to begin in late 1998.

• Successful crystal growth of Human Antithrombin III, a 

protein that controls blood coagulation.

• Improved resolution of the structure of HIV protease/inhibitor complex. Results may have applications for designing 

new drugs for AIDS therapies. 

• Development of several protein inhibitors of viral influenza

(types A and B). Phase II human clinical trials of the 

inhibitors will begin in late 1998.

• Early analysis of detailed structural data on Chagas’ disease, 

a debilitating and deadly disease that afflicts more than 

20,000,000 people in Latin America and parts of the United 

States, offers potential for the development of treatment for 

the disease.

Cell science, the other major area of research in NASA’s

microgravity biotechnology program, uses the low-gravity environment of space and NASA ground-based facilities to grow

three-dimensional human tissues and organ-like structures.

Standard cell culture in 1 g on Earth does not allow extensive

three-dimensional growth of tissue. Microgravity and NASA’s

ground-based bioreactor facilitate the growth of cells into functional tissue units. Researchers use tissues grown outside the body

as an improved test bed for drug development. This research will

also enable better understanding of tissue growth and development.

Early results have been encouraging. Tissue culturing in microgravity has yielded larger, more uniform cell assemblies than

have been obtained in ground-based laboratories. The experience

gained by performing cellular research aboard the space shuttle

and Mir will allow cell science investigators to start using the ISS

immediately rather than spending time learning how to use it.

Using NASA’s Biotechnology Specimen Temperature

Controller, Timothy Hammond and colleagues, at Tulane

University and its Environmental Astrobiology Center, cultured

rat renal tubular cells for four months in the Biotechnology

System facility on Mir, from September 1997 to January 1998.

The experiment, Biotechnology of Three-Dimensional Tissue

Engineering, was designed to help verify the function of two new

equipment units of the BTS: the cell incubator module and

refrigerator. Tissues grew well on Mir, assembling and propagating

larger aggregates than the control experiments on the ground.

The cells in these aggregates also expressed receptor sites that

enable assessment of the potential for drug toxicity, an important

step in developing a nonanimal, nonclinical test for renal toxicity.

In early 1998, Hammond cultured a sample of human renal cortical

cells in the Bioreactor Demonstration System on the STS-90 mission.

Based on the results from automated gene array analysis of the

expression of 10,000 genes in the kidney tissue, a select but substantial group of 1,632 genes were changed (upregulated or

downregulated) in microgravity. These exciting results from

Hammond’s investigation raise the possibility of a select group of

gravity-dependent genes that are independent of known genes

associated with the shear stress of heat shock responses. Six specific

transcription factors underwent large changes in microgravity,

including the Wilms tumor, zinc finger protein, and the vitamin

D3 receptor. Hammond eventually wants to use these findings to

make kidney implants for hormonal therapy. Renal cortical cells

produce hormones needed by patients with kidney disease or

AIDS, and others who are undergoing cancer chemotherapy.

During the Biotechnology Coculture experiment conducted

aboard Mir in the spring of 1998, breast carcinoma cells and

endothelial cells were grown together in the Bioreactor

Demonstration Unit. Principal investigators (PIs) Elliot Levine,

of Wistar Institute, and Thomas Goodwin, of JSC, wanted to

produce tumor tissue with blood vessel precursors. Attempts in

vitro on the ground have been difficult, but microgravity may

afford two advantages: 1) spatial arrangement of the two cells,

blood vessel, and tumor; and 2) induction of the first stages of

blood vessel formation.

In addition to research in space, ground-based cell science

research from an extramural scientific community of more than

70 scientists from throughout the country is also producing new

insights and discoveries. For example, Jeanne Becker, of the

University of South Florida, has successfully cultured ovarian and

breast cancer cells into masses that resemble the original tumor.

By studying how these tissue masses grow, she hopes to further

our understanding of the factors important in the growth and

spread of tumors. This is extremely important work for women’s

health, because the current survival rate for ovarian cancer is

nearly the same as it was over 30 years ago. A major new research

effort was initiated by Robert Richmond at MSFC to study the

development of breast cells from healthy women who are at

significant risk for breast cancer. This research will allow extended

studies of the growth of healthy tissues, followed by rigorous

normal-versus-tumor comparisons. NASA bioreactor technology

is also being used to investigate a potential new cardiac treatment

by Charles Hartzell and Robert Akins, both of the Alfred I.

DuPont Hospital for Children. In this approach, cells taken from

a damaged heart or cells donated from another individual are

recombined in the NASA bioreactor into an organized, functional

tissue that can be surgically reimplanted.

Researchers at the NASA/National Institutes of Health

(NIH) Center for Three-Dimensional Tissue Culture have

already produced the first in-vitro culture system that permits the

study of HIV pathogenesis inside human lymphoid tissue. In

addition, there are currently 15 ongoing projects at the center

addressing a spectrum of biomedical research issues that the NIH

identified as having the potential to benefit from NASA tissue

culture technology.
5

Cell science highlights in FY 1998 included:

• Enhanced expression of renal drug toxicity receptors in space, 

an important step in developing tests for renal drug toxicity.

• Successful identification of a number of genes in human renal 

cortical cells that experienced an alteration in activity in space.

• Use of NASA bioreactors to produce the first in-vitro system 

to permit the study of HIV in human lymphoid tissue on 

Earth in 1 g.

• Establishment of on-orbit cell culture capability for the continuous operation of the Biotechnology Facility (BTF) for the ISS.

• Validation of the Data Acquisition and Control System for 

the BTF during long-duration operation in space. 

Meetings, Awards, and Publications

At the annual Biophysical Society Meeting in Kansas City,

Missouri, February 23–25, 1998, a NASA representative discussed

how the space agency works as a partner with private industries

and universities in space-based research to help the pharmaceutical and health care industries develop tools for commercial

research.

Astronaut David Wolf addressed the meeting of the 1998

biotechnology cell science program investigator working group,

held February 26–28 at JSC. Wolf, who played a major role in

the development of the NASA bioreactor, reviewed aspects of

his stay on Mir and answered questions from the nearly 100

participants. 

A biotechnology discipline working group meeting was held

March 2 at JSC. Discussions at the meeting focused on the performance of biotechnology research on the ISS and the formation of

a working group to define requirements for the BTF for the space

station. Meeting participants also viewed some of the hardware

being developed for the ISS.

Space research advances in biotechnology were featured at a

session titled “Pharmacy in Space” during the 145th annual meeting

of the American Pharmaceutical Association in Miami Beach,

Florida, March 22–24. The presentation focused on microgravity

biotechnology research leading toward drug development for the

treatment of disease. Special media briefings were given by

Robert Richmond (Laboratory for Structural Biology, MSFC),

Lawrence DeLucas (Center for Macromolecular

Crystallography), Ewa Ciszak (Laboratory for Structural Biology,

MSFC), Dennis Morrison (JSC), and David Bourne (College of

Pharmacy, University of Oklahoma).

One of the most important meetings in FY 1998 was the

annual review meeting of the NASA-NIH Advisory

Subcommittee on Biomedical and Behavioral Research, which

was held April 2–3 in Yulee, Florida. In its review of the PCG

program, the subcommittee concluded that “despite limited

experimental opportunities, the program has generated considerable

new, useful, and important data.” The subcommittee was

“convinced by the evidence that larger crystalline specimens are

obtainable in microgravity than on Earth” and that this method is

important for determining protein structures. The subcommittee

also sees great promise in new PCG techniques being developed

by NASA. It recommended that NASA actively seek areas of

mutual interest with the NIH and that research in these areas be

stimulated by joint funding.

The annual conference of the Society for Biomaterials, held

April 23–25 in San Diego, California, featured an exhibit highlighting NASA’s biotechnology research, including PCG. 

More than 250 scientists, many conducting NASA-sponsored

research, attended the Seventh International Conference on the

Crystallization of Biological Macromolecules held May 3–8 in

Granada, Spain.

The 1998 Congress on In Vitro Biology, held May 30–June 4

in Las Vegas, Nevada, featured a session titled “Microgravity and

Biotechnology: Bringing Space Home to Earth,” chaired by J. Milburn

Jessup (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center) and Neal Pellis

(JSC), with papers by Donald Durzan (University of California,

Davis), Arthur Sytkowski (Beth Israel Deaconess Medical

Center), Jessup, and Pellis.

More than 200 participants representing Canada, China,

France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Russia, and the United

States took part in the First Pan-Pacific Basin Workshop in

Microgravity Sciences, held July 8–11 at Waseda University in

Tokyo, Japan. The workshop promoted cooperation among

researchers in the microgravity community by encouraging discussions and fostering teamwork.

The American Crystallographic Association conference, held

July 19–22 in Arlington, Virginia, featured an exhibit highlighting

NASA’s efforts in PCG.

Preliminary results from two flights of the first Microgravity

Sciences Laboratory (MSL–1) mission were reviewed August

25–26 at MSFC. Experiments carried by MSL–1 included the

Protein Crystallization Apparatus for Microgravity (PCAM), the

Handheld Diffusion Test Cells, and the Second-Generation

Vapor Diffusion Apparatus (VDA-2). Carter presented PCAM

results, which represent an important step toward developing a

treatment for RSV.

Significant results from the research conducted in the bioreactor aboard Mir were published in the December 1997 issue of

the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Lisa Freed, of

the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and her colleagues

reported that initially disc-like specimens of cartilage tissue, when

cultured for four months in microgravity, tend to become spherical

in space, demonstrating that tissues can grow and develop into

distinct structures in microgravity. Freed’s Mir tissue samples

were smaller, more spherical, and mechanically weaker than

Earth-grown control samples. These results demonstrate the feasibility of microgravity tissue engineering for longer durations than

a shuttle mission and may have implications for long human
6

space voyages and for treating musculoskeletal disorders on

Earth. A separate commentary in the proceedings notes that

NASA bioreactor research in space “offers an unprecedented

opportunity for studying complex fluid assemblies.”

DeLucas was an invited panelist on the “Open for

Business” International Space Station video conference, held by

NASA and PBS on February 26.

Media coverage in FY 1998 included articles in Popular

Mechanics, Infectious Diseases in Children, Frontiers of Medicine,

and Design News, as well as stories featured on Fox TV and

NBC. For CNN, astronaut Andrew Thomas, during his second

week aboard Mir, described work with experiments in a NASA

bioreactor.

Flight Experiments

The flight phase of the Gaseous Nitrogen (GN2) Dewar

project aboard Mir was completed with the flights of its last two

dewars, one during Mir Increment 6 and the other during

Increment 8. The dewars returned 257 samples of 21 different

proteins. Early results show a marked improvement in X-ray

diffraction properties over earlier Mir flights. Exceptional crystals

of catalase, thaumatin, cellulase, lysozyme, and concanavalin B

were grown. The program has demonstrated the ability of a

new technique to screen large quantities of crystals grown at

low cost. Analysis of these samples continues.

The Interferometry of Protein Crystal Growth (IPCG)

experiment was placed aboard Mir in September 1997 and operated

by astronaut Andrew Thomas in the Mir Glovebox. It was

returned to Earth in January 1998 on STS-89. Significant operational data were obtained, and the system is being modified for

possible future flights. PCG experiments usually involve a small,

simple apparatus; however, IPCG employed a sophisticated optical

system to observe crystal growth.

Flights on Mir and the space shuttle in FY 1998 facilitated

the growth of protein crystals in three different apparatus in

microgravity: the Diffusion-Controlled Apparatus for

Microgravity (DCAM), the Protein Crystallization Apparatus

for Microgravity (PCAM), and the Second Generation Vapor

Diffusion Apparatus (VDA-2). A total of 324 cells containing

protein crystals grown in the DCAM were returned to Earth

during the past year, 162 each on Mir Increments 6 and 8. Six

cylinders containing 378 protein samples in the PCAM and

three trays of syringes for growing protein crystals in the VDA-2

were all flown on the STS-90 shuttle flight in October 1998.

The Microgravity Research Division continues to work to

identify the scientific experiments that will be conducted on the

first three ISS utilization flights (UF–1, UF–2, and UF–3).

Already identified is the Dynamically Controlled Protein Crystal

Growth Apparatus (DC/PCG), which will allow the investigator

to control the evaporation rate or the temperature profile in order

to control protein crystal growth. Methods to date have allowed

no variations beyond conditions set before flight. DC/PCG uses a

humidity sensor to control the evaporation rate and thermoelectric

heating and cooling units to control the temperature profile. Both

systems employ a laser scattering sensor to detect the onset of

aggregation, and a computer to adjust conditions. Due to schedule

and budgetary constraints, work focused on the vapor diffusion

system in 1998. Work will resume on the thermal systems in

1999. Also scheduled for an ISS utilization flight are the

Enhanced GN2 Dewar and the Observable Protein Crystal

Growth (OPCG) Apparatus. The Enhanced GN2 Dewar is

based on the GN2 Dewar flown on Mir with added electronic

monitoring. The OPCG will use interferometry to reveal flow

patterns and density differences in fluids around protein crystals

as they nucleate and grow. A prototype was completed and tested

in January 1998, and lysozyme crystals were used in test runs.

Engineering improvements were made to enhance operation and

reduce crew setup time. About 35 percent of the design drawings

were completed. A flight test is planned on STS-107 in 2000 in

preparation for deployment aboard the ISS.

Two cell science experiments were conducted using the

Bioreactor Demonstration Unit (BDU) aboard Mir. One experiment also used equipment carried aboard the Neurolab

(STS-90) mission. Specimens for the Biotechnology of ThreeDimensional Tissue Engineering (BIO3D) experiment were

cultured in the new Biotechnology Specimen Temperature

Controller (BSTC) delivered to Mir by STS-86 and retrieved by

STS-89. The BSTC incubated rat renal cells to test the cell

FY1998Flight Investigations — ProteinCrystalGrowth

Mission Experiment Title and PI

Mir-6/ 

STS-86

Mir-6/

STS-86

Mir-6/ 

STS-86

Mir-8/

STS-89

Mir-8/ 

STS-89

STS-90

STS-90

Diffusion-Controlled Apparatus for Microgravity 

Daniel Carter

Gaseous Nitrogen Dewar 

Alexander McPherson

Interferometry for Protein Crystal Growth 

Alexander McPherson

Diffusion-Controlled Apparatus for Microgravity

Daniel Carter

Gaseous Nitrogen Dewar 

Alexander McPherson

Protein Crystallization Apparatus for Microgravity 

Daniel Carter

Second Generation Vapor Diffusion Apparatus 

Lawrence DeLucas
7

repository and refrigeration units. A bioreactor and associated

support gear known as the Bioreactor Demonstration System

were flown on STS-90 to culture human renal tubular cells.

The BDU for coculturing breast carcinoma cells and endothelial

cells in the Biotechnology Coculture (COCULT) experiment

was delivered to Mir by STS-89 and retrieved by STS-91.

Successful on-orbit serial culture from on-orbit cell repositories was accomplished at 14-day intervals over a 70-day period

on Mir Increment 6 using rat renal tubular cells. Cell repositories

and serial passage are critical to enabling capabilities needed to

support planned continuous operation of the BTF and biotechnology cell science applications for NASA’s Human Exploration

and Development of Space Enterprise.

The BTF’s Data Acquisition and Control System (DACS)

was successfully designed and validated for long-duration operation

in a space environment. PI Steve Gonda, of JSC, conducted a

risk mitigation investigation on the DACS in the Biotechnology

System facility aboard Mir. Flash PC cards and radiation recovery

software were incorporated in the DACS to overcome space

radiation–induced Single Event Upsets and to allow continuous

long-duration operation.

The FY 1998 ground and flight tasks for biotechnology are

listed in Table 3. Further details regarding these tasks may be

found in the complementary document Microgravity Research

Division Program Tasks and Bibliography for FY 1998, available

online at http://peer1.idi.usra.edu/peer_review/taskbook/micro

/mg98/mtb.CFM.

Mission Experiment Title and PI

Mir-6/ 

STS-86

Mir-8/

STS-89

Mir-8/ 

STS-89

STS-90

STS-90

STS-95

FY 1998 Flight Investigations — Cell Science

Biotechnology of Three-Dimensional Tissue Engineering

Peter Lelkes, Neal Pellis,Timothy Hammond

Biotechnology System Coculture of Endothelial 

Cells and Human Breast Carcinoma

Elliot Levine, Thomas Goodwin

Biotechnology System Data Acquisition and Control System 

Steve Gonda

Human Renal Tubular Cells 

Timothy Hammond

Microgravity-Induced Differentiation of HL-60 

Neal Pellis, Thomas Goodwin

Microgravity Microencapsulation of Drugs 

Dennis Morrison, Benjamin Mosier
8

Flight Experiments

Protein Crystal Growth Vapor-Diffusion Flight Hardware and Facility

Daniel C. Carter

New Century Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Huntsville, AL

Protein Crystal Growth in Microgravity

Lawrence J. DeLucas

University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL

Growth, Metabolism, and Differentiation of MIP-101 Carcinoma Cells

J. Milburn Jessup

University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA

Membrane Transport Phenomena

Larry W. Mason

Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, CO

Enhanced Dewar Program

Alexander McPherson Jr.

University of California, Irvine, CA

An Observable Protein Crystal Growth Flight Apparatus

Alexander McPherson Jr.

University of California, Irvine, CA

Investigation of Protein Crystal Growth Mechanisms in Microgravity

Keith B. Ward

Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC

Ground-Based Experiments

Experimental Assessment of Multicomponent Effects in Diffusion-Dominated

Transport in Protein Crystal Growth and Electrophoresis and Chiral Separations

John G. Albright

Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TX

Crystallization Mechanisms of Membrane Proteins

James P. Allen

Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ

Novel Concepts in Acoustophoresis for Biotechnology Applications

Robert E. Apfel

Yale University, New Haven, CT

Real-Time Monitoring of Protein Concentration in Solution to Control Nucleation

and Crystal Growth

Mark Arnold

University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA

The Use of Bioactive Glass Particles as Microcarriers in Microgravity Environments

Portonovo S. Ayyaswamy

University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

Protein Crystal–Based Nanomaterials

Jeffrey A. Bell

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY

Expansion and Differentiation of Cells in Three-Dimensional Matrices Mimicking

Physiological Environments

Rajendra S. Bhatnagar

University of California, San Francisco, CA

Searching for the Best Protein Crystals: Synchrotron-Based Mosaicity

Measurements of Crystal Quality and Theoretical Modeling

Gloria Borgstahl

University of Toledo, Toledo, OH

Development of an Insulin-Secreting, Immunoprivileged Cell-Cell Aggregate

Utilizing the NASA Rotating Wall Vessel

Donald F. Cameron

College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL

Quantitative, Statistical Methods for Preflight Optimization and Postflight

Evaluation of Macromolecular Crystal Growth

Charles W. Carter

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC

Origin of Imperfections in Growing Protein Crystals by In-situ Rocking Curve

Analysis

Alexander A. Chernov

Universities Space Research Association, Marshall Space Flight

Center, Huntsville, AL

Infrared Signatures for Mammalian Cells in Culture

Krishnan K. Chittur

University of Alabama, Huntsville, AL

Microgravity-Simulated Prostate Cell Culture

Leland W. Chung

University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA

Noninvasive, Near-Infrared Sensor for Continual Cell Glucose Measurement

Gerard L. Cote

Texas A&M University, College Station, TX

A Comprehensive Investigation of Macromolecular Transport During Protein

Crystallization

Lawrence J. DeLucas

University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL

Development of Robotic Techniques for Microgravity Protein Crystal Growth

Lawrence J. DeLucas

University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL

Macromolecular Crystallization: Physical Principles, Passive Devices, and Optimal

Protocols

George T. DeTitta

Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute, Buffalo, NY

Use of Microgravity-Based Bioreactors to Study Intercellular Communication in

Airway Cells

Ellen R. Dirksen

University of California, Los Angeles, CA

Laser Scattering Tomography for the Study of Defects in Protein Crystals

Robert S. Feigelson

Stanford University, Stanford, CA

Role of Fluid Shear on Three-Dimensional Bone Tissue Culture

John A. Frangos

University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA

Microgravity Tissue Engineering

Lisa E. Freed

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

Table 3 Biotechnology Tasks Funded by the Microgravity Research Division in FY 1998

(includes some continuing projects at no additional cost)
9

Epitaxial Growth of Protein Crystals on Self-Assembled Monolayers

Jonathan M. Friedman

University of Houston, Houston, TX

Protein and DNA Crystal Lattice Engineering

D. T. Gallagher

Center for Advanced Research in Biotechnology, Rockville, MD

Microgravity-Based Three-Dimensional Transgenic Cell Models

Steve R. Gonda

Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX

Lymphocyte Invasion Into Tumor Models Emulated Under Microgravity Conditions

In Vitro

Thomas J. Goodwin 

Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX

Application of Bioreactor Technology for Analysis and Countermeasure Development

of Microgravity-Induced Suppression of Innate Immunity

Elizabeth A. Grimm

M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, University of Texas, Houston, TX

Differentiation of Cultured Normal Human Renal Epithelial Cells in Microgravity

Timothy G. Hammond

Tulane University Medical Center, New Orleans, LA

Production of 1-25-diOH D3 by Renal Epithelial Cells in Simulated Microgravity

Culture

Timothy G. Hammond

Tulane University Medical Center, New Orleans, LA

Determining the Conditions Necessary for the Development of Functional

Replacement Cartilage Using a Microgravity Reactor

Carole A. Heath

Iowa State University, Ames, IA

Self-Assembly of Hepatocyte Spheroids in Microgravity

Wei-Shou Hu

University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

The Effects of Microgravity on Viral Replication

John H. Hughes

Ohio State University, Columbus, OH

Use of NASA Bioreactor to Study Cell Cycle Regulation

J. Milburn Jessup

University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA

Use of Rotating Wall Vessel to Facilitate Culture of Norwalk Virus

Philip Johnson

University of Texas Medical School, Houston, TX

Protein Crystallization in Complex Fluids

Eric W. Kaler

University of Delaware, Newark, DE

Fibril Formation by Alzheimer’s Disease Amyloid in Microgravity

Daniel A. Kirschner

Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA

Applications of Atomic Force Microscopy to Investigate Mechanisms of Protein

Crystal Growth

John H. Konnert

Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC

Regulation of Skeletal Muscle Development and Differentiation In Vitro by

Mechanical and Chemical Factors

William E. Kraus

Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC

Multidisciplinary Studies of Cells, Tissues, and Mammalian Development in

Simulated Microgravity

Elliot M. Levine

Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, PA

Analysis of Electrophoretic Transport of Macromolecules Using Pulsed Field

Gradient NMR

Bruce R. Locke

Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL

Quantitative Analysis of Surfactant Interactions During Membrane Protein

Crystallization

Patrick J. Loll

University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA

Ground-Based Program for the Physical Analysis of Macromolecular Crystal Growth

Alexander J. Malkin

University of California, Riverside, CA

Thyroid Follicle Formation in Microgravity: Three-Dimensional Organoid Construction

in a Low-Shear Environment

Andreas Martin

Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York, NY

Biological Particle Separation in Low Gravity

D. J. Morré

Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN

Continuous, Noninvasive Monitoring of Rotating Wall Vessels and Application to the

Study of Prostate Cancer

David W. Murhammer

University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA

Diffusion, Viscosity, and Crystal Growth of Proteins in Microgravity

Allan S. Myerson

Polytechnic University, Brooklyn, NY

Insect-Cell Cultivation in Simulated Microgravity

Kim C. O’Connor

Tulane University, New Orleans, LA

Microgravity and Immunosuppression: A Ground-Based Model in the Slow-Turning

Lateral Vessel Bioreactor

Neal R. Pellis

Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX

Fluorescence Studies of Protein Aggregation in Under- and Over-Saturated Solutions

Marc L. Pusey

Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

Isolation of the Flow, Growth and Nucleation Rate, and Microgravity Effects on

Protein Crystal Growth

Marc L. Pusey

Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

Stem Cell Expansion in Rotating Bioreactors

Peter J. Quesenberry

University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Worcester, MA
10

Heterozygous Ataxia-Telangiectasia Human Mammary Cells as a Microgravity-Based

Model of Differentiation and Cancer Susceptibility

Robert C. Richmond

Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

Enhancement of Cell Function in Culture by Controlled Aggregation Under

Microgravity Conditions

W. M. Saltzman

Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

Use of NASA Bioreactors in a Novel Scheme for Immunization Against Cancer

Cherylyn A. Savary

M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, University of Texas, Houston, TX

Electrohydrodynamics of Suspensions

Dudley A. Saville

Princeton University, Princeton, NJ

Microgravity and the Biology of Neural Stem Cells

William J. Schwartz

University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA

Robotic Acquisition and Cryogenic Preservation of Single Crystals of Macromolecules

for X-Ray Diffraction

Craig D. Smith

University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL

Gastric Mucosal Cell Culture in Simulated Microgravity

Adam J. Smolka

Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC

Influence of Microgravity Conditions on Gene Transfer Into Expanded Populations of

Human Hematopoietic Stem Cells

F. M. Stewart

University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Worcester, MA

Production of Recombinant Human Erythropoietin by Mammalian Cells Cultured in

Simulated Microgravity

Arthur J. Sytkowski

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA

Defects, Growth, and Elastic Properties of Protein Crystals

Robert E. Thorne

Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

Mechanisms for Membrane Protein Crystallization: Analysis by Small Angle Neutron

Scattering

David M. Tiede

Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL

Preparation and Analysis of RNA Crystals

Paul Todd

University of Colorado, Boulder, CO

Development of Microflow Biochemical Sensors for Space Biotechnology

Bruce C. Towe

Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ

Experimental Studies of Protein Crystal Growth Under Simulated Low-Gravity

Conditions

Eugene H. Trinh

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA

Nucleation and Convection Effects in Protein Crystal Growth

Peter G. Vekilov

University of Alabama, Huntsville, AL

Protein Precipitant–Specific Criteria for the Impact of Reduced Gravity on Crystal

Perfection

Peter G. Vekilov

University of Alabama, Huntsville, AL

Two-Dimensional Protein Crystallization at Interfaces

Viola Vogel

University of Washington, Seattle, WA

Two-Dimensional Crystal Growth in Microgravity

Theodore G. Wensel

Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX

Thermodynamics of Protein Crystallization and Links to Crystal Quality

John M. Wiencek

University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA

Metastable Solution Structure and Optimization Strategies in Protein Crystal Growth

Lori J. Wilson

East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN

A Rational Approach for Predicting Protein Crystallization

W. W. Wilson

Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS

Search for a Dilute Solution Property to Predict Protein Crystallization

W. W. Wilson

Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS

Novel Microgravity Optical Technique for Molecularly Engineering Electrophoretic

Media

Denis Wirtz

Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD

The Effects of Microgravity/Low Shear on Glycosylation and Eukaryotic DNA Virus

Replication

H. A. Wood

Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

Ex-Vivo Hemopoieses in a Three-Dimensional Human Bone Marrow Culture Under

Simulated Microgravity

J. H. David Wu

University of Rochester, Rochester, NY

Liver Tissue Engineering in Microgravity Environment

Boris Yoffe

Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX

Particle Interaction Potentials and Protein Crystal Quality

Charles F. Zukoski

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL
11

Combustion Science Overview

Combustion and the results of combustion processes affect

each of us every day. The majority of the world’s electric power

production, home heating, and ground and air transportation are

made possible by combustion. Unfortunately, combustion by-products

are major contributors to air pollution and global warming.

Additionally, unintentional fires claim thousands of lives and cost

billions of dollars in property damage. Being able to control combustion would be of great benefit to society, yet beneficial control

of combustion is impeded by a lack of fundamental understanding

of combustion processes. Combustion research is hampered more

than other areas of science by the effects of gravitational forces on

Earth, since combustion intrinsically involves the production of

high-temperature gases in which low densities trigger buoyant

flows. These flows cause the reaction zone to collapse into very

thin, sheet-like regions that are impenetrable by current or anticipated instrumentation. Conducting experiments in microgravity

eliminates buoyancy and expands the reaction zone to the extent

that measurements can be made. The resulting data are used to

verify combustion theory, validate numerical models, and develop

fresh insight into elemental phenomena, all of which can be

applied to Earth-based combustion processes. Specific potential

benefits that may ensue, in part, from microgravity combustion

research include the following:

• Increased conversion efficiency of chemical energy stored in 

fuels to useful heat and work in combustion devices, leading 

to economic savings, reduced dissipation of scarce fuel 

reserves, and lower greenhouse gas emissions.

• Reduction of combustion-related effluents that pollute the

atmosphere.

• Reduction of fire and explosion hazards.

• Improved hazardous waste incineration processes.

• Development of improved materials via combustion synthesis for use in widely diverse applications such as bone 

replacement, electrical components, and engines.

The microgravity combustion science program, in conjunction

with the combustion science discipline working group, has

defined the following high-priority areas for microgravity

research and is supporting research in each area:

Combustion-turbulence interactions — Virtually all practical

combustion devices, except gas stoves, involve turbulent flows.

Microgravity uniquely limits the range of turbulent length and

time scales to those large enough to be tractable experimentally.

Soot processes — Soot is a critical element in many combustion systems because it can have a strong effect on combustor lifetime, efficiency, peak power output, and pollution generation.

The lack of buoyancy-induced accelerated flows in a microgravity

environment results in longer periods of time in which primary

soot formation, soot clustering, cluster-cluster agglomeration, and

oxidation can be investigated.

Diagnostics — Technological improvements in measurement

are mandated due to historic and valid criticism of the qualitative

nature of early microgravity experiments and, more importantly,

due to benefits for active control of combustors. 

Pressure effects — High pressure and/or supercritical operation of combustors yields improved thermodynamic efficiency at

the expense of increased generation of pollutants. Conventional

diesel engines operate at 50 atmospheres (atm), but most research

has been conducted at near ambient conditions (1 atm). Research

at higher pressure levels is important because the influence of

buoyancy on combustion processes increases with pressure.

Benchmark data on laminar flames — Flames in practical

devices like butane lighters and gas stoves, although highly turbulent, operate in the “laminar flamelet” regime; that is, their

flames are typically smooth and steady. Improvements in understanding laminar flame structure and associated characteristics

will have a direct impact on modeling of turbulent flames.

Spray and aerosol cloud combustion — This type of combustion, typical of the way cars burn fuel, accounts for 25 percent

of the world’s energy use yet remains poorly understood from

both fundamental and practical perspectives. Microgravity not

only offers a quiescent, nonbuoyant environment for the study of

spray and cloud combustion, it also overcomes the problem of

droplet settling in a 1 g environment.

Combustion synthesis — Flame-synthesized products

include valuable vapors (e.g., acetylene), ultrafine particles (e.g.,

fullerenes, silicon oxides, titanium oxides), coatings (e.g., diamonds),

and monolithic solids (e.g., boron carbide, titanium boride).

These materials are rapidly expanding in breadth of use and

value, but their production remains very much an art, rather than

a science. Sedimentation and buoyant plumes lead to short residence

times and interfere with investigation into the mechanisms of

material production. Current research is geared toward interpreting

the differences between normal- and low-gravity processing and

improving the products.

Surface flame spread — Large-scale fires and fire spread on

Earth are complicated by buoyancy-fed turbulent processes and

thermal radioactive interactions with surrounding materials, terrain,

and building structures. Current models of flame spread generally

omit thermal radiation because of the limited understanding of

this transport mechanism. Laboratory-scale experiments in

microgravity have begun to elucidate the importance of thermal

radiation and indicate that these results might be utilized in modeling large-scale fires.

Transient processes in gaseous flames — Microgravity

experimentation can provide insights into flame instabilities, such

as ignition, extinction, and imposed perturbations that are often

masked by buoyancy in normal gravity.

Spacecraft fire safety — Models used to study spacecraft fire

safety are still considered “primitive.” Further research is

required in the areas of microgravity flammability, fire spread,

fire and smoke detection, fire suppression, and postfire cleanup.
12

Partial-gravity combustion — Combustion issues on the surfaces of the Moon and Mars will include habitat fire safety, waste

incineration, roving vehicle power, and propellant storage safety. 

In response to the 1997 NASA Research Announcement for

combustion science, 155 proposals were received. Funding for 41

ground-based projects, 8 flight definition investigations, and 2

international research collaborations was awarded. 

Meetings, Awards, and Publications

Merrill King, of NASA headquarters, and Kurt Sacksteder,

of Lewis Research Center, chaired the microgravity combustion

session of the 36th Aerospace Sciences Meeting in Reno, Nevada,

held January 12–15, 1998.

A paper titled “Effects of Unsteady Stretch on the Strength

of a Freely Propagating Flame Wrinkled by a Vortex,” by C. J.

Mueller and J. F. Driscoll, both of the University of Michigan,

and D. L. Reuss and M. C. Drake, both of General Motors

Research and Development, received the Combustion Institute’s

Silver Medal Award at the 26th International Symposium on

Combustion, held August 3–7, 1998, in Boulder, Colorado. The

award is the most prestigious given for a single paper in combustion science. The paper was generated from work partially sponsored by the microgravity combustion program.

Flight Experiments

In fiscal year (FY) 1998, three investigations completed their

flight tests: Enclosed Laminar Flames, Turbulent Gas-Jet

Diffusion Flames, and the Solid Surface Combustion

Experiment. Descriptions of results obtained in FY 1998 are

given below.

The Enclosed Laminar Flames (ELF) glovebox investigation

flew on the fourth United States Microgravity Payload (USMP–4)

mission in November 1997. The primary objective of the ELF

investigation was to determine the mechanisms controlling the

stability of round laminar gas-jet diffusion flames in a co-flow air

duct. The study was specifically focused on the effect of buoyancy

on the flame characteristics and velocities at liftoff, reattachment,

and blowout of the flame. When the fuel or air velocity is

increased to a critical value, the flame base abruptly jumps downstream, and the flame is said to have reached its liftoff condition.

Flow conditions are such that the flame cannot be maintained at

the burner rim despite the presence of both fuel and oxygen.

When the velocity is further increased, the flame will eventually

extinguish at its blowout condition. In contrast, if the velocity is

reduced, the flame base eventually returns to anchor at the burner

rim, at a velocity lower than that of liftoff, indicating a hysteresis

effect. Approximately 50 tests were conducted during the mission,

using a 50-50 mixture (by volume) of methane and nitrogen as the

fuel. Stable lifted flames were observed in microgravity, except at

high fuel flows where the microgravity flames blew out immediately after liftoff. The experimental results verify the hypothesis

that substantially greater velocities are required to destabilize the

flame in microgravity due to the absence of buoyant acceleration

in the flow. Preliminary results reveal that the increase in air

velocity required to induce liftoff in microgravity (compared to

that required in normal gravity) was nearly equal to the increase

required to induce blowout. 

Turbulent Gas-Jet Diffusion Flames (TGDF) flew as a Get

Away Special investigation on the STS-87 mission. TGDF was a

study of vortex interactions in a gas-jet flame. In the experiment,

toroidal flow vortices were generated by sinusoidally varying the

open diameter of an iris around the base of a propane gas-jet

flame, thereby causing large-scale fluctuations in the entrained air

flow. The experiment’s key variable was the iris frequency, which

was varied between 1.5, 3.0, and 5.0 hertz. TGDF’s primary

objective was to gain an understanding of the dynamic behavior

of the vortex/flame interaction, including possible vortex breakup

or merging, and the interaction’s effect on the time-averaged values

of flame temperature, radiation, and shape. In addition, the experiment has provided insights into the development and extinction

of microgravity flames. Analysis of the results has revealed that

the microgravity flame possesses three axially spaced zones of

vortex interaction, defined by the energy transfer between the

oscillation and the mean field, which varies among these zones.

These experimental results have been compared with a comprehensive numerical model of the pulsed flame in order to validate

the accuracy of the model and verify our understanding of the

flame behavior.

The Solid Surface Combustion Experiment (SSCE) flew for

its 10th and last time on STS-91 in May 1998. SSCE, the first

combustion experiment flown on the shuttle, originally flew on

STS-41 in 1992. SSCE was designed to obtain benchmark flame

spread data in quiescent test atmospheres, the least likely conditions to encourage flame spread. The SSCE hardware included a

sealed chamber module containing the test samples; ashless filter

paper or polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), also known as

acrylic plastic; and a test atmosphere of 35–70 percent oxygen

mixed with nitrogen. The samples were instrumented with thermocouples. A second module contained cameras, a computer, and

a battery. SSCE flames were recorded on film and video; thermocouple temperatures were recorded digitally. Several scientifically

significant observations have emerged from the SSCE tests: (1)

steady flame spread occurs over thin samples, even in quiescent

atmospheres; and (2) thicker PMMA samples burn unsteadily

and finally self-extinguish, but they require as much as 9

minutes to quench. Comparisons of flight data with numerical

simulations indicate that unlike in normal-gravity results,

radiative heat transfer is a dominating influence in flame spread

in quiescent atmospheres. In summary, these experiments

demonstrate that the controlling mechanisms for material flammability and flame spread are quite different in microgravity and

normal Earth gravity.

The FY 1998 ground and flight tasks for combustion science

are listed in Table 4. Further details regarding these tasks may be

found in the complementary document Microgravity Research

Division Program Tasks and Bibliography for FY 1998, available

online at http://peer1.idi.usra.edu/peer_review/taskbook

/micro/mg98/mtb.CFM.
13

Table 4 Combustion Science Tasks Funded by the Microgravity Research Division in FY 1998

(includes some continuing projects at no additional cost)

Flight Experiments

Low-Velocity, Opposed-Flow Flame Spread in a Transport-Controlled, Microgravity

Environment

Robert A. Altenkirch

Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS

Reflight of the Solid Surface Combustion Experiment With Emphasis on Flame

Radiation Near Extinction

Robert A. Altenkirch

Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS

Gravitational Effects On Laminar, Transitional, and Turbulent Gas-Jet Diffusion Flames

M. Y. Bahadori

Science and Technology Development Corporation, Los Angeles, CA

Candle Flames in Microgravity

Daniel L. Dietrich

Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, OH

Investigation of Laminar Jet Diffusion Flames in Microgravity: A Paradigm for Soot

Processes in Turbulent Flames

Gerard M. Faeth

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

Unsteady Diffusion Flames: Ignition, Travel, and Burnout

Frank Fendell

TRW Space and Electronics Group, Redondo Beach, CA

Flammability Diagrams of Combustible Materials in Microgravity

A. C. Fernandez-Pello

University of California, Berkeley, CA

Fundamental Study of Smoldering Combustion in Microgravity

A. C. Fernandez-Pello

University of California, Berkeley, CA

Ignition and the Subsequent Transition to Flame Spread in Microgravity

Takashi Kashiwagi

National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD

The High–Lewis Number Diffusive-Thermal Instability in Premixed Gas Combustion

and Low-Temperature Hydrocarbon Oxidation and Cool Flames

Howard G. Pearlman

Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, OH

Studies of Premixed Laminar and Turbulent Flames at Microgravity

Paul D. Ronney

University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA

Ignition and Flame Spread of Liquid Fuel Pools

Howard D. Ross

Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, OH

Combustion Experiments in Reduced Gravity With Two-Component Miscible Droplets

Benjamin D. Shaw

University of California, Davis, CA

Combustion of Solid Fuel in Very Low Speed Oxygen Streams

James S. T’ien

Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH

Droplet Combustion Experiment

Forman A. Williams

University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA

Ground-Based Experiments

Effects of Energy Release on Near-Field Flow Structure of Gas Jets

Ajay K. Agrawal

University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK

Radiant Extinction of Gaseous Diffusion Flames

Arvind Atreya

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

Multicomponent Droplet Combustion in Microgravity: Soot Formation, Emulsions,

Metal-Based Additives, and the Effect of Initial Droplet Diameter

C. T. Avedisian

Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

Gas-Phase Combustion Synthesis of Metal and Ceramic Nanoparticles

Richard L. Axelbaum

Washington University, St. Louis, MO

Ignition and Combustion of Bulk Metals in Microgravity

Melvyn C. Branch 

University of Colorado, Boulder, CO

Modeling of Microgravity Combustion Experiments — Phase II

John D. Buckmaster

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL

A Numerical Model for Combustion of Bubbling Thermoplastic Materials in

Microgravity

Kathryn M. Butler

National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD

Heterogeneous Combustion of Porous Solid Fuel Particles Under Microgravity: A

Comprehensive Theoretical and Experimental Study

Harsha K. Chelliah

University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA

Buoyancy Effects on the Structure and Stability of Burke-Schumann Diffusion

Flames

L.- D. Chen

University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA

Gravitational Effects on Premixed Turbulent Flames: Microgravity Flame Structures

Robert K. Cheng

Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Berkeley, CA

Sooting and Radiation Effects in Droplet Combustion

Mun Y. Choi

University of Illinois, Chicago, IL
14

Combustion of Interacting Droplet Arrays in a Microgravity Environment

Daniel L. Dietrich

Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, OH

Interaction of Burning Metal Particles

Edward L. Dreizin

The Titan Corporation, Princeton, NJ

Internal and Surface Phenomena in Heterogeneous Metal Combustion

Edward L. Dreizin

The Titan Corporation, Princeton, NJ

Flame-Vortex Interactions Imaged in Microgravity

James F. Driscoll

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

Aerodynamic, Unsteady, Kinetic, and Heat Loss Effects on the Dynamics and

Structure of Weakly Burning Flames in Microgravity

Fokion N. Egolfopoulos

University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA

Detailed Studies on the Structure and Dynamics of Reacting Dusty Flows at Normal

and Microgravity

Fokion N. Egolfopoulos

University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA

Effects of Gravity on Sheared and Nonsheared Turbulent, Non-Premixed Flames

Said E. Elghobashi

University of California, Irvine, CA

Soot Processes in Freely Propagating Laminar Premixed Flames

Gerard M. Faeth

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

Combustion of Electrostatic Sprays of Liquid Fuels in Laminar and Turbulent Regimes

Alessandro Gomez

Yale University, New Haven, CT

Characteristics of Non-Premixed Turbulent Flames in Microgravity

Uday Hegde

National Center for Microgravity Research on Fluids and

Combustion, Cleveland, OH

Three-Dimensional Flow in a Microgravity Diffusion Flame

Jean R. Hertzberg

University of Colorado, Boulder, CO

Combustion Synthesis of Fullerenes and Fullerenic Nanostructures in Microgravity

Jack B. Howard

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

Unsteady Numerical Simulations of the Stability and Dynamics of Flames in

Microgravity

K. Kailasanath

Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC

Real-Time, Quantitative, Three-Dimensional Imaging of Diffusion Flame Species

Daniel J. Kane

Southwest Sciences Inc., Santa Fe, NM

Soot and Radiation Measurements in Microgravity Turbulent Jet Diffusion Flames

Jerry C. Ku

Wayne State University, Detroit, MI

Studies of Flame Structure in Microgravity

Chung K. Law

Princeton University, Princeton, NJ

Chemical Inhibitor Effects on Diffusion Flames in Microgravity

Gregory T. Linteris

National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg , MD

Computational and Experimental Study of Laminar Diffusion Flames in a

Microgravity Environment

Marshall B. Long

Yale University, New Haven, CT

Dynamics of Liquid Propellant Combustion at Reduced Gravity

Stephen B. Margolis

Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, CA

Structure and Dynamics of Diffusion Flames in Microgravity

Moshe Matalon

Northwestern University, Evanston, IL

Filtration Combustion for Microgravity Applications: (1) Smoldering, (2) Combustion

Synthesis of Advanced Materials

Bernard J. Matkowsky

Northwestern University, Evanston, IL

Combustion of PTFE: The Effect of Gravity on Ultrafine Particle Generation

J. T. McKinnon

Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO

Premixed Turbulent Flame Propagation in Microgravity

Suresh Menon

Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA

Gravitational Influences on Flame Propagation Through Nonuniform Premixed Gas

Systems (Layers)

Fletcher J. Miller

National Center for Microgravity Research on Fluids and

Combustion, Cleveland, OH

A Fundamental Study of the Combustion Syntheses of Ceramic-Metal Composite

Materials Under Microgravity Conditions — Phase II

John J. Moore

Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO

Stretched Diffusion Flames in Von Karman Swirling Flows

Vedha Nayagam

National Center for Microgravity Research on Fluids and

Combustion, Cleveland, OH

Flow and Ambient Atmosphere Effects on Flame Spread at Microgravity

Paul D. Ronney

University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA

Combustion of Unconfined Droplet Clusters in Microgravity

Gary A. Ruff

Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA

Quantitative Measurement of Molecular Oxygen in Microgravity Combustion

Joel A. Silver

Southwest Sciences Inc., Santa Fe, NM
15

Numerical Modeling of Flame Balls in Fuel-Air Mixtures

Mitchell D. Smooke

Yale University, New Haven, CT

Combustion of Rotating, Spherical, Premixed, and Diffusion Flames in Microgravity

Siavash H. Sohrab

Northwestern University, Evanston, IL

Diffusion Flame Structure, Shape, and Extinction: Geometrical Considerations

Jose L. Torero

University of Maryland, College Park, MD

Interactions Between Flames on Parallel Solid Surfaces

David L. Urban

Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, OH

Studies of Wind-Aided Flame Spread Over Thin Cellulosic Fuels in Microgravity

Indrek S. Wichman

Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI

High-Pressure Combustion of Binary Fuel Sprays

Forman A. Williams

University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA

Laser Diagnostics for Fundamental Microgravity Droplet Combustion Studies

Michael Winter

United Technologies Research Center, East Hartford, CT

Combustion of a Polymer (PMMA) Sphere in Microgravity

Jiann C. Yang

National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD
Fluid Physics Overview

Fluid physics is the study of the motion of fluids and the

effects of such motion. Since three of the four states of matter

(gas, liquid, and plasma) are fluid, and even the fourth (solid)

behaves like a fluid under many conditions, fluid physics

encompasses a wide spectrum of industrial, as well as natural,

processes and phenomena. Fluid motions are responsible for most

transport and mixing that take place in the environment, in

industrial processes, in vehicles, and in living organisms. The

ultimate goal of research in fluid physics is to improve our ability

to predict and control the behavior of fluids. Fluid motion in

most situations is strongly influenced by gravity. The low-gravity

environment of Earth orbit offers a powerful research tool for the

study of fluid physics, enabling the observation and control of

fluid phenomena in ways not possible on Earth. Experiments

conducted in this environment have clearly demonstrated the

value of microgravity by revealing results that are either completely unexpected or unobservable in Earth’s gravitational

field. These results are providing new insight into the behavior

of fluids in terrestrial environments. 

The microgravity fluid physics program currently has four

major research areas: complex fluids, interfacial phenomena,

dynamics and instabilities, and multiphase flows and phase

change. There are 106 ground-based and 20 flight and flight definition principal investigators (PIs) conducting research as well as

developing the theoretical framework for understanding the

effects of gravity on processes involving fluids. Work in complex

fluids covers research involving colloids, foams, granular media,

rheology of non-Newtonian fluids, and emulsions and suspensions. Researchers studying interfacial phenomena are interested

in liquid-vapor interface configurations, contact line dynamics,

capillary-driven flows, and the shape stability and breakup of liquid

bridges and drops. Studies of dynamics and instabilities include

research on thermocapillary and thermosolutal flows, biofluid

mechanics, geological fluid flows, pattern formation, and electrokinetics and electrochemistry. Work in multiphase flows and

phase change includes studies of flow patterns in liquid-vapor/gas

flows in microgravity, nucleate boiling and its control using

acoustic and electric fields in microgravity, and flows of gas-solid

and liquid-solid mixtures in microgravity.

Through a rigorous peer review process, 39 researchers were

selected to receive grants from a total of 228 who submitted proposals in response to the NASA Research Announcement for

microgravity fluid physics that was released in December 1996.

These grants total more than $13 million over a four-year period

and include 6 flight definition and 33 ground-based investigations. A listing of all of the fluid physics grants, along with their

PIs, is provided in Table 5.

Some highlights of the microgravity fluid physics program

activities during fiscal year (FY) 1998 are included below.

• An interagency agreement between NASA and the Food

and Drug Administration (FDA) was signed for the use of a

NASA-developed novel fiber-optic probe technology to

study ocular effects of diabetes with the dual objectives of

early detection of the disease and combating its adverse

effects on human eyesight. Prior to study on humans, the

fiber-optic eye probe will be used to collect measurements on

sand rats, a proven model for diabetes in humans. An agreement to collaborate on joint research projects focused on diabetes, especially concerning its effects on ocular tissue, was

reached between NASA’s Microgravity Research Division,

NASA’s Office of Life and Microgravity Sciences and

Applications, the Electro-Optics Branch of the FDA’s Center

for Devices and Radiological Health, and the FDA’s Office

of Science and Technology. These projects will use laser light

scattering technology developed by NASA. NASA and the

FDA will share research data from these joint projects and

publish related data in open scientific literature.

• Noel Clark, of the University of Colorado, reported the first

observation of macroscopic chiral domains (areas of asymmetry) in a fluid phase of achiral, or symmetric, molecules, a

major discovery in condensed matter science. This observation

follows studies of the relationship between macroscopic and

molecular chirality that were begun by Louis Pasteur in

1848. Pasteur found that crystals of a molecularly chiral salt

of “racemic acid” existed in left- and right-handed forms.

The left- and right-handed molecules spontaneously segregate

into macroscopically chiral crystals. Subsequently, there have

been many observations of coexisting domains of opposite

handedness crystallized from molecules that are chiral as

well as from achiral isotropic solutions (achiral molecules). In

the latter cases, the molecules adopt chiral conformations,

which pack more effectively than achiral conformations.

However, in the 150 years since Pasteur’s research, all observations of such spontaneous chiral segregation have been

made in crystal phases. Clark’s is the first observation in a

fluid. Researchers are interested in chirality because of its

influence on the phase behavior and macroscopic structure

of liquid crystals.

• G. Paul Neitzel, of the Georgia Institute of Technology,

co-authored the cover story “When Liquids Stay Dry,”

which appeared in the January 1998 issue of Physics Today.

In the article, Neitzel describes how under certain conditions,

two drops of a single liquid can be pressed against one

another in air and held in place indefinitely, without coalescing, like two balloons deformed under pressure. This surprising

behavior of liquids has been explained only recently, and its

technological implications are still being explored.

• The dynamics of a fluid surface filled with high-amplitude

ripples were studied by Seth Putterman, of the University of

California, Los Angeles, using diffusing light photography,

which resolves the height of the ripples at all locations

instantaneously. Even when nonlinearities are strong enough

to generate Kolmogorov cascades (encountered in turbulent

flows) from long wavelength (where energy is input) to
17

shorter wavelength, the resulting turbulent state contains

large coherent spatial structures. The appearance of these

structures in a thermal equilibrium state (with the same

average energy) would be highly improbable. This work

provides new insight into the structure and properties of turbulence, which are considered to be the last major unsolved

problems in theoretical physics.

• John Tarbell, of Pennsylvania State University, reported a

major breakthrough in understanding the function of

endothelial cells (cells that line internal body cavities) in regulating transport in the cardiovascular exchange system. His

research helps to explain how alterations in blood flow in

microgravity can affect transvascular exchange and consequent

fluid volume shifts that affect astronauts and suggests a variety

of possible approaches for pharmacologic intervention to regulate endothelial hydraulic conductivity in microgravity.

• Philip Marston, of Washington State University, and his

research team members have confirmed that single bubble

sonoluminescence (SBSL) produced by an ultrasonic standing

wave in a spherical flask of water is not quenched by the transition from hypergravity to reduced gravity produced by

NASA’s KC-135 aircraft. Sonoluminescence (“light from

sound”), first discovered in 1990, is the result of extremely

nonlinear pulsations of gas/vapor bubbles in liquids when subject to sufficiently high-amplitude acoustic pressures. In a single

collapse, a bubble’s volume can be compressed more than a

thousandfold in less than a microsecond. Even the simplest

consideration of the thermodynamics yields pressures on the

order of 10,000 atmospheres and temperatures of at least

10,000 K. It is not surprising that light should be emitted from

such an extreme process. Acoustically induced light emission

from SBSL has proven to be one of the most exciting and perplexing problems in physics in the last decade.

• The National Center for Microgravity Research on Fluids

and Combustion (NCMRfc) was invited to participate in the

University of Minnesota’s Center for Interfacial Engineering

(CIE) annual Fall Meeting, held in Minneapolis, Minnesota,

September 14–16, 1998. The CIE is a National Science

Foundation (NSF) Engineering Research Center founded in

1988 and supported by the University of Minnesota, NSF,

and member companies. In a special poster session,

NCMRfc presented an overview of NASA-sponsored work

in microgravity fluid physics with particular relevance to

thin films and coatings. A number of promising industrial

contacts were made with senior management and research

representatives from companies including Xerox, Kodak,

and Goodyear. Fluid physics discipline working group

member Matthew Tirrell, of the University of Minnesota,

was instrumental in establishing many of these contacts. A

potential future collaboration between the NCMRfc and the

CIE will be explored.

Meetings, Awards, and Publications

The second Heat Transfer Gallery was held at the

International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exhibition

in Dallas, Texas, in November 1997. At the session, photographs

were displayed depicting various processes that occur in the presence

of temperature gradients. Eight of the highest-rated displays

were selected for publication in the special section of the ASME

[American Society of Mechanical Engineers] Journal of Heat

Transfer, vol. 130, August 1998. Of the eight selections, three were

from fluid physics PIs. 

A video, “Water Balloon Rupture in Low Gravity,” by Mark

Weislogel, of Lewis Research Center (LeRC), and Seth Lichter, of

Northwestern University, was submitted to the Gallery of Fluid

Motion and displayed at the November American Physical

Society meeting in San Francisco, California. The video was

selected to appear in the Physics of Fluids Gallery of Fluid Motion

edition. The video shows normal- and slow-motion clips of large

water balloons ruptured in the low-gravity environment of

LeRC’s DC-9 aircraft.

The Fourth Microgravity Fluid Physics and Transport

Phenomena Conference, held in Cleveland, Ohio, on August 12–14,

1998, was attended by 364 scientists and engineers from around

the world. The International Space Station (ISS) was the theme

for this highly successful conference at which the scientific community was apprised of the research opportunities planned for

the station. The conference was organized by the NCMRfc, a

newly established organization whose charter includes promoting

research in microgravity fluid physics and combustion science by

exploring and developing various types of programs that will

enhance the interplay among scientists from a variety of disciplines.

The following meetings and conferences of note also took

place during FY 1998:

Meeting/Conference Date

Nuclear Reactor Thermohydraulics October 1997 

American Physical Society’s Division of Fluid November 1997

Dynamics Meeting

The American Institute of Chemical November 1997

Engineers’ Annual Meeting

The American Society of Mechanical November 1997

Engineers’ International Mechanical 

Engineering Congress and Exposition

Third India Society of Heat and Mass Transfer/ December 1997

American Society of Mechanical Engineers’ Heat

and Mass Transfer Conference

The American Institute of Aeronautics and January 1998

Astronautics’ 12th Annual Microgravity 

Science and Space Processing Symposium
18

International Forum — Second Conference on January 1998

Application of Thermophysics in Microgravity

Institute for Multifluid Science and Technology February 1998

The American Physical Society’s March Meeting March 1998

Space ‘98 and Robotics ‘98 Presentations April 1998

Lasers and Electro-Optics, International May 1998

Quantum Electronics Conference

Summer School on Soft Condensed May 1998-June 1998

Matter Physics

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers’ June1998

Fluids Engineering Conference

Third International Conference on Multiphase Flow June 1998

The 13th International Congress on Eye Research July 1998

Third Annual Microfabrication and Microfluidic August 1998

Technologies Conference

11th International Heat Transfer Conference August 1998

Dudley Saville, of Princeton University, won the prestigious

1997 American Institute of Chemical Engineers’ (AIChE’s)

Alpha Chi Sigma Award. This award is given annually by

AIChE in recognition of “outstanding accomplishments in fundamental or applied chemical engineering research.” 

Amir Faghri, dean of engineering at the University of

Connecticut, received the 1998 Thermophysics Award for “significant and substantial contributions in developing both simple

and advanced thermophysical models — notably in evaporation,

solidification and melting, free surface flows, and phase change.” 

Microgravity fluid physics PIs published numerous papers in

prestigious journals, such as Science, Nature, the Journal of Fluid

Mechanics, Physical Review Letters, Physical Review, Langmuir,

Physics of Fluids, International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer,

Optics Letters, and the Journal of Colloids and Interface Science.

The Optical Society of America’s (OSA’s) journal, Applied

Optics, published photographs of the Physics of Hard Spheres

Experiment hardware and colloidal crystals grown in space on

the front cover of its special issue titled “Lasers, Photonics, and

Environmental Optics.” This feature issue of Applied Optics contains a selection of papers on photon correlation and scattering

presented at the OSA Topical Meeting August 21–24, 1996, in

Capri, Italy.

Flight Experiments

The second flight of the Mechanics of Granular Materials

(MGM) experiment was conducted during the STS-89 mission

in January 1998. MGM had flown previously on STS-79 in

September 1996. The PI for the experiment is Stein Sture, of the

University of Colorado, Boulder. Six displacement-controlled,

drained, triaxial compression soil specimen experiments were

performed at very low effective confining stresses of 0.05, 0.52,

and 1.30 kilopascals. Three experiments were subjected to

monotonic loading and unloading cycles, while the other three

experiments were subjected to cyclic loading. The results show

very high peak strength friction angles in the range of 47.6 to

70.0 degrees, which are mainly due to overconsolidation and

grain-interlocking effects. It was observed that the residual

strength levels in the monotonic loading experiments were in the

same range as those observed at higher confining stress levels.

The dilatancy angles were unusually high, in the range of 30 to

31 degrees. All specimens displayed substantial initial stiffness

and elastic moduli during unloading and reloading events, which

are nearly an order of magnitude higher than conventional theories

predict. A periodic instability phenomenon, which appears to

result from the buckling of multiple internal arches and columnar

systems augmented by stick-slips, was observed in the experiments.

Computed tomography measurements revealed valuable data

about the internal fabric of the specimens and the specimens’

deformation patterns. Uniform diffuse bifurcation with multiple

radial shear bands was observed in the specimens tested in a

microgravity environment. In the axial direction, two major conical

surfaces were developed. Spatial nonsymmetrical deformations

were observed in specimens tested in a terrestrial laboratory. 

The Collisions Into Dust Experiment (COLLIDE) was the

first microgravity experiment to study the effects of collisions in

planetary rings and protoplanetary disks. This Get Away Special

experiment, which flew on STS-90 in April 1998, was designed

and built with strong student involvement at the Laboratory for

Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado,

Boulder. The PI is Joshua Colwell, of the University of Colorado,

Boulder. Unique low-energy impact experiments were performed

on simulated planetary regolith, the fine powder coating the surfaces

of most bodies in the Solar System, such as asteroids, ring particles, and the Moon. The goal of COLLIDE was to understand

the partitioning of energy in collisions at less than 1 meter/second

impact velocity — speeds characteristic in the early protoplanetary nebula and planetary ring systems. Results from COLLIDE

showed that surface forces in the regolith prevent the release of

any significant amount of dust ejecta in low-energy impacts.

Production of dust in some planetary rings is therefore primarily

a result of micrometeoroid bombardment. This unexpected

result poses new questions about the high abundance of dust

observed in Neptune’s ring arcs, for example. The absence of

ejecta and the low-rebound velocities of the impactors (2–3 percent

of impact velocity) confirm ground-based studies suggesting that

the presence of regolith aids the process of binary accretion in

early planet formation. The absence of dust ejecta in the COLLIDE impacts points to a sensitive transition region in impact

parameter space between collisions that produce significant

quantities of ejecta (seen in ground-based studies at higher energies)

and those that produce no ejecta. Mapping this parameter space

will provide sensitive constraints on models of ring evolution and

planetesimal formation.
19

The Growth and Morphology of Supercritical Fluids

(GMSF) experiment, also known as Growth and Morphology,

Boiling, and Critical Fluctuations in Phase-Separating

Supercritical Fluids, is a collaborative experiment between the

United States and France that will be installed and run in the

French ALICE-II facility on the Russian space station, Mir. The

American PI is John Hegseth, of the University of New Orleans.

The French co-investigators are Daniel Beysens, of the French

atomic energy commission in Grenoble, France, and Yves

Garrabos, of the University of Bordeaux. GMSF consists of three

experiments. One experiment distinguishes two growth rate laws

that depend on the density deviation from the critical point standard state and the size of the temperature step in going from a

one-phase fluid to a two-phase fluid. A second experiment will

examine rapid interface dynamics when going from a two-phase

state to a one-phase state (supercritical boiling) using the same

fluid as the first experiment. The third experiment will quantify

the randomness of density fluctuation structures that are smaller

than the “correlation length” very close to the liquid-vapor critical

density and temperature. This experiment will be conducted over

a 40-day period.

The goal of the Capillary-Pumped Heat Transfer (CHT)

investigation, designed by Kevin Hallinan, of the University of

Dayton, and conducted on the first Microgravity Science

Laboratory (MSL–1) mission in July 1997, was to investigate

instabilities and failures in capillary-pumped loops (CPLs) in

microgravity. CPLs require no power and can be used in satellites

to transfer heat with high efficiency from electrical components

to space radiators. CPLs have proven to be unreliable in space

operations, and while explanation has been elusive, CHT

answered many questions. The glovebox investigator did observe

the instabilities in the evaporator meniscus, as expected, for a capillary heat transfer device in microgravity. For heat input from

the vapor side of the meniscus, the instabilities, though present,

had little impact on the operation of the device. For heat input on

the liquid side of the meniscus, the instabilities produced much

more violent oscillations. In some instances, these oscillations

caused some of the liquid in the condenser to be ejected, ultimately

collecting and bridging in the bend section of the vapor return

line, thereby disrupting the device operation. Evaporator dryout

followed. The latter type of instability is not observed on Earth

due to the restoring effect of gravity. One of the more striking

observations of this experiment, however, was that even if the

evaporator meniscus was stable, the operation of both test devices

was disrupted by the formation of a liquid slug in the vapor return

line. This underscores the importance of interfacial phenomena in

determining the equilibrium or low-energy liquid-vapor interface

configurations in microgravity environments. These effects, if not

properly accounted for, can easily lead to failure or undesirable

operation of capillary-driven devices. 

The Physics of Colloids in Space (PCS) experiment,

designed by David Weitz, of the University of Pennsylvania, and

Peter Pusey, of the University of Edinburgh, is slated to become

the first fluid physics experiment to be carried out on the ISS.

This experiment will be conducted in the Expedite Processing of

Experiments to Space Station (EXPRESS) rack, located in the

U.S. laboratory module of the station. The scientific goals of this

experiment are to study fundamental colloid physics questions,

colloid engineering (using colloids as precursors for the fabrication

of novel materials), and properties of new materials and their

precursors. Weitz and Pusey plan to conduct tests on seven samples of selected binary colloidal crystals, emulsions, colloid/polymer

mixtures, and fractal colloid gels. The design of flight hardware

has been completed and all of the flight hardware is on hand for

assembly. The Phase 0/1 safety review was completed with

Johnson Space Center’s Safety Board. The PI team has successfully

tested the low-angle light scattering technique, which is being

implemented in the flight hardware. Most of the colloidal samples

for flight have been delivered by the PI. PCS is now scheduled to

be launched in July 2000. 

The Extensional Rheology Experiment (ERE), designed by

Gareth McKinley, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is

intended to provide the first unambiguous, quantitative

measurements of the transient, uniaxial, extensional viscosity for a

viscoelastic polymer solution and to examine the relaxation

behavior following extensional deformation. The test fluid selected

for ERE is a Boger fluid composed of 0.025 weight percent of

high molecular weight (MW) monodisperse polystyrene (MW =

2 million) dissolved in oligomeric polystyrene. The complete test

matrix involves eight non-Newtonian tests on the Boger fluid

covering the Deborah number range of 0.10 to 10.0, and two

Newtonian tests using the oligomeric polystyrene only. The

experiments will be conducted on a Terrier Black-Brant sounding

rocket with an MK70 booster. The sounding rocket provides 300

seconds of microgravity time. A total of five flights are needed to

complete the 10-test matrix (2 tests/flight). The first flight is

scheduled for the mid-1999 time frame. The authority-to-proceed

review was conducted by the Microgravity Research Program

Office and approval was granted. Several key development milestones were completed, including the critical design review, payload design review, and completion of the flight hardware design.

The test fluid was formulated by the PI and delivered to LeRC.

All the flight hardware components are on hand and assembly

has started. 

The Colloidal Gelation (CGEL) experiment is a glovebox

investigation that will further colloid research through the study

of three kinds of colloids: binary alloy colloids, which are colloids

possessing particles of different sizes; colloid polymers, which are

colloids that in addition to having spherical particles, also have

long, chain-like molecules; and fractal colloid aggregates, which

are colloids with repeating structural patterns or networks.

CGEL was conducted on STS-95 in October 1998. Prior to

launch, PIs Weitz and Pusey carefully formulated the colloidal

samples for flight and turned them over to LeRC for loading into

the flight cells. Flight hardware was delivered and the colloidal

sample cells were prepared. The samples were delivered a few

days prior to the launch to prevent settling and formation of

undesirable structures. 
20

Table 5 Fluid Physics Tasks Funded by the Microgravity Research Division in FY 1998

(includes some continuing projects at no additional cost)

Flight Experiments

Two-Phase Gas-Liquid Flows in Microgravity: Experimental and Theoretical

Investigation of the Annular Flow

Vemuri Balakotaiah

University of Houston, Houston, TX

The Dynamics of Disorder-Order Transitions in Hard Sphere Colloidal Dispersions

Paul M. Chaikin

Princeton University, Princeton, NJ

Collisions Into Dust Experiment

Joshua E. Colwell

University of Colorado, Boulder, CO

Investigations of Mechanisms Associated With Nucleate Boiling Under

Microgravity Conditions

Vijay K. Dhir

University of California, Los Angeles, CA

The Melting of Aqueous Foams (Foam Optics and Mechanics)

Douglas J. Durian

University of California, Los Angeles, CA

Microscale Hydrodynamics Near Moving Contact Lines

Stephen Garoff

Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA

Growth and Morphology, Boiling, and Critical Fluctuations of Phase-Separating

Supercritical Fluids

John Hegseth

University of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA

An Experimental Study of Richtmyer-Meshkov Instability in Low Gravity

Jeffrey W. Jacobs

University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

Microgravity Segregation in Binary Mixtures of Inelastic Spheres Driven by

Velocity Fluctuation Gradients

James T. Jenkins

Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

Bubble Dynamics on a Heated Surface

Mohammad Kassemi

National Center for Microgravity Research on Fluids and

Combustion, Cleveland, OH

Magnetorheological Fluids: Rheology and Nonequilibrium Pattern Formation

Jing Liu

California State University, Long Beach, CA

Studies of Gas-Particle Interactions in a Microgravity Flow Cell

Michel Y. Louge

Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

Microgravity Experiments to Evaluate Electrostatic Forces in Controlling

Cohesion and Adhesion of Granular Materials

John R. Marshall

Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA

The Dynamics of Miscible Interfaces: A Space Flight Experiment

Tony Maxworthy

University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA

Extensional Rheology Experiment

Gareth H. McKinley

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

Study of Two-Phase Gas-Liquid Flow Behavior at Reduced-Gravity Conditions

John McQuillen

Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, OH

Pool Boiling Experiment

Herman Merte Jr.

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

Industrial Processes Influenced by Gravity

Simon Ostrach

Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH

Surface Tension–Driven Convection Experiment (STDCE-1, STDCE-2)

Simon Ostrach

Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH

The Colloidal Disorder-Order Transition (CDOT) glovebox

investigation was designed to test fundamental theories that

describe atomic behavior. First conducted on the second United

States Microgravity Laboratory (USML–2) in 1995, CDOT

showed some totally unexpected behavior of colloids in microgravity. To learn and expand on the knowledge gained from the

first flight, Paul Chaikin, of Princeton University, and William

Russel, of Princeton University, developed new test samples, and

the flight hardware was improved to provide better light scattering

data during its second flight on STS-95. Prior to launch, the

flight hardware was delivered and the colloidal samples were

prepared and sent to LeRC for loading into the flight cells. The

samples were delivered a few days prior to the launch to prevent

settling and formation of undesirable structures.

The Internal Flows in Free Drops (IFFD) glovebox investigation, designed by PIs Satwindar Sadhal, of the University of

Southern California, and Eugene Trinh, of the Jet Propulsion

Laboratory, was conducted on MSL–1. The first accurate data for

drop deformation as a function of acoustic pressure were obtained

for a sample located at the pressure minimum plane in the ultrasonic standing wave. IFFD was repeated on the STS-95 mission

with the addition of a stinger heater to introduce differential

heating of the drop so that thermocapillary flows could be

observed. 

The FY 1998 ground and flight tasks for fluid physics are

listed in Table 5. Further details regarding these tasks may be

found in the complementary document Microgravity Research

Division Program Tasks and Bibliography for FY 1998, available

online at http://peer1.idi.usra.edu/peer_review/taskbook/micro/mg98/mtb.CFM.
21

Diffusing Light Photography of Containerless Ripple Turbulence

Seth J. Putterman

University of California, Los Angeles, CA

Behavior of Rapidly Sheared Bubbly Suspensions

Ashok S. Sangani

Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY

Studies in Electrohydrodynamics

Dudley A. Saville

Princeton University, Princeton, NJ

Thermal Control and Enhancement of Heat Transport Capacity of Cryogenic

Capillary-Pumped Loops and Heat Pipes With Electrohydrodynamics

Jamal Seyed-Yagoobi

Texas A&M University, College Station, TX

Mechanics of Granular Materials

Stein Sture

University of Colorado, Boulder, CO

Thermocapillary Migration and Interactions of Bubbles and Drops

R. S. Subramanian

Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY

A Study of the Constrained Vapor Bubble Heat Exchanger

Peter C. Wayner Jr.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY

Physics of Colloids in Space

David A. Weitz

University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

Colloidal Assembly in Entropically Driven, Low Volume Fraction Binary Particle

Suspensions

Arjun G. Yodh

University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

Ground-Based Experiments

Experimental and Analytical Study of Two-Phase Flow Parameters in Microgravity

Davood Abdollahian

S. Levy Inc., Campbell, CA

The Synergism of Electrorheological Response, Dielectrophoresis, and ShearInduced Diffusion in Flowing Suspensions

Andreas Acrivos

City College of the City University of New York, New York, NY

Dynamics and Statics of Nonaxisymmetric Liquid Bridges

J. Iwan D. Alexander

Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH

Ultrasonic Thermal Field Imaging of Opaque Fluids

C. D. Andereck

Ohio State University, Columbus, OH

Scientific Studies and Technological Potential of Acousto-Electrically Generated

Drop or Particle Clusters and Arrays

Robert E. Apfel

Yale University, New Haven, CT

Fluid Physics of Foam Evolution and Flow

Hassan Aref

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL

Marangoni Instability–Induced Convection in Evaporating Liquid Droplets

V. S. Arpaci

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

Numerical Simulation of Electrochemical Transport Processes in Microgravity

Environments

Sanjoy Banerjee

University of California, Santa Barbara, CA

Control of Flowing Liquid Films by Electrostatic Fields in Space

S. G. Bankoff

Northwestern University, Evanston, IL

Forced Oscillation of Pendant and Sessile Drops

Osman A. Basaran

Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN

Dynamics of Granular Materials

Robert P. Behringer

Duke University, Durham, NC

Investigation of Drop Formation by a Vortex Ring in Microgravity

Luis P. Bernal

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

Dynamic Modeling of the Microgravity Flow

Jeremiah U. Brackbill

Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM

Inertial Effects in Suspension Dynamics

John F. Brady

California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA

Marangoni Effects on Near-Bubble Microscale Transport During Boiling of Binary

Fluid Mixtures

Van P. Carey

University of California, Berkeley, CA

Rewetting of Monogroove Heat Pipe in Space Station Radiators

S. H. Chan

University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI

Structure, Hydrodynamics, and Phase Transitions of Freely Suspended Liquid Crystals

Noel A. Clark

University of Colorado, Boulder, CO

Dusty Plasma Dynamics Near Surfaces in Space

Joshua E. Colwell

University of Colorado, Boulder, CO

Fluid Interface Behavior Under Low- and Zero-Gravity Conditions

Paul Concus

University of California, Berkeley, CA

Interface Morphology During Crystal Growth: Effects of Anisotropy and Fluid Flow

Sam R. Coriell

National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD

Scaling of Multiphase Flow Regimes and Interfacial Behavior at Microgravity

Christopher J. Crowley

Creare Inc., Hanover, NH

Phoretic and Radiometric Force Measurements on Microparticles Under

Microgravity Conditions

E. J. Davis

University of Washington, Seattle, WA
22

Cell and Particle Interactions and Aggregation During Electrophoretic Motion

Robert H. Davis

University of Colorado, Boulder, CO

Thermocapillary-Induced Phase Separation of Dispersed Systems With Coalescence

Robert H. Davis

University of Colorado, Boulder, CO

Theory of Solidification

Stephen H. Davis

Northwestern University, Evanston, IL

Spectral-Element Simulations of Thermal Convection in a Rotating Hemispherical

Shell With Radial Gravity and Comparison With Space-Laboratory Experiments

Anil Deane

University of Maryland, College Park, MD

Attenuation of Gas Turbulence by a Nearly Stationary Dispersion of Fine Particles

John K. Eaton

Stanford University, Stanford, CA

Magnetothermal Convection in Nonconducting Diamagnetic and Paramagnetic

Fluids

Boyd F. Edwards

West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV

Effects of Gravity on Sheared Turbulence Laden With Bubbles or Droplets

Said E. Elghobashi

University of California, Irvine, CA

Evaporation, Boiling, and Condensation on/in Capillary Structures of High Heat

Flux, Two-Phase Devices

Amir Faghri

University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT

The Influence of Gravity on Colloidal Crystallization and Field-Induced

Aggregation

Alice P. Gast

Stanford University, Stanford, CA

Definition of Dust Aggregation and Concentration System for the Microgravity

Space Environment

Frank J. Giovane

Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC

Material Instabilities in Particulate Systems

Joe D. Goddard

University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA

Thermoacoustic Effects at a Solid-Fluid Boundary: The Role of a Second-Order

Thermal Expansion Coefficient

Ashok Gopinath

Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA

Plasma Dust Crystallization

John A. Goree

University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA

Capillary-Elastic Instabilities in Microgravity 

James B. Grotberg

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

Determination of the Accommodation Coefficient Using Vapor/Gas Bubble

Dynamics in an Acoustic Field in Microgravity Conditions

Nail A. Gumerov

Dynatherm Inc., Fulton, MD

Instability Mechanisms in Thermally Driven Interfacial Flows in LiquidEncapsulated Crystal Growth

Hossein Haj-Hariri

University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA

A Study of the Microscale Fluid Physics in the Near Contact Line Region of an

Evaporating Capillary Meniscus

Kevin P. Hallinan

University of Dayton, Dayton, OH

Engineering of Novel Biocolloidal Suspensions

Daniel A. Hammer

University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

A Geophysical Flow Experiment in a Compressible Critical Fluid

John Hegseth

University of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA

Experimental Investigation of Pool Boiling Heat Transfer Enhancement in

Microgravity in the Presence of Electric Fields

Cila Herman

Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD

Rheology of Foam Near the Order-Disorder Transition

R. G. Holt

Boston University, Boston, MA

Sonoluminescence in Space: the Critical Role of Buoyancy in Stability and Emission

Mechanisms

R. G. Holt

Boston University, Boston, MA

Problems in Microgravity Fluid Mechanics: Thermocapillary Instabilities and

G-Jitter Convection

George M. Homsy

Stanford University, Stanford, CA

Surfactant-Based Critical Phenomena in Microgravity

Eric W. Kaler

University of Delaware, Newark, DE

Bubble Generation in a Flowing Liquid Medium and Resulting Two-Phase Flow in

Microgravity

Yasuhiro Kamotani

Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH

Studies in Thermocapillary Convection of the Marangoni-Bénard Type 

Robert E. Kelly

University of California, Los Angeles, CA

Two-Phase Annular Flow in Helical Coil Flow Channels in a Reduced-Gravity

Environment

Edward G. Keshock

Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH

Investigation of Pool Boiling Heat Transfer Mechanisms in Microgravity Using an

Array of Surface-Mounted Heat Flux Sensors

Jungho Kim

University of Denver, Denver, CO

Weakly Nonlinear Description of Parametric Instabilities in Vibrating Flows

Edgar Knobloch

University of California, Berkeley, CA

Molecular Dynamics of Fluid-Solid Systems

Joel Koplik

City College of the City University of New York, New York, NY
23

Thermocapillary Convection in Low Pr Materials Under Simulated Reduced-Gravity

Conditions

Sindo Kou

University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI

Electric Field–Induced Interfacial Instabilities

Robert E. Kusner

Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, OH

Microscopic Visualization of Fluid Flow in Evaporating Droplets and ElectroOsmotic Flows

Ronald Larson

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

The Breakup and Coalescence of Gas Bubbles Driven by the Velocity Gradients of

a Nonuniform Flow

L. G. Leal

University of California, Santa Barbara, CA

Interaction Forces and the Flow-Induced Coalescence of Drops and Bubbles

L. G. Leal

University of California, Santa Barbara, CA

The Micromechanics of the Moving Contact Line

Seth Lichter

Northwestern University, Evanston, IL

Absolute and Convective Instability and Splitting of a Liquid Jet at Microgravity

Sung P. Lin

Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY

Rheology of Concentrated Emulsions

Michael Loewenberg

Yale University, New Haven, CT

Investigation of Thermal Stress Convection in Nonisothermal Gases Under

Microgravity Conditions

Daniel W. Mackowski

Auburn University, Auburn, AL

The Dissolution of an Interface Between Miscible Liquids

James V. Maher

University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA

Passive or Active Radiation Stress Stabilization of (and Coupling to) Liquid Bridges

and Bridge Networks

Philip L. Marston

Washington State University, Pullman, WA

Single Bubble Sonoluminescence in Low Gravity and Optical Radiation Pressure

Positioning of the Bubble

Philip L. Marston

Washington State University, Pullman, WA

Fundamental Processes of Atomization in Fluid-Fluid Flows

Mark J. McCready

University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN

An Interferometric Investigation of Contact Line Dynamics in Spreading Polymer

Melts and Solutions

Gareth H. McKinley

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

Fluid Dynamics and Solidification of Molten Solder Droplets Impacting on a

Substrate in Microgravity

Constantine M. Megaridis 

University of Illinois, Chicago, IL

A Study of Nucleate Boiling With Forced Convection in Microgravity

Herman Merte Jr.

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

Determination of Interfacial Rheological Properties Through Microgravity

Oscillations of Bubbles and Drops

Ali Nadim

Boston University, Boston, MA

NMRI Measurements and Granular Dynamics Simulations of Segregation of

Granular Mixtures

Masami Nakagawa

Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO

Noncoalescence Effects in Microgravity

G. P. Neitzel

Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA

Production and Removal of Gas Bubbles in Microgravity

Hasan N. Oguz

Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD

Production of Gas Bubbles in Reduced-Gravity Environments

Hasan N. Oguz

Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD

Waves in Radial Gravity Using Magnetic Fluid

Daniel R. Ohlsen

University of Colorado, Boulder, CO

On the Boundary Conditions at an Oscillating Contact Line: A Physical/Numerical

Experimental Program

Marc Perlin

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

Experimental Studies of Multiphase Materials Using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance

(NMR) and NMR Imaging

Robert L. Powell

University of California, Davis, CA

Dynamics of Accelerated Interfaces: Parametric Excitation and Fluid Sloshing in

Closed Containers and Open Tanks

Constantine Pozrikidis

University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA

Acoustic Bubble Removal From Boiling Surfaces

Andrea Prosperetti

Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD

Containerless Ripple Turbulence

Seth J. Putterman

University of California, Los Angeles, CA

Complex Dynamics in Marangoni Convection With Rotation

Hermann Riecke

Northwestern University, Evanston, IL

Decoupling the Role of Inertia and Gravity on Particle Dispersion

Chris B. Rogers

Tufts University, Medford, MA
24

Design/Interpretation of Microgravity Experiments to Obtain Fluid/Solid

Boundary Conditions in Nonisothermal Systems

Daniel E. Rosner

Yale University, New Haven, CT

Ground-Based Studies of Internal Flows in Levitated Laser-Heated Drops

Satwindar S. Sadhal

University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA

Terrestrial Experiments on G-Jitter Effects on Transport and Pattern Formation

Michael F. Schatz

Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA

Free-Surface and Contact-Line Motion of Liquids in a Microgravity Environment

Leonard W. Schwartz

University of Delaware, Newark, DE

Drop Breakup in Flow Through Fixed Beds as Model Stochastic Strong Flows

Eric S. Shaqfeh

Stanford University, Stanford, CA

Lateral Motion of Particles and Bubbles Caused by Phoretic Flows Near a Solid

Interface

Paul J. Sides

Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA

Fluid Physics and Transport Phenomena Research Support

Bhim Singh

Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, OH

Solute Nucleation and Growth in Supercritical Fluid Mixtures

Gregory T. Smedley

California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA

The Development of Novel, High-Flux, Heat Transfer Cells for Thermal Control in

Microgravity

Marc K. Smith

Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA

Dynamics of the Molten Contact Line

Ain A. Sonin

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

Modeling of Transport Processes in a Solid Oxide Electrolyzer Generating Oxygen

on Mars

K. R. Sridhar

University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

Marangoni Effects on Drop Deformation and Breakup in an Extensional Flow: The

Role of Surfactant Physical Chemistry

Kathleen J. Stebe

Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD

Stability of Shapes Held by Surface Tension and Subjected to Flow

Paul H. Steen

Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

Instabilities in Surface Tension–Driven Convection

Harry L. Swinney

University of Texas, Austin, TX

Crystal Growth and Fluid Mechanics Problems in Directional Solidification

Saleh Tanveer

Ohio State University, Columbus, OH

Microgravity Effects on Transendothelial Transport

John M. Tarbell

Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA

The Pool Boiling Crisis From Flat Plates: Mechanism(s) and Enhancement

Theofanis G. Theofanous

University of California, Santa Barbara, CA

Studies of Particle Sedimentation by Novel Scattering Techniques

Penger Tong

Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK

Acoustic Streaming in Microgravity: Flow Stability and Heat Transfer Enhancement

Eugene H. Trinh

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA

Computations of Boiling in Microgravity

Gretar Tryggvason

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

Fluid Physics in a Stochastic Acceleration Environment

Jorge Viñals

Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL

Enhanced Boiling on Microconfigured Composite Surfaces Under Microgravity

Conditions

Nengli Zhang

Ohio Aerospace Institute, Cleveland, OH

The Small-Scale Structure of Turbulence

Gregory Zimmerli

National Center for Microgravity Research on Fluids and

Combustion, Cleveland, OH
25

Fundamental Physics Overview

Science is driven by human curiosity about nature. In the

study of fundamental physics, scientists wish to uncover and

understand the basic underlying principles that govern the

behavior of the world around us. Fundamental physics, therefore,

establishes a foundation for many other branches of science and

provides the intellectual underpinning needed to maintain and

further develop our highly technological society. Researchers in

the discipline have two burning quests that motivate laboratory

studies and experiments in space. First, they seek to explore and

understand the fundamental physical laws governing matter,

space, and time. Deep examination of the smallest and largest

building blocks that make up the universe will yield a better

understanding of the basic ideas, or theories, that describe the

world. The space environment provides access to different spacetime coordinates and frees experimenters from the disturbing

effects caused by gravity on Earth. Second, researchers seek to

discover and understand the organizing principles of nature

from which structure and complexity emerge. While the basic

laws of nature may be simple, the universe that has arisen under

these laws is amazingly complex and diverse. By studying nature

apart from Earth’s gravity, we can understand better how the

universe developed and how best to employ these principles in

service to humanity.

The pursuit of these quests will greatly benefit society over

the long run. For example, the study of physical laws and natural

principles with unprecedented precision requires advances in

instruments, and these instrumentation advances in turn provide

the foundation for tomorrow’s breakthrough technologies. These

advances contribute to the competitiveness of American industry

and further support and enhance human presence in space. The

pursuit of knowledge also serves to educate tomorrow’s scientists

and technologists and to fulfill the innate human desire to understand our place in the universe. Humankind’s concept of the universe is changing rapidly as the tools that NASA places in space,

such as the Hubble Space Telescope, detect new astronomical

objects and novel events; the understanding of these phenomena

depends strongly on the details of our understanding of fundamental forces such as gravity.

A significant accomplishment in fiscal year (FY) 1998 was

the development of the Road Map for Fundamental Physics in

Space. This road map spells out an aggressive research program

from which NASA’s future research and technology development

activities in fundamental physics can be established. More than

100 scientists, technologists, and educators under the leadership

of the fundamental physics discipline working group participated

in the development of the road map document. The road map

identifies two long-term goals of the research program (the

quests described above) and three research areas: gravitational

and relativistic physics (GRP), laser cooling and atomic physics

(LCAP), and low-temperature and condensed matter physics

(LTCMP). There is significant synergy across the three research

areas both in terms of scientific overlap and overlap in experimental

techniques. The goals and research areas laid out in the road

map promise a scientifically rewarding, technologically challenging, flexible, and exciting program of fundamental physics

research in space.

Gravitational and relativistic physics is perhaps the most

fundamental area of physics. Physicists have determined that

there are four kinds of forces that operate on matter: gravity,

electromagnetism, and the “strong” and “weak” forces within

atomic nuclei. Gravity is the weakest of these forces, yet paradoxically it is the most dominant, as it can act over very great distances.

In fact, every bit of matter in the universe is under the influence,

even if infinitesimally so, of every other bit of matter. Relativity

theories propose that gravitational forces apply equivalently to all

bodies, regardless of their makeup. Furthermore, Einstein’s

Theory of General Relativity puts gravity at the heart of the

structure of the universe, proposing that even the orderly spacetime structure of the universe can be “warped” near a body of

large mass, such as the Sun or Earth. This warp would even

affect clocks. While these changes to the very fabric of space and

time near a large body are dramatic in their importance, they are

also very subtle and difficult to measure accurately. Yet they are

large enough that they must be taken into account even in routine

astronomy observations and in measuring the position of satellites and planets. Advanced technologies must be used to detect

and characterize these minute changes, so that the corrections

due to relativistic phenomena can be precise. The fundamental

physics program currently is sponsoring the development of

several experiments designed to improve accuracy in the measurement of these effects and to test the basic foundations for

Einstein’s theory.

While studies in gravitational and relativistic physics examine

the most fundamental laws describing the universe on a large

scale, it is equally important to look at the tiny building blocks of

matter and how they manifest the same fundamental laws. Laser

cooling and atomic physics examines this area. Atoms are the

smallest systems in which we can study the basic principles of the

universe. New techniques allow the use of laser light to cool and

probe individual atoms as a starting point for exploration.

Careful study of individual atoms bridges the gap between the

smallest pieces of matter and the complex behavior of large systems.

Furthermore, conducting these experiments in space allows

researchers to remove the influence of gravity and manipulate

matter freely, without having to counteract “falling” of the specimens within the instruments. The ability to observe the behavior

of atoms completely under the experimenter’s control promises

novel results and new insights previously hidden from view in

Earth-bound laboratories. The NASA fundamental physics program is developing space experiments to study clouds of atoms

cooled by laser light to very near absolute zero, yet freely floating

without the forces that would be needed to contain them on

Earth. These novel conditions allow measurements of higher

precision and longer observation times. These techniques are also
26

being employed to develop improved clocks, both for testing basic

theories of nature and for technological applications in space.

Like laser cooling and atomic physics, low-temperature and

condensed matter physics is the study of fundamental laws of

nature on a small scale, at the atomic level. Condensed matter

physicists examine the properties of solids and liquids, the states

of matter in which atoms are condensed, or packed closely

together. Of particular interest to physicists is the behavior of condensed matter as it nears critical points, or conditions of pressure

and temperature at which the properties of two different phases

of matter become similar. For example, a substance at the

liquid/vapor critical point exhibits no distinction between the liquid

phase and the vapor phase. Properties of the substance often display anomalies at a critical point. Many of the unusual phenomena

exhibited at critical points can best be studied at low temperatures, where thermal noise (heat-induced vibration) is much

reduced. By understanding the complex critical behavior of

low-temperature materials, such as liquid helium, we will learn

more about the critical properties of many systems, such as

metallic alloys, magnetic materials, groups of fundamental particles, and even larger-scale phenomena, such as the percolation

of water or the movement of weather patterns, all of which

exhibit critical point behavior. Because critical point behavior is

a function not only of temperature but also of pressure, the pressure must be uniform throughout the sample under observation.

Gravity causes pressure differences in a sample, so the critical

phenomena can only be observed in a very small region. If an

experiment is conducted in space, the pressure can be uniform

across the sample, and much more comprehensive measurements

can be made. Furthermore, in microgravity, a drop of the sample

can be freely suspended without the interference of a container.

This freedom from external constraints is not possible in an

Earth-bound laboratory. 

Ongoing investigations sponsored by the fundamental

physics program study the behavior of mixtures and confined

media and test the universality of critical phase transitions and

the scaling laws at such points. In addition, the dynamic behavior

is studied to detect predicted nonlinear responses to driving

forces, and the effects of finite size and of boundaries are studied

near critical points. For example, studies are being performed of

large-scale quantum systems to learn the hydrodynamics of such

systems and of the melting and freezing of quantum crystals.

Of the 86 proposals received in response to the 1996 fundamental physics NASA Research Announcement (NRA), 26

grants were awarded. Three of these new grants are in GRP; 9

are in LCAP; and 14 are in LTCMP. Six of the new grants are for

flight definition tasks. Eighteen of the principal investigators

(PIs) selected are new to the NASA community of researchers,

and two, William Phillips, of the National Institute of Standards

and Technology (NIST), and David Lee, of Cornell University,

are Nobel laureates in physics. The 1996 NRA grants bring the

total number of investigations in microgravity fundamental

physics to 54 — 10 flight or flight definition projects and 44

ground-based studies.

Some notable scientific achievements during FY 1998 are

listed below:

• Robert Chave and his team at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory

(JPL) and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech)

have received one patent and contributed 10 NASA New

Technology Reports describing applications of the magnetostrictive materials being developed under their Advanced

Technology Development task. The devices described range

from a magnetostrictive valve for the regulation of temperature in cryosurgical probes to a liquid helium valve, and

include magnetostrictive inertial reaction motors and heat

switches.

• Robert Duncan, of the University of New Mexico, and the

Critical Dynamics in Microgravity team have obtained measurements of the thermal conductivity in liquid helium very

near the superfluid/normal fluid interface that demonstrate

the nonlinearity in this property, which has been predicted

by theorists but has never previously been observed.

• Kurt Gibble, of Yale University, made the first measurements of p-wave scattering cross sections in cesium at low

temperatures. 

• Daniel Heinzen, of the University of Texas, made the first

observation of Feshbach resonances in laser-cooled atoms. 

• Mark Kasevich, of Yale University, achieved Bose-Einstein

condensation (BEC) in his laboratory.

• Wolfgang Ketterle, of the Massachusetts Institute of

Technology (MIT), demonstrated BEC confinement using

laser light and also demonstrated the excitation of two

different spin states in a single condensate.

• Richard Packard, of the University of California, Berkeley,

has discovered that superfluid 4

He passing through a small

aperture emits acoustic noise, which can be explained in a

model analogous to shot noise in a conductor. This experiment is a preliminary step toward observing acoustic radiation

at the Josephson frequency in 4

He, a result of fundamental

significance to the understanding of this macroscopic quantum

system. In addition, the Berkeley group recently described a

superfluid 3

He phenomenon where DC currents are created

when the Josephson frequency of a superfluid weak link

matches the frequency of an external perturbation. The effect

may be used to develop a future superfluid quantum interference device, a potential sensitive rotation sensor. Recently,

Packard’s group has discovered the phenomenon of third

sound in superfluid 3He.

• Results from the ground-based investigations have been

published in 26 presentations, 58 proceedings papers, and 91

articles in refereed journals, adding up to a total of 192 bibliographic listings.

• The investigations have supported 38 students who are

working toward their doctoral degrees, 5 master’s students,

and 16 undergraduate students. Eight graduate students

received their doctoral degrees in FY 1998.
Meetings, Awards, and Publications

Participation by fundamental physics researchers in technology conferences is important to promote the cross-discipline

aspects of the field’s advanced technologies and make them available for other space- and ground-based applications.

Fundamental physics researchers participated in the Space

Technology & Applications International Forum, held January

25–29, 1998, and in the Sixth International Conference and

Exposition on Engineering, Construction, and Operations in

Space, held April 26–30, 1998. Both meetings were held in

Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Many LTCMP investigators participated in the annual

March Meeting of the American Physical Society (APS), held in

Los Angeles, California, March 16–20, 1998. This forum provides

a unique opportunity to share results with a very broad cross section of the physics community and served again this year to stimulate awareness of the microgravity program in fundamental

physics and its accomplishments.

The APS’ Division of Atomic, Molecular, and Optical

Physics held their annual meeting in Santa Fe, New Mexico, May

27–30, 1998. All LCAP fundamental physics PIs participated in

the meeting. The meeting also included a panel discussion

exploring potential collaborations between NASA and the

National Science Foundation in areas of scientific overlap. The

science community was generally in favor of the ideas brought

forward at this meeting.

The 1998 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’

International Frequency Control Symposium was held in

Pasadena, California, May 26–29, 1998. All clock investigators

were represented at this annual meeting, which focuses on timekeeping and frequency-control technologies.

Lute Maleki, of JPL, represented the microgravity fundamental physics program at the European Space Agency (ESA)

workshop on the Atomic Clock Ensemble in Space (ACES) project

held in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, June 12, 1998. Collaborations,

including ideas for sharing technology, were discussed for the

ACES project, which will involve flying a laser-cooled cesium clock

and a hydrogen maser aboard the International Space Station.

The Symposium on Quantum Fluids and Solids was held

June 9–14, 1998, at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst,

Massachusetts. The symposium was partially sponsored by

NASA and included oral and poster sessions on fundamental

physics in microgravity. The oral sessions included talks by

Guenter Ahlers, of the University of California, Santa Barbara;

Duncan; Ketterle; John Lipa, of Stanford University; Humphrey

Maris, of Brown University; and Packard. The poster sessions

included many contributions by PIs in the fundamental physics

program. Following peer review, the proceedings will be published

in the Journal of Low Temperature Physics.

The 1998 NASA/JPL workshop titled Fundamental Physics

in Microgravity, took place June 23–25, 1998, in Oxnard,

California. The 78 attendees heard reports of new experimental

data and theoretical results relating to these data, plus plans for

new investigations. International participants were from China,

England, Germany, Japan, and Russia. The program included 38

scientific presentations, a discussion about the Road Map for

Fundamental Physics in Space, and discussions of flight hardware

options for the different research areas.

The First Pan-Pacific Basin Workshop on Microgravity

Sciences was held at Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan, July

8–11, 1998. More than 200 microgravity researchers attended the

conference. There were three sessions in fundamental physics

with presentations by Chinese, European, Japanese, Russian, and

U.S. researchers. Enterprise Scientist Mark C. Lee gave a spirited

talk on NASA’s overall vision for the next few decades and

demonstrated how fundamental physics is well-poised to support

this vision.

The Committee on Space Research of the International

Council of Scientific Unions’ Symposium on Fundamental

Physics in Space was held July 12–19, 1998, in Nagoya, Japan.

The symposium featured seven sessions, including two on testing

the equivalence principle and one on using advanced clocks in

space. The JPL Road Map for Fundamental Physics in Space was

presented.

The official kickoff meeting of the multinational Satellite

Test of the Equivalence Principle study was held at the

University of Bremen in Bremen, Germany, September 9–11,

1998. This meeting resulted in some significant progress, including

an agreement with ESA’s science director to review a new baseline

that expands ESA’s contribution to the study. Representatives of

the British and German national funding agencies were also present, which resulted in establishing funding for participation in

the study by some of the national laboratory personnel.

More than 50 nations were represented at the 49th

International Astronautical Congress held September 28–October

2, in Melbourne, Australia. Mark C. Lee presented a talk titled

“The NASA Microgravity Fundamental Physics Program” at a

plenary session of the meeting. A symposium focusing on the latest

developments in microgravity sciences and processes featured a

fundamental physics session titled “Gravity and Fundamental

Physics.”

A workshop on Precision Time Transfer in Space was held

in Boulder, Colorado, October 15–16, 1998. It was organized by

the NIST group to support the needs of their cesium clock flight

definition experiment. Potential time transfer techniques were

identified and trade studies are under way to evaluate their relative merits before a baseline selection is made.

Fundamental physics investigators garnered several awards

this past year:

• David Ceperley, of the University of Illinois, was presented

the Daniel Heineman Award for Computational Physics at

the March Meeting of the APS in Los Angeles, California.

27
28

• David Goodstein, of Caltech, won the 1998 Oersted Medal

of the American Association of Physics Teachers, the highest

honor bestowed on a physics educator.

• Wolfgang Ketterle was presented the 1998 Discover Award

for Emerging Technology by Discover Magazine for his atom

laser development.

• William Phillips was awarded the 1998 APS Arthur L.

Schawlow Prize in Laser Science for his work in developing

methods for magnetic trapping of laser-cooled atoms.

Phillips was also selected as chair of the Division of Laser

Science of the APS.

• Daniel Stamper-Kurn, a graduate student working on a

fundamental physics BEC experiment at MIT, was one of

the winners of the 1998 New Focus Student Award of the

Optical Society of America.

• Nai-Chang Yeh, of Caltech, received the 1998 Outstanding

Young Researcher Award, given by the Overseas Chinese

Physics Association.

Flight Experiments

The Confined Helium Experiment (CHeX) had a successful

flight as part of the fourth United States Microgravity Payload

(USMP–4) mission, launched November 19, 1997. All components of the experiment performed very well during the flight.

The helium in the cryostat lasted for over 12 days on orbit, which

represents a large improvement over the previous flight of the

Lambda Point Experiment (LPE) in 1992. The high-resolution

thermometers performed better than expected, achieving a resolution of about 90 picokelvins in 1 second. This is comparable to

performance on the ground, demonstrating that the design

implemented for CHeX solved the cosmic ray heating issue experienced during the LPE flight. The instrument thermal control

system performed well, limited primarily by heat input from

external sources. Heat input was detected from the South

Atlantic Anomaly, the cosmic ray background, crew activity, the

primary thruster systems, the KU-band antenna, and the Space

Accelerations Measurement System experiment. These heating

effects did not significantly degrade the fidelity of the science data

collected. A total of 2,450 heat capacity measurements were gathered. Fifty-nine total scans across the innermost region of the

finite-size heat capacity peak and five high-temperature scans out

to the wings of the peak were performed. The collected data are

currently being analyzed to determine in detail the heat capacity

curve near the finite-size peak, the shift of the peak from the

bulk helium value, and the specific heat behavior above and

below the transition. Overall, the curve appears as expected, but

there are some interesting features that appear not to agree with

current theories. Once the data analysis phase is completed, it is

clear that the goals of the experiment will be achieved. The

results will significantly extend our understanding of the length

scaling of finite-size effects. By combining the flight data with

ground measurements at smaller confinement dimensions, we

can determine how the finite-size effect can be extrapolated to

any length scale of interest.

Critical Viscosity of Xenon (CVX) was conducted on the

STS-85 mission, launched August 7, 1997. The raw data from

this very successful experiment have now been converted to values

of viscosity. The final data set is internally consistent and is also

consistent with ground-based measurements in the temperature

range where gravity’s effects are negligible. As expected, the

observed divergence of viscosity is a factor of two larger than the

best ground-based measurements. The exponent characterizing

the divergence is in excellent agreement with the value from a

recent theory. Close to the critical temperature (within about 3

millikelvins), viscoelasticity caused a rounding of the divergence

and the appearance of an imaginary component of viscosity. CVX

provided an accurate test of viscoelasticity theory, and a paper,

titled “Viscoelasticity of Xenon Near the Critical Point,” is being

submitted to the journal Physical Review Letters. The principal

investigator has proposed a follow-up flight investigation to measure the shear thinning predicted to occur near the critical point

of a pure fluid. By increasing the amplitude of the oscillating

screen by a factor of 30, it should be possible to measure shear

thinning within a few millikelvins of the critical point. Following

an investigation continuation review, NASA granted CVX-2 the

authority to proceed to develop a flight experiment. The project

team at Lewis Research Center is modifying the CVX-1 hardware to meet the new CVX-2 requirements. Flight hardware

availability is scheduled for June 1999, with the possibility of a

flight investigation in late 1999.

The Critical Fluid Light Scattering Experiment (Zeno) is

officially completed. Zeno was carried out on two separate missions

— USMP–2 and USMP–3. The PI, Robert Gammon, is from the

University of Maryland. The final NASA project reports have

been submitted. The central archival journal publication is still

pending further discussion by the peer community of the interpretation of the measured density fluctuation relaxation times.

High-precision measurements of the relaxation times were

obtained. The PI has used analysis techniques to avoid bias of

the results from the non-equilibrium density in the fluid sample

that was seen unexpectedly during data collection. The main

remaining difficulty is in correlating the data with independent

measurements of other thermophysical properties of xenon using

current theory. 

The FY 1998 ground and flight tasks for fundamental

physics are listed in Table 6. Further details concerning these

tasks may be found in the complementary document Microgravity

Research Division Program Tasks and Bibliography for FY 1998,

available online at http://peer1.idi.usra.edu/peer_review/taskbook

/micro/mg98/mtb.CFM.
29

Table 6 Fundamental Physics Tasks Funded by the Microgravity Research Division in FY 1998

(includes some continuing projects at no additional cost)

Flight Experiments

Boundary Effects on Transport Properties and Dynamic, Finite-Size Scaling Near the

Superfluid Transition Line of 4He

Guenter Ahlers

University of California, Santa Barbara, CA

Microgravity Test of Universality and Scaling Predictions Near the Liquid-Gas

Critical Point of 3He

Martin B. Barmatz

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA

Critical Viscosity of Xenon

Robert F. Berg

National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD

Critical Dynamics in Microgravity

Robert V. Duncan

University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM

Investigation of Future Microgravity Atomic Clocks

Kurt Gibble

Yale University, New Haven, CT

Experiments Along Coexistence Near Tricriticality

Melora E. Larson

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA

Confined Helium Experiment

John A. Lipa

Stanford University, Stanford, CA

Fundamental Physics Experiments With Superconducting Cavity–Stabilized

Oscillators on Space Station

John A. Lipa

Stanford University, Stanford, CA

A New Test of Critical-Point Universality by Measuring the Superfluid Density Near

the Lambda Line of Helium

John A. Lipa

Stanford University, Stanford, CA

Develop a Laser-Cooled Cesium Clock for Scientific and Technical Applications in Space

Donald Sullivan

National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO

Ground-Based Experiments

The Superfluid Transition of 4He Under Unusual Conditions

Guenter Ahlers

University of California, Santa Barbara, CA

New Phenomena in Strongly Counterflowing He-II near Tl

Stephen T. Boyd

University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM

Prediction of Macroscopic Properties of Liquid Helium From Computer Simulation

David M. Ceperley

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL

Droplets of 3

He-4He Mixtures

Siu-Tat Chui

University of Delaware, Newark, DE

The Lambda Transition Under Superfluid Flow Conditions

Talso C. Chui

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA

Nucleation of Quantized Vortices From Rotating Superfluid Drops

Russell J. Donnelly

University of Oregon, Eugene, OR

Kinetic and Thermodynamic Studies of Melting-Freezing of Helium in Microgravity

Charles Elbaum

Brown University, Providence, RI

Satellite Test of the Equivalence Principle

C. W. F. Everitt

Stanford University, Stanford, CA

Critical Dynamics of Ambient-Temperature and Low-Temperature Phase Transitions

Richard A. Ferrell

University of Maryland, College Park, MD

Fundamental Physics Using Frequency-Stabilized Lasers as Optical “Atomic Clocks”

John L. Hall

University of Colorado, Boulder, CO

Precision Measurements With Trapped, Laser-Cooled Atoms in a Microgravity

Environment

Daniel J. Heinzen

University of Texas, Austin, TX

Gravitational Effects in Bose-Einstein Condensate of Atomic Gases

Tin-Lun Ho

Ohio State University, Columbus, OH

Collisional Frequency Shifts Near Zero-Energy Resonance

Randall G. Hulet

Rice University, Houston, TX

A Quantum Degenerate Fermi Gas of 6

Li Atoms

Randall G. Hulet

Rice University, Houston, TX

Dynamic Measurements Along the Lambda Line of Helium in a Low-Gravity

Simulator on the Ground

Ulf E. Israelsson

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA

Turbidity and Universality Around a Liquid-Liquid Critical Point

Donald T. Jacobs

The College of Wooster, Wooster, OH

Bose-Einstein Condensate and Atom Laser: Coherence and Optical Properties

Juha Javanainen

University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT

Atom Interferometry in a Microgravity Environment

Mark A. Kasevich

Yale University, New Haven, CT

Towards Precision Experiments With Bose-Einstein Condensates

Wolfgang Ketterle

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
30

Second Sound Measurements Near the Tricritical Point in 3He-4He Mixtures

Melora E. Larson

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA

Static Properties of 4He in the Presence of a Heat Current in a Low-Gravity Simulator

Melora E. Larson

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA

Studies of Atomic Free Radicals Stored in a Cryogenic Environment

David M. Lee

Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

High-Resolution Study of the Critical Region of Oxygen Using Magnetic Levitation

John A. Lipa

Stanford University, Stanford, CA

Red-Shift Test of General Relativity on Space Station Using Superconducting Cavity

Oscillators

John A. Lipa

Stanford University, Stanford, CA

A Renewal Proposal to Study the Effect of Confinement on Transport Properties by

Making Use of Helium Along the Lambda Line

John A. Lipa

Stanford University, Stanford, CA

A Test of Supersymmetry Theory by Searching for Anomalous Short-Range Forces

John A. Lipa

Stanford University, Stanford, CA

Theoretical Studies of Liquid 4He Near the Superfluid Transition

Efstratios Manousakis

Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL

Density Equilibration in Fluids Near the Liquid-Vapor Critical Point

Horst Meyer

Duke University, Durham, NC

Indium Mono-Ion Oscillator II

Warren Nagourney

University of Washington, Seattle, WA

Superfluid Gyroscopes for Space

Richard E. Packard

University of California, Berkeley, CA

Search for Spin-Mass Interaction With a Superconducting Differential Angular

Accelerometer

Ho J. Paik

University of Maryland, College Park, MD

The Effect of Thermal History, Temperature Gradients, and Gravity on Capillary

Condensation of Phase-Separated Liquid 3

He-4He Mixtures in Aerogel

Jeevak M. Parpia

Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

Nonlinear Relaxation and Fluctuations in a Nonequilibrium, Near-Critical Liquid With

a Temperature Gradient

Alexander Z. Patashinski

Northwestern University, Evanston, IL

Superfluid Density of Confined 4

He near Tl

David Pearson

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA

Evaporative Cooling and Bose Condensates in Microgravity: Picokelvin Atoms in

Space

William D. Phillips

National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD

A Microgravity Helium Dilution Cooler

Pat R. Roach

Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA

Finite Size Effects Near the Liquid-Gas Critical Point of 3

He

Joseph Rudnick

University of California, Los Angeles, CA

Research and Analysis in Support of Project SEE (Satellite Energy Exchange): Test of

the Equivalence Principle and Measurement of Gravitational Interaction Parameters

in an Ultraprecise Microgravity Environment

Alvin J. Sanders

University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN

Dynamics and Morphology of Superfluid Helium Drops in a Microgravity

Environment

George M. Seidel

Brown University, Providence, RI

Precise Measurements of the Density and Critical Phenomena of Helium Near Phase

Transitions

Donald M. Strayer

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA

3

He-4He Mixtures and Droplets Stabilized in Cesiated Containers

Peter Taborek

University of California, Irvine, CA

Ground-Based Investigations With the Cryogenic Hydrogen Maser and the DoubleBulb Rubidium Maser

Ronald L. Walsworth

Smithsonian Institution, Cambridge, MA
31

Materials Science Overview

The goal of the microgravity materials science program is to

establish and improve the quantitative and predictive relationships in the structure, processing, and properties of materials.

Production processes for most materials include steps that are

very heavily influenced by the force of gravity. Typical gravityrelated effects on materials science research include buoyancydriven convection, sedimentation, and hydrostatic pressure. The

opportunity to observe, monitor, and study material production

in low gravity promises to increase our fundamental understanding

of production processes and their effects on the properties of the

materials produced. Through careful modeling and experimentation, the mechanisms by which materials are formed can be better

understood and can result in improved processing controls. In

this way, materials scientists can design new metal alloys, semiconductors, ceramics, glasses, and polymers. These new materials

can be used to improve the performance of a wide range of products, including complex computers, and stronger, more durable

metal alloys may be manufactured.

Several important events took place during fiscal year (FY)

1998, including the flight of the fourth United States

Microgravity Payload (USMP–4) mission in November 1997.

The mission carried four microgravity materials science experiments and two materials science glovebox investigations

onboard. To ensure that experiments get to orbit, the materials

science program emphasizes supporting principal investigators

(PIs) in the flight definition phase by providing NASA

resources to help the investigators through the science concept

review (SCR) and requirements definition review (RDR)

processes in a timely manner. Multiple science and engineering

teams were established to assist the PI teams in developing

experiment concepts, identifying technology, modeling, testing

for feasibility, and prototyping hardware.

In FY 1998, the materials science program continued work

on projects in support of the Human Exploration and

Development of Space (HEDS) Enterprise Strategic Plan. The

plan outlines enterprise goals, performance measurements, and

metrics. An assessment of the progress made by the microgravity

materials science program toward fulfilling HEDS goals was

presented to the associate administrator for life and microgravity

sciences and applications.

The development of the Materials Science Research Facility

(MSRF) concept was completed. The MSRF is designed to

accommodate a diverse group of microgravity materials science

experiments on the International Space Station (ISS). The facility

includes three independent Materials Science Research Racks

(MSRRs) containing insert modules that can be interchanged and

replaced on orbit. Refinement of the configuration options was

completed, and a budget plan was baselined with early emphasis

on defining the concept for the first MSRR. Formulation of a science

requirements envelope for initial investigators was established

and reviewed during the year. A systems requirements review for

the first rack was held in July, thus successfully completing the

first major milestone for this important materials science capability.

Work with the European Space Agency (ESA) on negotiating

the scope of a joint NASA/ESA module for the facility was a significant step in establishing requirements with our international

partner engineering team. Currently, launch of the first rack is

planned for the third Utilization Flight (UF-3) to the ISS.

The Electrostatic Containerless Processing System Facility,

donated to Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) by Space

Systems/Loral, is now operational for flight definition and

ground-based investigators. The official handover of the facility

to MSFC took place in July. With this new capability, MSFC can

provide critical resources to the microgravity materials science

research community to continue and enhance ground-based

research in support of the development of experiments during the

transition to flight. Processing levitated materials represents an

important area of research in microgravity materials science. This

method provides access to the metastable state of an undercooled

(supercooled) melt. By levitating materials so that they are free

from contact with the walls of a container, a high-purity environment can be obtained for the study of reactive, high-temperature

materials and for investigations of refractory solids and melts.

These capabilities are critical to the research of several PIs in the

microgravity materials science program.

The development of dendritic growth hardware in FY

1998 aided current flight definition researchers by providing

data and feasibility tests for low-temperature, isothermal systems

and PI-defined test chambers. The equipment and supporting

capabilities for dendritic growth were moved into the ground

support area of the newly opened Microgravity Development

Lab last fall. The hardware development is important for a

number of investigations, including studies using the model

material succinonitrile, which researchers hope will advance the

predictability of metal casting methods. Other activities in the

dendritic growth area involved the design of a robust test chamber,

stinger tips to produce a single crystal within a controlled emergence angle, and a high-resolution digital optics system. All of

this development work will provide the basis for designing and

developing a flexible isothermal facility to support many current

and future microgravity researchers.

The 1998 NASA Research Announcement (NRA) for

materials science was issued in December 1998, and proposals

are due in early 1999. Four SCRs were completed for projects

selected in the 1994 NRA. SCRs for the remaining projects

selected in 1994 and those selected in 1996 will be held in 1999. It

is anticipated that a number of materials science RDRs will be

completed in FY 1999. 

Meetings, Awards, and Publications

Ames Research Center hosted the Second Phase 1 Research

Program Interim Results Symposium March 30–April 1, 1998, in

Moffett Field, California. The conference emphasized science
32

results from shuttle/Mir Increments 4 and 5. Initial results for

NASA’s Liquid Metal Diffusion experiment and the Canadian

Space Agency’s (CSA’s) Queen’s University Experiment in Liquid

Diffusion were presented.

The First Pan-Pacific Basin Workshop on Microgravity

Sciences took place in Tokyo, Japan, July 8–11, 1998. As a member

of the organizing committee, N. Ramachandran, of the

Universities Space Research Association, coordinated the abstract

submissions from the United States and Canada. Approximately

160 papers, including 25 by PIs in the microgravity materials science

program, were presented in 38 sessions over three-and-a-half

days. Presentations covered all aspects of microgravity research

— biotechnology, combustion, fluids, fundamental physics, life

sciences, materials, and experimental technology. More than 250

people attended the meeting. Keynote addresses on the opening

day were given by A. B. Sawaoka (representing Japan), Arnauld

Nicogossian (NASA headquarters), Yuri Ossipyan (Russia), and

Wen-Rui Hu (China). Nicogossian’s talk focused on salient findings from space shuttle and Mir missions and offered a perspective

on future science activities on the ISS.

The 1998 Microgravity Materials Science Conference was

held July 14–16 at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

There were over 300 attendees at the conference, which was

organized by the microgravity materials science discipline working group. This biennial conference brings together all NASAsponsored materials scientists who received funding through the

NRA process. Altogether, 87 scientists made oral presentations,

and 36 new award recipients presented posters. The plenary

address was given by Ivan Egry, of the German Space Agency

(DLR), who described results from last year’s successful flight of

TEMPUS, an electromagnetic containerless processing facility, on

the first Microgravity Science Laboratory (MSL–1) mission.

Donald Gillies, of MSFC, also gave a plenary talk titled “The

Current Microgravity Materials Science Program.” Roger

Crouch, payload specialist on the MSL–1 mission and its reflight,

also spoke at the banquet. In conjunction with the conference, the

discipline working group hosted the Materials Science/Radiation

Shielding Review. This workshop was chaired by Thomas

Parnell, of MSFC, and is the first of several planned workshops

in materials science that will focus on the exploration aspects of

the HEDS Enterprise.

MSFC sponsored the Third Phase 1 Research Program

Interim Results Symposium, held in Huntsville, Alabama,

November 3–5, 1998. The symposium included presentations of

the preliminary science results for shuttle/Mir flights, with

emphasis on Increments 6 and 7. Opening remarks were made by

John Uri (co-chair from Johnson Space Center), Oleg Lebedev

(co-chair from Russian Spacecraft Corporation Energia), Joel

Kearns (director of the Microgravity Research Program Office),

and by the conference organizer and host, Roger Kroes (MSFC).

Approximately 100 scientists attended all or part of the symposium.

Sessions were held on human and life sciences, space biology,

vehicle dynamics, external environment, Earth science, environmental monitoring, biotechnology, combustion science, materials

science, and radiation. A total of 56 papers were presented, of

which 16 were microgravity presentations. Michael Banish, a PI

in the microgravity materials science program, presented results

from the Liquid Metal Diffusion experiment. The symposium

also had international participation with ten presentations by

Russians and two by Canadians.

Reza Abbaschian, professor and chair of the Department of

Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Florida,

received the Minerals, Metals, and Materials Society’s (TMS’)

1998 Educator Award. The award honors Abbaschian as an outstanding educator, leader, researcher, and inventor who provides

a standard for today’s academician. In addition to this award,

TMS also chose Abbaschian for the 1999 Leadership Award,

which honors an individual who has demonstrated outstanding

leadership in the fields of metallurgy and materials.

Martin Glicksman, of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, was

awarded the 1998 Space Processing Award by the American

Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) at the 36th

Aerospace Sciences Meeting. This prestigious award, which is

conferred by the AIAA biennially, was presented to Glicksman

for “premier contributions to the fields of low-gravity fluid

physics, materials science, and microgravity processing, and for

outstanding leadership in guiding the nation’s Microgravity

Science Program.”

William Johnson, Ruben and Donna Mettler Professor of

Materials Science, Engineering, and Applied Science at the

California Institute of Technology, was awarded the Materials

Research Society Medal. The medal is awarded each year for an

outstanding recent discovery or advancement that has a major

impact on the progress of a materials-related field. Johnson was

recognized for the development of bulk metallic glass-forming

alloys, the fundamental understanding of the thermodynamics

and kinetics of glass formation and crystallization of glass-forming

liquids, and the application of glass-forming liquids in engineering.

Flight Experiments

The purpose of the experiments conducted in the Advanced

Automated Directional Solidification Furnace (AADSF) on

USMP–4 was to determine how gravity-driven convection affects

the composition and properties of alloys (mixtures of two or more

materials, usually metal). The AADSF solidified crystals of two

different alloys that are used to make infrared detectors and

lasers. Lead-tin-telluride and mercury-cadmium-telluride are

alloys of compound semiconductor materials that were used as

experiment samples. Although both these materials are used in

detectors and lasers, their properties and compositional uniformity

are affected differently during the solidification process.

Information gained by studying these alloys will make it possible

to determine the effect of the microgravity environment on their

optical and semiconducting behaviors. The results will help in

devising ground processing methods and achieving absolute theoretical performance limits.
33

Experiments in the MEPHISTO furnace facility on

USMP–4 were designed to investigate fundamentals of directional

solidification in metals and semiconductors, which have a strong

tendency to facet or grow undesirable faces. The experiments

were a joint effort involving researchers from NASA, the French

space agency (CNES), and Australia. The sophisticated technique

employed in the MEPHISTO apparatus enabled extremely sensitive measurements to be made on the effect of growth rate and

small alloying elements on a bismuth alloy with a small addition

of tin. This alloy is very anisotropic, and a knowledge of the

fundamentals of faceting in this alloy, under the controlled conditions of microgravity, will provide an important data bank for the

production of similar metals and semiconductors in groundbased laboratories.

The Isothermal Dendritic Growth Experiment (IDGE) was

designed to study the dendritic solidification of molten materials.

Because virtually all industrially important alloys solidify from a

molten state by a dendritic process, a fundamental understanding

of dendritic solidification is necessary to correct mathematical

models to provide a basis for improved industrial production

techniques. The sample material for the IDGE experiment on

USMP–4 was pivalic acid.

The purpose of the Liquid Phase Sintering experiment was

to test theories of liquid-phase sintering and to examine coalescence and pore behavior during liquid-phase sintering in the

microgravity environment. To comprehensively understand the

gravitational effects on the evolution of both microstructure and

macrostructure during liquid-phase sintering, tungsten-nickel-iron

alloys with tungsten content varying from 35 to 98 weight percent

were sintered in the Large Isothermal Furnace (LIF), built by the

Japanese space agency (NASDA). In FY 1998, researchers

worked on analyzing the data gathered from the flight of the

experiment on MSL–1.

The Diffusion Processes in Molten Semiconductors

(DPIMS) experiment conducted on MSL–1 was designed to provide a definitive measurement of the diffusion coefficients of

trace impurities such as gallium, silicon, and antimony in molten

germanium and to investigate the dependence of diffusion on

temperature, impurity type, and sample diameter. The experiments were performed in the LIF. DPIMS activities for FY 1998

included a problem investigation of an anomaly experienced during the MSL–1 mission and postflight ground tests in the flight

furnace.

The primary objective of the Coarsening in Solid-Liquid

Mixtures experiment was to measure the temporal evolution of

solid particles during coarsening. On MSL–1, the particles were

coarsened for times from 1 second to 24 hours after a 9-minute

period in which the particles were heated to 185o C. A better

understanding of coarsening will benefit many products because

a large number of commercially important alloys undergo coarsening. Many of them coarsen in the solid state, such as hightemperature superalloys and low-temperature aluminum alloys.

In FY 1998, data were analyzed and found to be sufficient for

determining the kinetics and particle size distribution with

unprecedented accuracy. Several new evaluation techniques have

been developed, and numerous research papers have been published from this study.

The Wetting Characteristics of Immiscibles (WCI) experiment is an advanced study of the way immiscible liquids (liquids

that do not mix) behave, with the goal of producing combinations

in which the two liquids are uniformly distributed. WCI was

designed to study ways to control wetting behavior (the tendency

of one of the liquids to adhere to the walls of the container in

microgravity). Twelve samples of succinonitrile/glycerine were

processed in the Middeck Glovebox during the USMP–4 mission.

Sample compositions spanned the miscibility gap and ranged

from 15 to 70 weight percent glycerine.

The Particle Engulfment and Pushing by a Solid/Liquid

Interface (PEP) experiment examined the solidification of liquid

metal alloys on USMP–4. Findings from this investigation may

lead to improved techniques for processing metal alloys on

Earth, resulting in stronger, lighter materials for use in the auto

and aerospace industries. PEP may also provide an understanding

of how and why potholes form on road surfaces and how to

prevent them.

The FY 1998 ground and flight tasks for materials science

are listed in Table 7. Further details regarding these tasks may be

found in the complementary document Microgravity Research

Division Program Tasks and Bibliography for FY 1998, available

online at http://peer1.idi.usra.edu/peer_review/taskbook/micro/mg98

/mtb.CFM.
34

Table 7 Materials Science Tasks Funded by the Microgravity Research Division in FY 1998

(includes some continuing projects at no additional cost)

Flight Experiments

In-situ Monitoring of Crystal Growth Using MEPHISTO

Reza Abbaschian

University of Florida, Gainesville, FL

Coupled Growth in Hypermonotectics

J. B. Andrews

University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL

Fundamental Aspects of Vapor Deposition and Etching Under Diffusion-Controlled

Transport Conditions

Klaus J. Bachmann

North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC

Self-Diffusion in Liquid Elements

R. M. Banish

University of Alabama, Huntsville, AL

Thermophysical Property Measurements of Te-Based II-VI Semiconductor

Compounds

R. M. Banish

University of Alabama, Huntsville, AL

Experiments on Nucleation in Different Flow Regimes

Robert J. Bayuzick

Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN

Investigation of the Relationship Between Undercooling and Solidification Velocity

Robert J. Bayuzick

Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN

Equiaxed Dendritic Solidification Experiment

Christoph Beckermann

University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA

Kinetics of Nucleation and Crystal Growth in Glass-Forming Melts in Microgravity

Delbert E. Day

University of Missouri, Rolla, MO

Alloy Undercooling Experiments in Microgravity Environment

Merton C. Flemings

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

Measurement of the Viscosity and Surface Tension of Undercooled Melts Under

Microgravity Conditions and Supporting Magnetohydrodynamic Calculations

Merton C. Flemings

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

Microgravity Growth of PbSnTe

Archibald L. Fripp

Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA

Gravitational Effects on Distortion in Sintering

Randall M. German

Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA

Evolution of Local Microstructures: Spatial Instabilities of Coarsening Clusters

Martin E. Glicksman

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY

Isothermal Dendritic Growth Experiment

Martin E. Glicksman

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY

Physical Properties and Processing of Undercooled Metallic Glass-Forming Melts

William L. Johnson

California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA

Thermophysical Properties of Metallic Glasses and Undercooled Liquids

William L. Johnson

California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA

Transient Dendritic Solidification Experiment

Matthew B. Koss

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY

Orbital Processing of Eutectic Rod-Like Arrays

David J. Larson Jr.

State University of New York, Stony Brook, NY

Orbital Processing of High-Quality Cadmium Telluride

David J. Larson Jr.

State University of New York, Stony Brook, NY

Crystal Growth of II-VI Semiconducting Alloys by Directional Solidification

Sandor L. Lehoczky

Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

Growth of Solid Solution Single Crystals

Sandor L. Lehoczky

Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

Diffusion Processes in Molten Semiconductors

David H. Matthiesen

Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH

Space- and Ground-Based Crystal Growth Using Magnetically Coupled Baffle

Aleksandar G. Ostrogorsky

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY

Comparison of Structure and Segregation in Alloys Directionally Solidified in

Terrestrial and Microgravity Environments

David R. Poirier

University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

Frontal Polymerization in Microgravity

John A. Pojman

University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS

Particle Engulfment and Pushing by Solidifying Interfaces

Doru M. Stefanescu

University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL

Crystal Growth of ZnSe and Related Ternary Compound Semiconductors by Vapor

Transport

Ching-Hua Su

Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

Reduction of Defects in Germanium-Silicon

Frank R. Szofran

Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntvsille, AL
35

Interface Pattern Selection Criterion for Cellular Structures in Direction Solidification

Rohit K. Trivedi

Iowa State University, Ames, IA

Investigation of the Influence of Microgravity on Transport Mechanisms in a Virtual

Spaceflight Chamber

James D. Trolinger

MetroLaser Inc., Irvine, CA

Coarsening in Solid-Liquid Mixtures

Peter W. Voorhees

Northwestern University, Evanston, IL

Microgravity Studies of Liquid-Liquid Phase Transitions in Undercooled Alumina-Yttria

Melts

Richard Weber

Containerless Research Inc., Evanston, IL

Identification and Control of Gravity-Related Defect Formation During Melt Growth of

Electro-Optic Single Crystals: Sillenites (Bi12SiO20), BSO

August F. Witt

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

Ground-Based Experiments

Microgravity Impregnation of Fiber Preforms

M. C. Altan

University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK

An Electrochemical Method to Visualize Flow and Measure Diffusivity in Liquid Metals

Timothy J. Anderson

University of Florida, Gainesville, FL

The Effect of Convection on Morphological Stability During Coupled Growth in

Immiscible Systems

J. B. Andrews

University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL

Nucleation and Growth Mechanisms Underlying the Microstructure of Polymer Foams

Produced by Dynamic Decompression and Cooling

Robert E. Apfel

Yale University, New Haven, CT

Ostwald Ripening of Liquid and Solid Droplets in Liquid Metal Matrices

Alan J. Ardell

University of California, Los Angeles, CA

Temperature Dependence of Diffusivities in Liquid Metals

R. M. Banish

University of Alabama, Huntsville, AL

Molecularly Tailored Surfaces via Self-Assembly Processes: Synthesis,

Characterization, and Modeling

Mark A. Barteau

University of Delaware, Newark, DE

Growth and Properties of Carbon Nanotubes

Jerry Bernholc

North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC

Dispersion Microstructure and Rheology in Ceramics Processing

John F. Brady

California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA

Combustion Synthesis of Materials in Microgravity

Kenneth Brezinsky

University of Illinois, Chicago, IL

Application of Parallel Computing for Two- and Three-Dimensional Modeling of Bulk

Crystal Growth and Microstructure Formation

Robert A. Brown

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

Evolution of Crystal and Amorphous Phase Structure During Processing of

Thermoplastic Polymers

Peggy Cebe

Tufts University, Medford, MA

Study of Development of Polymer Structure in Microgravity Using Ellipsometry

Peggy Cebe

Tufts University, Medford, MA

Thermophysical Properties of High-Temperature Liquid Metals and Alloys

Ared Cezairliyan

National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD

Three-Dimensional Velocity Field Characterization in a Bridgman Apparatus:

Technique Development and Effect Analysis

Soyoung S. Cha

University of Illinois, Chicago, IL

Morphological Stability of Stepped Interfaces Growing From Solution

Alexander A. Chernov

Universities Space Research Association, Marshall Space Flight

Center, Huntsville, AL

Dynamic Reduction and the Creation of Fine-Grained Ceramics From Inviscid

Oxide/Silicate Melts

Reid F. Cooper

University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI

Gravity-Induced Settling in Interconnected Liquid-Solid Systems

Thomas H. Courtney

Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI

Improved Radiation Transport Code and Nuclear Database for Evaluation of

Spacecraft Shielding

Francis A. Cucinotta

Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX

Fundamental Studies of Solidification in Microgravity Using Real-Time X-Ray

Microscopy

Peter A. Curreri

Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

Adaptive-Grid Methods for Phase Field Models of Microstructure Development

Jonathan A. Dantzig

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL

Atomistic Simulations of Cadmium Telluride: Toward Understanding the Benefits of

Microgravity Crystal Growth

Jeffrey J. Derby

University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

Theoretical Analysis of Three-Dimensional, Transient Convection and Segregation in

Microgravity Bridgman Crystal Growth

Jeffrey J. Derby

University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
36

Surface Transformation of Reactive Glass in a Microgravity Environment

Paul Ducheyne

University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

White Beam X-Ray Topography and High-Resolution Triple Axis X-Ray Diffraction

Characterization

Michael Dudley

State University of New York, Stony Brook, NY

Reverse Micelle-Based Synthesis of Microporous Materials in Microgravity

Prabir K. Dutta

Ohio State University, Columbus, OH

Gas Phase Polymerization and Nucleation Experiments in Microgravity

M. S. El-Shall

Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA

Studies on Nucleation, Polymerization, and Nanoparticle Composites in

Supersaturated Vapors Under Microgravity Conditions

M. S. El-Shall

Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA

Exploiting the Temperature Dependence of Magnetic Susceptibility to Control

Convection in Fundamental Studies of Solidification Phenomena

James W. Evans

University of California, Berkeley, CA

Theoretical and Experimental Investigation of Vibrational Control of the Bridgman

Crystal Growth Technique

Alexandre I. Fedoseyev

University of Alabama, Huntsville, AL

Investigation of the Crystal Growth of Dielectric Materials by the Bridgman Technique

Using Vibrational Control

Robert S. Feigelson

Stanford University, Stanford, CA

Development of Anionic Polyelectrolytes for Solid-State Battery Applications

Adrienne C. Friedli

Middle Tennessee University, Murfreesboro, TN

Melt Stabilization of PbSnTe in a Magnetic Field

Archibald L. Fripp

Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA

Solidification of II-VI Compounds in a Rotating Magnetic Field

Donald C. Gillies

Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

Effect of Gravity on the Evolution of Spatial Arrangement of Features in

Microstructure: A Quantitative Approach

Arun M. Gokhale

Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA

Influence of Solutocapillary Convection on Macrovoid Defect Formation in Polymeric

Membranes

Alan R. Greenberg

University of Colorado, Boulder, CO

Novel Directional Solidification Processing of Hypermonotectic Alloys

Richard N. Grugel

Universities Space Research Association, Marshall Space Flight

Center, Huntsville, AL

Utilizing Controlled Vibrations in a Microgravity Environment to Understand and

Promote Microstructural Homogeneity During Floating-Zone Crystal Growth

Richard N. Grugel

Universities Space Research Association, Marshall Space Flight

Center, Huntsville, AL

Interdiffusion in the Presence of Free Convection

Prabhat K. Gupta

Ohio State University, Columbus, OH

Metal Nanoshell Functionalization and Materials Assembly: Effects of Microgravity

Conditions

Naomi J. Halas

Rice University, Houston, TX

Radiation Transmission Properties of In-situ Materials

Lawrence H. Heilbronn

Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Berkeley, CA

Microgravity Processing of Oxide Superconductors

William H. Hofmeister

Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN

Dimensional Stability of Supermatrix Semiconductors

Douglas E. Holmes

Electronic Materials Engineering, Camarillo, CA

Porosity and Variations in Microgravity Aerogel Nanostructures

Arlon Hunt

Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Berkeley, CA

Nonequilibrium Phase Transformations

Kenneth A. Jackson

University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

Dislocation Formation During Growth of Semiconductor Crystals

Monica L. Kaforey

Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH

The Role of Dynamic Nucleation at Moving Boundaries in Phase and Microstructure

Selection

Alain S. Karma

Northeastern University, Boston, MA

Determination of Gravity-Related Effects in Crystal Growth From Melts With an

Immiscibility Gap

Mohammad Kassemi

National Center for Microgravity Research on Fluids and

Combustion, Cleveland, OH

Effect of Marangoni Convection Generated by Voids on Segregation During LowGravity and Normal-Gravity Solidification

Mohammad Kassemi

National Center for Microgravity Research on Fluids and

Combustion, Cleveland, OH

Measurement of Liquid-to-Solid Nucleation Rates in Undercooled Metallic Melts

Joseph L. Katz

Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD

Phase Formation and Stability: Sample Size Effects

Kenneth F. Kelton

Washington University, St. Louis, MO

Physical Simulation of Marangoni Convection in Weld Pools

Sindo Kou

University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI
37

Influence of Natural Convection and Thermal Radiation on Multicomponent Transport

and Chemistry in MOCVD Reactors

Anantha Krishnan

CFD Research Corporation, Huntsville, AL

Colloidal Stability in Complex Fluids

Jennifer A. Lewis

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL

A Comparative Modeling Study of Magnetic and Electrostatic Levitation in

Microgravity

Ben Q. Li

Washington State University, Pullman, WA

Study of Magnetic Damping Effect on Convection and Solidification Under G-Jitter

Conditions

Ben Q. Li

Washington State University, Pullman, WA

Numerical and Laboratory Experiments on the Interactive Dynamics of Convection,

Flow, and Directional Solidification

Tony Maxworthy

University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA

A Phase-Field/Fluid Motion Model of Solidification: Investigation of Flow Effects

During Directional Solidification and Dendritic Growth

Geoffrey B. McFadden

National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD

Microgravity Investigation on the Formation of Oxides and Adsorbed Oxygen Films in

Solder Jetting Applications Pertinent to the Electronics Manufacturing Industry

Constantine M. Megaridis 

University of Illinois, Chicago, IL

Thermodynamic and Spectroscopic Studies of Secondary Nucleation in Microgravity

Allan S. Myerson

Polytechnic University, Brooklyn, NY

Reduction of Convection in Closed-Tube Vapor Growth Experiments

Robert J. Naumann

University of Alabama, Huntsville, AL

Investigation of “Contactless” Crystal Growth by Physical Vapor Transport

Witold Palosz

Universities Space Research Association, Marshall Space Flight

Center, Huntsville, AL

Investigation of Convective Effects in Crystal Growth by Physical Vapor Transport

Witold Palosz

Universities Space Research Association, Marshall Space Flight

Center, Huntsville, AL

Analysis of Containerless Processing and Undercooled Solidification Microstructures

John H. Perepezko

University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI

Improved Crystal Quality by Detached Solidification in Microgravity

Liya L. Regel

Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY

Thermophysical Property Measurement of Molten Semiconductors in Normal-Gravity

and Reduced-Gravity Conditions

Won-Kyu Rhim

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA

Undercooling Limits and Thermophysical Properties in Glass-Forming Alloys

Won-Kyu Rhim

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA

Carbon-Based Reduction of Lunar Regolith

Eric E. Rice

Orbital Technologies Corporation, Madison, WI

A Study of the Undercooling Behavior of Immiscible Metal Alloys in the Absence of

Crucible-Induced Nucleation

Michael B. Robinson

Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

Determination of the Surface Energy of Liquid Crystals From the Shape Anisotropy of

Freely Suspended Droplets

Charles S. Rosenblatt

Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH

Modeling of Macroscopic/Microscopic Transport and Growth Phenomena in Zeolite

Crystal Solutions Under Microgravity

Albert Sacco Jr.

Northeastern University, Boston, MA

Gravitational Effect on the Development of Laser Weld-Pool and Solidification

Microstructure

Jogender Singh

Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA

Flight Experiment to Study Double Diffusive Instabilities in Silver-Doped Lead

Bromide Crystals

N. B. Singh

Northrop-Grumman Corporation, Pittsburgh, PA

Kinetics of Nucleation and Growth From Undercooled Melts

Frans A. Spaepen

Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

Development of Superior Materials for Layered Solid Oxide Electrolyzers Based on

Mechanical and Thermal Failure Testing and Analysis

K. R. Sridhar

University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

Magnetic Damping of Solid Solution Semiconductor Alloys

Frank R. Szofran

Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

The Features of Self-Assembling Organic Bilayers Important to the Formation of

Anisotropic Inorganic Materials in Microgravity Conditions

Daniel R. Talham

University of Florida, Gainesville, FL

Dynamically Induced Nucleation of Deeply Supercooled Melts and Measurement of

Surface Tension and Viscosity

Eugene H. Trinh

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA

A Proposal to Further Investigate the Influence of Microgravity on Transport

Mechanisms in a Virtual Spaceflight Chamber

James D. Trolinger

MetroLaser Inc., Irvine, CA

Models of Magnetic Damping for Bridgman Semiconductor Crystal Growth in

Microgravity

John S. Walker

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL

Models of Magnetic Damping for Semiconductor Crystal Growth in Microgravity

John S. Walker

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL
38

Process-Property-Structure Relationships in Complex Oxide Melts

Richard Weber

Containerless Research Inc., Evanston, IL

Thin Film-Mediated Phase Change Phenomena: Crystallization, Evaporation, and

Wetting

John S. Wettlaufer

University of Washington, Seattle, WA

Defect Generation in CVT-Grown Hg1-xCdxTe Epitaxial Layers Under Normal- and

Reduced-Gravity Conditions

Heribert Wiedemeier

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY

Use of Microgravity to Control the Microstructure of Eutectics

William R. Wilcox

Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY

Improved Spacecraft Materials for Radiation Shielding

John Wilson

Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA

Ground-Based Experiments in Support of Microgravity Research Results: Vapor

Growth of Organic, Nonlinear, Optical Thin Film

Maria I. Zugrav

University of Alabama, Huntsville, Huntsville, AL
39

Acceleration measurement is the process by which data that

describe the quality of a microgravity environment are acquired,

processed, analyzed, and passed on to microgravity principal investigators (PIs). Because accelerations (commonly referred to as vibrations) cause disturbances such as convection, sedimentation, and

mixing within microgravity science experiments that researchers

experimenting in microgravity conditions wish to avoid, information

about accelerations is critical to the interpretation of science experiment results.

Most experiments are conducted in microgravity to avoid fluid

flow; however, fluid motion is strongly influenced by accelerations.

For example, in materials science experiments, heavier elements,

such as mercury, tend to settle out of solution when subjected to

steady accelerations. Such settling can also damage protein crystals

grown in biotechnology experiments. Convection due to low-frequency

accelerations tends to cause hot gases in combustion experiments to

move. In some fluids experiments, fluid movement due to accelerations may mask fluid characteristics, such as surface tension that

the experimenter wishes to observe. Mechanical vibrations over a

wide range of frequencies may cause drastic temperature changes

in low-temperature physics experiments, where the samples are at

temperatures close to absolute zero. Since measuring the microgravity

conditions of a microgravity science experiment is as crucial as

measuring the temperature of a thermodynamics experiment, for

example, PIs use acceleration data to determine the influence of

accelerations on their experiments and thus gain a more accurate

picture of the phenomena under observation. The primary objective

of the acceleration measurement program is to characterize the

reduced-gravity environment of the various experiment carriers,

such as the space shuttle, Russia’s Space Station Mir, sounding

rockets, parabolic aircraft, and the International Space Station (ISS).

The device most frequently used to measure the quality of a

microgravity environment is the Space Acceleration Measurement

System (SAMS), which has flown on 20 missions since its first

flight on STS-40 in June 1991. The seven SAMS units record highfrequency accelerations and have flown in support of microgravity

science experiments in the shuttle middeck, in the Spacelab module,

on the Spacelab Mission Peculiar Experiment Support Structure,

and in the SPACEHAB module. SAMS units on the space shuttle

have supported experiments from all of the microgravity science

disciplines (biotechnology, combustion science, fluid physics, fundamental physics, and materials science). After flying on two shuttle

missions, one SAMS unit was installed on Mir in 1994, where it was

operated intermittently as required to support U.S. and Russian

microgravity science and mechanical structure experiments. The

microgravity program also uses an instrument called the Orbital

Acceleration Research Experiment (OARE) to measure very low

frequency accelerations in support of microgravity research. The

OARE has flown on 10 missions since its first flight on STS-40.

The acceleration measurement program works with other

microgravity research program participants, such as vibration isolation programs, to lend assistance with data processing, interpretation,

and analysis. The information collected and produced by the acceleration measurement program is made available in mission summary reports, data files on CD-ROM and Internet file servers, and

specialized analysis reports for scientists. Some of the highlights of

the fiscal year (FY) 1998 acceleration measurement program are

discussed below.

USMP–4

SAMS units F and G successfully supported the Isothermal

Dendritic Growth Experiment, the Confined Helium Experiment,

and experiments conducted in the Advanced Automated Directional

Solidification Furnace and the French furnace, MEPHISTO,

during the fourth United States Microgravity Payload (USMP–4)

mission in November 1997. The SAMS units provided both realtime and recorded data to support these experiments. At the

request of the USMP–4 crew, SAMS also provided software for

an onboard display of SAMS data, which the crew used frequently

during the mission to monitor the effects of their activities on the

microgravity environment.

The OARE provided low-frequency acceleration measurements

during the USMP–4 mission. Numerous effects similar to those

seen on previous missions were observed, and one unique characteristic was attributed to cabin and airlock depressurization prior to

astronaut space walks during the mission. This is the first time

such shuttle activity has been analyzed using microgravity acceleration data. The characteristic is similar to effects experienced during

a water dump, but results in a higher acceleration level.

The Principal Investigator Microgravity Services (PIMS) project supported the USMP–4 mission with premission environment

analyses for some PI teams and real-time support during the mission. In addition to these activities, PIMS supported operations at

Lewis Research Center’s (LeRC’s) Telescience Support Center and

Marshall Space Flight Center’s (MSFC’s) Payload Operations

Control Center during the mission by monitoring SAMS and

OARE instrument operations as well as communications between

mission participants. PIMS project members also prepared

responses to nearly 100 requests for analysis from PI teams and

mission personnel.

Improvements to the way SAMS units operate and collect data

have been the focus of two efforts in FY 1998; the first of these is

the use of hard disk drives in all SAMS units. Over the years, the

optical disk drives used in SAMS units have experienced multiple

failures during equipment testing and occasionally during mission

operations. While no significant on-orbit data have been lost, the

SAMS optical disk drives were replaced with hard disk drives for

the USMP–4 mission. This change has resulted in improved mission

operations for SAMS and has greatly reduced the postmission data

processing time.

3 Acceleration Measurement

Overview
40

A second improvement for SAMS, a neural network system,

was operated in real time during USMP–4 to test the feasibility

of using neural networks to automatically analyze the microgravity

environment. The neural network system was developed at

Pennsylvania State University with support from PIMS to classify

microgravity disturbances into groups with similar characteristics,

as recorded by SAMS units. This system uses multilayer neural

networks to establish cause-and-effect relationships between the

observed acceleration environment and the source of a disturbance.

The ability of the system’s established knowledge base to accurately

name acceleration environment events and add new events to the

knowledge base was tested during the mission. A knowledge

base was first established using SAMS data from the USMP–3

mission flown in February 1996. The same experiment carrier

was used for both the USMP–3 and USMP–4 missions with a

similar complement of experiments. Tests conducted during

USMP–4 demonstrated the successful clustering of acceleration

data, the characterization of similar acceleration events, and the

use of the system to simplify the interpretation of data. This

work will aid in the further development of an expert system for

microgravity environment analysis for ISS operations.

KC-135

During FY 1998, several SAMS units provided support for

KC-135 flights. SAMS unit A, which has been retired from

spaceflight after five successful shuttle missions, was used during

three weeks of flight for microgravity experiments on NASA’s

newest KC-135 aircraft. SAMS unit A mapped the low-gravity

environment of the parabolic flight aircraft and provided feedback

to the flight crew and science teams. A new unit, called the

SAMS for Free Flyers (SAMS-FF), provided payload-specific

support on the KC-135 aircraft. SAMS-FF is a compact acceleration system consisting of a small triaxial sensor head connected to

a portable computer. Presently, software is being developed to

rate each parabola in the KC-135’s flight path in terms of quality

and duration. Immediately after the flight, the software will produce a concise table summarizing data on each parabola. This

information will help experimenters to consider with more efficiency the impact of the microgravity environment on their

experiments.

STS-89

SAMS unit D successfully supported the Mechanics of

Granular Materials experiment during the eighth shuttle mission

to Mir in January 1998. The SAMS unit was modified to include

downlink and command capabilities through the SPACEHAB

Experiment Data System Main Unit. Operation of the modified

unit served as a demonstration of new capabilities to support the

second Microgravity Science Laboratory (MSL–2) mission

planned for the year 2000.

STS-95

A hermetically sealed SAMS-FF system was delivered,

installed, and successfully integrated with the Hubble Space

Telescope Orbital Systems Test (HOST) payload for the launch

of the STS-95 shuttle flight in October 1998. HOST is a spaceflight demonstration of components scheduled for the third

Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission. At the request of

Goddard Space Flight Center, SAMS-FF supported this mission

by measuring the vibrations produced by a new cryocooler. The

cryocooler is designed to cool sensitive electronic components on

the Hubble Space Telescope Near Infrared Camera and MultiObject Spectrometer. The small size and flexible architecture of

SAMS-FF allowed the specific mission requirements to be met

in a very short time. Data collected by SAMS-FF will be analyzed

and a report prepared after the mission. PIMS project personnel

worked with HOST investigators to arrange data processing

and analysis support for SAMS-FF data that were acquired

during STS-95.

Mir

SAMS unit E, which has been aboard the Russian space

station since 1994, successfully completed long-duration on-orbit

operations in June 1998 and was returned to Earth on STS-91.

Data disks from SAMS unit E were processed and put on a server

for analysis by PIMS. After traveling approximately 532 million

miles while in orbit for 3 years and 10 months, the SAMS unit

was examined and found to be operational but in need of a cleaning.

Biological matter, notes written in Russian, and grime were

present on and inside the unit. The failure of one sensor head

was traced to one wire within one internal cable of the SAMS

main unit. Originally designed for 14-day shuttle flights, the

success of SAMS for nearly four years of on-orbit operations

amazed its engineers.

ISS

Development of SAMS-II, a system for conducting acceleration measurements on the ISS, continued this year. The instrument’s

Remote Triaxial Sensor system proceeded from qualification

hardware buildup through environmental and performance verification testing. The first flight sensor hardware was fabricated

and acceptance testing was initiated. Shipment of the first flight

sensor hardware to the hardware integration team will occur in

early FY 1999.

During FY 1998, the SAMS-II design was modified to

incorporate an interim control unit to support microgravity science

experiments in Expedite Processing of Experiments to Space

Station (EXPRESS) Racks and in the Microgravity Science

Glovebox during the early utilization phase of the ISS. The interim

control unit will be replaced with a full-featured control unit

when the microgravity science facility racks are installed

on the station.

Operational activities continued for interfacing SAMS-II

with the ISS. Plans for data handling were developed by the

SAMS-II project team and the Telescience Support Center. Plans

for data analysis were also developed with the PIMS project.
41

An agreement was reached with the SAMS-II project to

provide measurement support for the upcoming on-orbit test of

the Active Rack Isolation System (ARIS) on the ISS. The test will

evaluate design modifications implemented from ARIS’ previous

risk-mitigation activities. Two additional Remote Triaxial Sensor

Electronics Enclosures will be deployed within International

Subrack Interface Standard drawers, allowing triaxial measurement

at three locations to support the ARIS test objectives.

The Microgravity Acceleration Measurement System

(MAMS) was instituted to verify that the ISS produces a microgravity environment in accordance with ISS program requirements.

MAMS has independent high-frequency and quasi-steady (lowfrequency) sensor subsystems. MAMS is being developed by

LeRC under a Technical Task Agreement with Johnson Space

Center (JSC). During FY 1998, the MAMS engineering unit was

developed and demonstrated, and MAMS flight hardware subsystems were also completed. In addition, Phase I of MAMS

flight software development was completed. The MAMS team

also developed detailed operations plans. MAMS is scheduled to

be deployed in 2000 for ISS environmental verification. 

The MAMS and SAMS-II projects developed a consolidation

plan to reduce future on-orbit resources consumed by all acceleration measurement systems and to eliminate duplication of hardware development. One low-frequency sensor will now be flown

on the ISS instead of two. The data from this single sensor will be

provided to both the ISS vehicle designers and to science investigators. The consolidation of the two systems will result in faster,

better, and cheaper implementation of the quasi-steady measurement requirements for the ISS. In addition, consolidation of the

two systems allowed the MAMS project to incorporate SAMS-IIspecific requirements into the initial development of MAMS.

Although no present work was eliminated on SAMS-II, future

work to further develop SAMS-II will be reduced, since an additional low-frequency subsystem will not be needed in SAMS-II.

Meetings and Conferences 

The inaugural Microgravity Environment Interpretation

Tutorial was presented at MSFC in October 1997 to a select

group of scientists and microgravity personnel. Most of the attendees were associated with the USMP–4 mission, which launched

shortly after the tutorial. The response from the participants

was very positive. Excellent suggestions were also received for the

second tutorial, which was conducted in September 1998.

Discipline project scientists from LeRC, MSFC, and the Jet

Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), as well as some PIs and other

Microgravity Research Program (MRP) representatives, participated in the sessions. The tutorials were held over two-and-a-half

days and covered the following topics: definitions and accelerometer

instrumentation, data collection and analysis techniques, the measured environment of microgravity platforms, and implications

for microgravity experimenters.

Acceleration measurement program representatives coordinated and chaired a session of the American Institute of

Aeronautics and Astronautics’ 36th Aerospace Sciences Meeting

and Exhibit in Reno, Nevada, in January 1998. The “Acceleration

Measurement and Control in Reduced-Gravity Environments”

session included the following papers:

• Low-Gravity Flight Director for Free-Floating

Experiments: DC-9 Testing.

• Space Acceleration Measurement System for Free Flyers

(SAMS-FF) — Initial Test Results.

• The Quasi-Steady Acceleration Environment on STS-78

(LMS) [Life and Microgravity Spacelab mission].

• MMA [Microgravity Measurement Assembly] on the LMS

and MSL–1 Spacelab Missions.

• An Assessment of the Quality of the Space Station

Microgravity Environment for the Directional Solidification

of Semiconductors.

• A High-Fidelity Dynamic Model for the Active Rack

Isolation System.

• International Space Station Microgravity Acceleration

Measurement System.

Informal briefings were also presented on the ISS microgravity requirements and the concept of the Microgravity

Environment Interpretation Tutorials. Session coordination was

completed in preparation for the 37th meeting, which was scheduled for January 1999.

The 17th Microgravity Measurements Group (MGMG)

meeting was conducted in March 1998 at the Ohio Aerospace

Institute in Brook Park, Ohio. Approximately 80 attendees from

various disciplines within the international microgravity community heard talks on the transition of microgravity science research

from the shuttle, Mir, and free flyers to the ISS. The series of

talks at the meeting provided a forum for exchanging information and ideas about the microgravity environment and microgravity acceleration research in the MRP. Investigators in all areas

of microgravity research, including science experiment PIs, project

scientists, numerical modelers, instrumentation developers, and

acceleration data analysts, participated. The attendees included

representatives from NASA headquarters, JPL, JSC, Kennedy

Space Center, LeRC, and MSFC; Daimler-Benz Aerospace;

universities in Germany, Italy, Russia, and the United States; and

commercial companies in Russia and the United States.

Representatives of several other national agencies presented

summaries of the measurement, analysis, and characterization

of the microgravity environment of the shuttle, Mir, and sounding

rockets over the past 15 years. This extensive effort to characterize these environments has laid a foundation for pursuing a

similar course during future microgravity experiment operations

on the ISS.

The MGMG, which has a long history of serving as a mechanism for cooperation between the international space agencies

participating in microgravity science research, coordinated with
the International Microgravity Strategic Planning Group

(IMSPG), which held a meeting that same week at LeRC. The

17th MGMG meeting served as a formal setting for the IMSPG

to address their concerns about the microgravity environment on

the ISS. IMSPG members representing the Canadian Space

Agency (CSA), the European Space Agency (ESA), the French

space agency (CNES), the German space agency (DLR), and the

Japanese space agency (NASDA) attended the Wednesday morning

MGMG session as a joint meeting of the MGMG and the

IMSPG. Considerable discussion took place concerning the

expected microgravity levels on the ISS and how the predicted

microgravity environment on the ISS compares with what has

been experienced on the shuttle and Mir.

The results of SAMS operations on Mir for NASA/Mir

Increments 3, 4, and 5 were presented at the Second Phase 1

Research Program Results Symposium held at Ames Research

Center in March 1998.

A paper titled “Effects of Exercise Equipment on the

Microgravity Environment” was presented in the Application,

Methods, Measurement Technology session of the Gravitational

Effects in Materials and Fluid Sciences Symposium at the 32nd

COSPAR Scientific Assembly, held July 12–19, 1998. COSPAR is

the Committee on Space Research of the International Council of

Scientific Unions.

An overview of PIMS plans for retrieval, storage, and distribution of data from the ISS was presented to representatives of

ESA at ESTEC, the European Space Research and Technology

Center, September 23–29, 1998. A representative of the acceleration measurement program attended the final data review for

the Microgravity Measurement Assembly (MMA) flown

onboard the MSL–1 mission and its reflight. Discussions were

also conducted with the MMA project team for a conference

paper on quasi-steady acceleration measurements on MSL–1

with OARE and MMA data. 
Advanced Technology Development Program

The Advanced Technology Development (ATD) Program

was developed in response to the challenges researchers face

when defining microgravity experiment requirements and

designing associated hardware. Technology development projects

address scientific concerns, both focused and broadly based.

Focused development projects ensure the availability of technologies

to satisfy the science requirements of specific microgravity flightor ground-based programs. Broadly based development projects

encompass a long-term, proactive approach to meeting the needs

of future projects and missions related to the Human Exploration

and Development of Space Enterprise.

Scope of Projects

Historically, ATD projects have encompassed a broad range

of activities. Funded projects include the development of diagnostic

instrumentation and measurement techniques, observational

instrumentation and data recording methods, acceleration characterization and control techniques, and advanced methodologies

associated with hardware design technology.

In fiscal year (FY) 1998, four NASA centers were involved

in the Microgravity Research Program-sponsored ATD Program:

the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Johnson Space Center (JSC),

Lewis Research Center (LeRC), and Marshall Space Flight

Center (MSFC). The FY 1998 projects, listed in Table 8, illustrate

the breadth of technologies covered by the ATD Program.

Further details on these projects and the ATD Program can be

found in the Advanced Technology Development Program Annual

Update, NP-1998-01-02-MSFC.

Solicitation

The Microgravity Research Division (MRD) solicited the

1998 ATD projects from NASA centers through a two-step

process and selected the very best for funding. First, concept

papers were solicited from each NASA center involved in microgravity research. Next, the MRD director and ATD program

manager formed an ATD review panel consisting of microgravity

science representatives from each NASA center and from the

MRD at NASA headquarters. The panel reviewed concept

papers for their technical merit and significance to the microgravity

field, and selected candidates for further consideration. These

successful candidates submitted fully detailed ATD proposals.

Proposals were peer-reviewed by experts, selected from non-NASA

organizations, in corresponding technology areas. Final selections

were made based on the panel’s recommendations. In making its

recommendations, the panel considered the proposal’s relevance

to the anticipated technology needs of the Microgravity Research

Program, potential for success, and potential for the project to

enable new types of microgravity investigations.

4 Technology

Table 8 FY 1998 ATD Projects

Magnetostrictive Low-Temperature Actuators

Robert Chave, JPL, Pasadena, California

The objective of this ATD project is to further the development

of low-temperature magnetostrictive materials. Reducing the cost

and increasing the uniformity of magnetostrictive crystals will

enhance potential applications, which could include acoustic

pumps for microgravity cryogen transfer or magnetometers that

use magnetostrictive crystals as the primary sensor element and

fiber optics for readout.

Development of an Electrostrictive Valve

Talso Chui, JPL, Pasadena, California

The objectives of this ATD project are to develop a miniature

cold valve with no moving parts for use as an active phase separator for liquid helium and to study the ability of a submicron

aperture to act as a tunable Josephson junction in 4

He.

Quantitative Computed Tomography for Materials Science

Donald Gillies, MSFC, Huntsville, Alabama

This ATD project focuses on using computed tomography (CT)

to relate density to chemical composition of a sample. It will also

examine the use of CT as a technique for obtaining at least some

three-dimensional information prior to sectioning a sample.

Space Bioreactor Bioproduct Recovery System

Steve Gonda, JSC, Houston, Texas

The purpose of this ATD effort is to develop a Bioproduct

Recovery System (BRS) that allows the selective removal of molecules of interest from space bioreactors, thus enhancing the productivity of those bioreactors. The BRS will be miniaturized to

meet volume and power constraints, and designed to operate in

microgravity.

Advanced Diagnostics for Combustion 

Paul Greenberg, LeRC, Cleveland, Ohio

The goal of this ATD project is to develop a series of more

sophisticated measurement techniques applicable to the general

area of microgravity combustion science in order to improve the

accuracy and spatial/temporal yield of the data acquired, and to

extend the range of applicability and access to the relevant parameters presently inaccessible through current methods.

Small High-Resolution Thermometer 

Inseob Hahn, JPL, Pasadena, California

Smaller and lighter high-resolution thermometers (HRTs) will

be developed under this ATD project for lambda point experiments.
44

In the Low-Temperature Microgravity Physics Facility on the

International Space Station (ISS), multiple experiments will be performed within the same instrument package to reduce the average

cost per experiment; therefore, the new, smaller HRTs, developed

under this ATD project, will benefit these experiments.

Manufacturing of Refractory Containment Cartridges

Dick Holmes, MSFC, Huntsville, Alabama

This ATD project focuses on using plasma spray in a low-pressure,

inert environment to form containment cartridges to be used for

growing crystals of metals, alloys, and semiconductors in microgravity. 

Passive Free-Vortex Separator

John McQuillen, LeRC, Cleveland, Ohio

The objective of this ATD project is to develop an effective, lowpower, two-phase separation system. The system will enable the

separation of two-phase flows for reuse during long-term spaceflight.

Space Qualifiable Magneto-Optical Trap

Lute Maleki, JPL, Pasadena, California

The objectives of this ATD project are the development and

demonstration of a space qualifiable magneto-optical trap as a

building block module for laser cooling and atomic physics experiments in space. This task will enable the transition of NASA-funded

research in the laser cooling area from ground-based activities to

space experiments.

Laser Light Scattering With Multiple Scattering Suppression

William Meyer, National Center for Microgravity Research on

Fluids and Combustion (NCMRfc), LeRC, Cleveland, Ohio

Maryjo Meyer, LeRC, Cleveland, Ohio

This ATD project provides a simple and novel optical scheme

that overcomes multiple scattering effects in turbid media. In

addition, ways to experimentally measure and provide a full analytical solution for double, triple, and higher-order scattering are

being developed.

Surface Light Scattering

William Meyer, NCMRfc, LeRC, Cleveland, Ohio

Maryjo Meyer, LeRC, Cleveland, Ohio

This ATD project enables a new way of addressing surface sloshing

that will allow the measurement of both surface tension and viscosity

for transparent and optically accessible opaque media. 

A Robust Magnetic Resonant Imager for Ground- and Flight-Based Measurements of

Fluid Phenomena

Ben Ovryn, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering,

Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), Cleveland, Ohio;

NCMRfc, LeRC, Cleveland, Ohio 

One of the primary factors that has limited the use of magnetic

resonance imaging for measurement has been the lack of a userfriendly, versatile, inexpensive nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)

machine that could be utilized by members of the scientific community who have little or no knowledge of NMR. To rectify this

situation, a user-friendly NMR imager will be developed under this

ATD project for use with myriad projects of relevance to NASA’s

scientific community. Ultimately, this type of machine should be

suitable for use on the ISS.

The Laser-Feedback Interferometer: A New, Robust, and Versatile Tool for

Measurements of Fluid Physics Phenomena

Ben Ovryn, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering,

CWRU, Cleveland, Ohio; NCMRfc, LeRC, Cleveland, Ohio 

The objectives of this ATD project are to evaluate, adapt, and

deliver a novel form of interferometry, based upon laser-feedback

techniques, that will provide a robust, versatile, state-of-the-art

diagnostic instrument applicable to a wide variety of investigations

in microgravity fluid physics and transport phenomena. The

instrument can be used to measure both temporal and spatial

change in optical path length and object reflectivity.

Solid-Liquid Interface Characterization Hardware

Palmer Peters, MSFC, Huntsville, Alabama

This ATD project focuses on the real-time characterization of

temperature distributions within samples during directional solidification. Present technologies are limited by the size of the thermocouples, when discrete thermocouples are used, and by interpretation

of the Seebeck signal for many applications, especially those having

nonplanar interfaces. To overcome these limitations, arrays of

micron-sized thin film thermocouples, all deposited simultaneously

with uniform properties and protective coatings, will be developed.

A Diffractometer for Reciprocal Space Mapping of Macromolecular Crystals

Marc Pusey, MSFC, Huntsville, Alabama

The primary objective of this ATD project is to develop the technology both instrumentally and theoretically for routine use in

macromolecular crystal studies in the research laboratory. This

technology will enable the researcher to accurately and repeatably

characterize macromolecular crystal quality through X-ray mosaicity

measurements, topography, reciprocal space mapping, and direct

three-dimensional reciprocal lattice point measurements. The

results can then be used to quantitatively examine the effects of

microgravity and different growth regimes on protein crystal growth.

Application of Superconducting Cavities to Microgravity Research

Don Strayer, JPL, Pasadena, California

This ATD project has two main objectives: (1) to use modern

microwave electronics; high quality factor, low-temperature superconducting cavities; and high-resolution temperature control to

develop an ultrastable oscillator system that will provide a comparison oscillator for the laser-cooled atomic oscillators now under

development in the microgravity research program; and (2) to

develop high-temperature superconductor materials, high quality

factor cavities, and electronics that can be integrated with a small

cryocooler to provide an easy-to-use materials characterization system

for use on the ISS.

Transient Torque Viscometer for Viscosity and Electrical Conductivity Measurements

Ching-Hua Su, MSFC, Huntsville, Alabama

Obtaining data on the thermophysical properties of electrically

conducting melts is required for any meaningful investigation of

metallurgical or semiconductor processing. The principal objective

of this ATD project is to develop a novel technique that will allow

for the simultaneous measurement of the viscosity and electrical

conductivity of electrically conducting melts. An essential feature of

this technique is the utilization of a rotating magnetic field, which

can induce controllable fluid flows in the melt.
45

A Pulsed Tunable Laser System for Combustion

Randall Vander Wal, NCMRfc, LeRC, Cleveland, Ohio

Howard Ross, LeRC, Cleveland, Ohio

The objective of this ATD project is to design, construct, and

demonstrate a pulsed solid-state laser system in a microgravity

environment. High peak intensities and multiple wavelength

generation capabilities, characteristic of pulsed laser light, would

enable fluorescence, incandescence, and scattering measurements

in a wide range of combustion processes.

Vibration Isolation and Control System for Small Microgravity Payloads

Mark Whorton, MSFC, Huntsville, Alabama

This project will deliver an active isolation device to provide a

quiescent acceleration environment required for investigations to

be carried out on the ISS. 

A New Ultrahigh-Resolution Near-Field Microscope for Observation of Protein

Crystal Growth 

William Witherow, MSFC, Huntsville, Alabama

The primary objective of this ATD project is to build and test a

new optical method for observing protein crystals as they nucleate

and grow based on a tapered-fiber probe in a near-field scanning

optical microscope.

Additional Information

For additional information on the ATD program and the

new microgravity instrumentation technology development and

transfer program activities, please contact Isabella Kierk, program

manager, Instrumentation Technology Development and

Transfer, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Mail Stop 233-200, 4800 Oak

Grove Dr., Pasadena, CA 91109; phone: (818) 354-1879; fax: (818)

393-5273; e-mail: Isabella.Kierk@jpl.nasa.gov.
Significant efforts continued in fiscal year 1998 in preparation of multiuser and experiment-unique apparatus for missions

using the space shuttle and the Russian space station, Mir. Listed

in Table 9 are shuttle missions with significant microgravity

experiments, followed by short descriptions of the U.S.-developed

flight experimental apparatus that have been in use and are

under development in the Microgravity Research Program to

support those missions. A list of flight experiment hardware

being developed by international partners that will be used by

U.S. investigators appears in Table 10.

46

5 Hardware

Table 9 Shuttle Missions With Major Microgravity Experiments on Board, Chronologically by Launch Date

April 1985 STS-51B SL–3 Spacelab–3

Jan. 1986 STS-61C Materials Science Demonstrations

Jan. 1992 STS-41 IML–1 International Microgravity Laboratory–1

June 1992 STS-50 USML–1 United States Microgravity Laboratory–1

Oct. 1992 STS-52 USMP–1 United States Microgravity Payload–1

March 1994 STS-62 USMP–2 United States Microgravity Payload–2

July 1994 STS-65 IML–2 International Microgravity Laboratory–2

June 1995 STS-71 Mir–1 Shuttle/Mir–1

July 1995 STS-70 Shuttle

Sept. 1995 STS-69 * Wake Shield Facility, Shuttle Pointed

Autonomous Research Tool for Astronomy

(SPARTAN)

Oct. 1995 STS-73 USML–2 International Microgravity Laboratory–2

Nov. 1995 STS-74 Mir–2 Shuttle/Mir–2

Feb. 1996 STS-75 USMP–3 United States Microgravity Payload–3

March 1996 STS-76 Mir–3 Shuttle/Mir–3

June 1996 STS-78 LMS Life and Microgravity Spacelab

Sept. 1996 STS-79 Mir–4 Shuttle/Mir–4

Jan. 1997 STS-81 Mir–5 Shuttle/Mir–5

April 1997 STS-83 MSL–1 Microgravity Science Laboratory–1

May 1997 STS-84 Mir–6 Shuttle/Mir–6

July 1997 STS-94 MSL–1R Microgravity Science Laboratory–Reflight

Aug. 1997 STS-85 CRISTA–SPAS–2, Japanese Experiment

Module Flight Demonstration

Sept. 1997 STS-86 Mir–7 Shuttle/Mir–7

Nov. 1997 STS-87 USMP–4 United States Microgravity Payload–4

Jan. 1998 STS-89 Mir–8 Shuttle/Mir–8

March 1998 STS-90 Neurolab

Oct. 1998 STS-95 Shuttle

Dec. 2000** STS-107 Shuttle

Feb. 2001 STS-113 MSP–1 Microgravity Science Payload–1

Launch Date Flight Mission Full Name

* Middeck and Get Away Special (GAS) microgravity payloads only. GAS payloads also flew on STS-40, -41, -43, -45, -47, -54, -57, -60,

-63, -64, -66, -72, and -77. 

** Tentative date

Experiment Hardware for the Space Shuttle

and Mir Flights
47

Advanced Automated Directional Solidification Furnace: This

instrument is a modified Bridgman-Stockbarger furnace for

directional solidification and crystal growth. (USMP–2, USMP–3,

USMP–4)

Bioreactor Demonstration Unit (BDU): The BDU is a rotating

cylinder bioreactor that is supported by subsystems that provide

media perfusion and exchange, continuous measurement and

control of nutrient media, pH, glucose, oxygen, and carbon dioxide;

incubator temperature control, and data storage. It is useful for

the investigation of cell science and tissue engineering. (STS-70,

Shuttle/Mir–4, STS-85, Shuttle/Mir–8)

Biotechnology Refrigerator (BTR): The BTR has a refrigerated

volume of 0.57 cubic feet for cold storage of culture medium,

reagents, and specimens in support of biotechnology experiments.

The BTR provides a temperature range of 4° C to 12° C.

(Shuttle/Mir–6, Shuttle/Mir–7, Neurolab)

Biotechnology Specimen Temperature Controller (BSTC):

BSTC is a thermally controlled, single-locker module designed to

incubate multiple small cell cultures. It has a single chamber

capable of maintaining an internal temperatue within the range

of 36° C to 40° C and the capability of monitoring CO2 concentrations within the chamber in the range of 0 to 20 percent. BSTC

can deliver custom blended air/CO2 gas mixtures, is programmable,

and may operate either independently or in conjunction with

facility computers. (Shuttle/Mir–6 and Neurolab)

Biotechnology System: This instrument is composed of a rotating

wall vessel bioreactor, a control computer, a fluid supply system, a

gas supply system, and a refrigerator for sample storage. (Mir)

Combustion Module-1: This module is being developed to perform

multiple combustion experiments in orbit; the first two experiments were the Laminar Soot Processes experiment and the

Structure of Flameballs at Low Lewis Number experiment.

(MSL–1, MSL–1R)

Confined Helium Experiment Apparatus: This apparatus provides

a thermometer resolution better than 100 picodegrees in measuring

properties of helium samples confined to a two-dimensional state.

It flew in the Low-Temperature Platform, where it was used to

test finite size effects under controlled conditions to uncover

underlying fundamental principles. (USMP–4)

Critical Fluid Light Scattering Experiment Apparatus: This

apparatus provides a microkelvin-controlled thermal environment

for performing dynamic light scattering and turbidity measurements

of room temperature critical fluids. (USMP–2, USMP–3)

Critical Viscosity of Xenon Experiment Apparatus: This apparatus

provides a precision-controlled thermal environment (microkelvin)

and an oscillating screen viscometer to perform viscosity measurements of room-temperature critical fluids. (STS-85)

Crystal Growth Furnace: This instrument is a modified

Bridgman-Stockbarger furnace for crystal growth from a melt or

vapor. (USML–1, USML–2)

Data Acquisition and Control System (DACS): DACS is

designed to provide systems to monitor, operate, and control

experiment-specific systems and facility-based systems in the

Biotechnology Facility on the ISS. (Mir 2–7)

Diffusion-Controlled Protein Crystallization Apparatus for

Microgravity (DCAM): The DCAM hardware, which was

designed for long-duration protein crystal growth on Mir, combines liquid-liquid diffusion and dialysis methods to effect protein

crystal growth. Each DCAM tray assembly consists of 27 DCAM

experiment chambers containing precipitant solutions and protein

sample solutions. (Shuttle/Mir–4, Shuttle/Mir–5, Shuttle/Mir–6)

Drop Physics Module: This apparatus is designed to investigate

the surface properties of various suspended liquid drops, to study

surface and internal features of drops that are being vibrated and

rotated, and to test a new technique for measuring the surface

tension between two immiscible fluids. (USML–1, USML–2)

Droplet Combustion Experiment Apparatus: This apparatus is

designed to study droplet behavior during combustion by measuring burning rates, extinction phenomena, disruptive burning,

and soot production. (MSL–1, MSL–1R)

Gas Supply Module (GSM): The GSM provides a mixture of

highly purified pressurized gases required for long-duration,

on-orbit cell culture and tissue engineering investigations.

(Shuttle/Mir–4, Shuttle/Mir–8)

Gaseous Nitrogen (GN2) Dewar Protein Crystal Growth

Experiment Apparatus: The GN2 dewar is a device that can

maintain samples at cryogenic temperatures for about 13 days.

Frozen liquid-liquid diffusion and batch protein crystal growth

experiments are launched in a GN2 dewar and then allowed to
48

thaw to initiate the crystallization process in a microgravity environment. The GN2 dewar houses a protein crystal growth insert

that typically holds approximately 200 protein samples.

(Shuttle/Mir–4, Shuttle/Mir–5, Shuttle/Mir–6)

Geophysical Fluid Flow Cell: This instrument uses electrostatic

forces to simulate gravity in a radially symmetric vector field, centrally directed toward the center of the cell. This allows investigators to perform visualizations of thermal convection and other

research-related topics in planetary atmospheres and stars.

(Spacelab–3, USML–2)

Interferometer for Protein Crystal Growth (IPCG): The IPCG is

an apparatus designed to operate in the Mir glovebox to measure

details of how protein molecules move through a fluid and then

form crystals. IPCG comprises three major systems designed to

produce images showing density changes in a fluid as a crystal

forms: an interferometer, six fluid assemblies, and a data system.

(Shuttle/Mir–7)

Isothermal Dendritic Growth Experiment Apparatus: This apparatus is being used to study the growth of dendritic crystals in

transparent materials that simulate the solidification of some

aspects of pure metals and metal alloy systems. (USMP–2,

USMP–3, USMP–4)

Lambda Point Experiment Apparatus: This apparatus provides

temperature control in the part-per-billion range of a bulk helium

sample near the superfluid transition at 2 K for testing the theory

of critical phenomena under well-controlled static conditions. It

flew in the Low-Temperature Platform. (USMP–1)

Low-Temperature Microgravity Physics Cryogenic Dewar: This

apparatus supports different experiments, including the Lambda

Point Experiment, the Confined Helium Experiment, and the

Critical Dynamics in Microgravity experiment. (USMP–4, MSP–1)

Low-Temperature Platform: This apparatus provides a 2 K environment for fundamental physics experiments for up to 12 days

on the shuttle. It also provides the mechanical and data interfaces

between the experiment and the shuttle carrier. The apparatus

supported the Lamba Point Experiment and the Confined

Helium Experiment. (USMP–1, USMP–4)

Mechanics of Granular Materials Experiment Apparatus: This

instrument uses microgravity to gain a quantitative understanding

of the mechanical behavior of cohesionless granular materials

under very low confining pressures. (Shuttle/Mir–4, Shuttle/Mir–8 )

Microgravity Glovebox: This is a modified middeck glovebox

designed for Mir that will enable the collection of scientific and

technological data prior to major investments in the development

of more sophisticated scientific instruments. (Mir)

Microgravity Smoldering Combustion Apparatus: This apparatus

is used to determine the smoldering characteristics of combustible

materials in microgravity environments. (STS-69)

Middeck Glovebox: The glovebox is a multidisciplinary facility

used for small scientific and technological investigations.

(USMP–3, USMP–4, STS–95, MSP–1)

Orbital Acceleration Research Experiment Apparatus: This

instrument is developed to measure very low-frequency accelerations on orbit such as atmospheric drag and gravity gradient

effects. (Multiple missions)

Physics of Hard Spheres Experiment Apparatus: This hardware

supports an investigation to study the processes associated with

liquid-to-solid and crystalline-to-glassy phase transitions. (MSL–1)

Pool Boiling Experiment Apparatus: This apparatus is capable of

autonomous operation for initiating, observing, and recording

nucleate pool boiling phenomena. (Multiple missions)

Protein Crystallization Apparatus for Microgravity (PCAM):

The PCAM is used to evaluate the effects of gravity on vapor

diffusion protein crystal growth and to produce improved protein crystals in microgravity for determination of molecular

structures. Each PCAM cylinder contains 9 crystallization plates,

each having 7 sample chambers, for a total of 63 chambers per

cylinder. The total number of samples that can be flown in a

Single-Locker Thermal Enclosure System unit is 378. (MSL–1,

MSL–1R, STS–85, STS–95)

Second-Generation Vapor Diffusion Apparatus (VDA-2): The

VDA-2 trays are protein crystal growth devices based on a syringe

assembly design to provide mixing of protein and precipitant solutions in microgravity. A mixing chamber (third barrel) has been

added to the original double-barreled VDA syringes to improve

mixing during activation of vapor diffusion protein crystal growth

flight experiments. A Single-Locker Thermal Enclosure System

(STES) can accommodate four VDA-2 trays. Each VDA-2 tray

has 20 sample chambers, for a total of 80 samples per STES.

(MSL–1, MSL–1R, Shuttle/Mir–6, STS-95)

Single-Locker Thermal Enclosure System (STES): The STES

replaces a single middeck locker and provides a controlled temperature environment within plus or minus 0.5° C of a set point
49

in the range from 4° C to 40° C. The STES houses a variety of

protein crystal growth experiment apparatus, including the

PCAM and VDA-2. (MSL–1, MSL–1R, Shuttle/Mir–6, STS-95)

Solid Surface Combustion Experiment Apparatus: This instrument

is designed to determine the mechanism of gas-phase flame

spread over solid fuel surfaces in the absence of buoyancy-induced

or externally imposed gas-phase flow. (Multiple missions)

Space Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS): SAMS measures and records the acceleration environment in the space shuttle

middeck and cargo bay, in the Spacelab, SPACEHAB, and on

Mir. (Multiple missions)

Space Acceleration Measurement System for Free-Flyers

(SAMS-FF): SAMS-FF measures and records the acceleration

environment on KC-135 parabolic aircraft, on suborbital rockets,

and on the space shuttle. (Multiple missions)

Surface Tension-Driven Convection Experiment Apparatus:

This apparatus is designed to provide fundamental knowledge

of thermocapillary flows, and fluid motion generated by surface

tension and temperature gradients along a free surface.

(USML–1, USML–2)

Transitional/Turbulent Gas Jet Diffusion Flames Experiment

Apparatus: This instrument is used to study the role of large-scale

flame structures in microgravity transitional gas jet flames. (Get

Away Special Experiment)

Table 10 Flight Experiment Hardware Developed by International Partners and Used by NASA’s 

Microgravity Research Program

Advanced Gradient Heating Furnace European Space Agency (ESA)

Advanced Protein Crystallization Facility ESA

Applied Research on Separation Methods Using Space Electrophoresis French National Center for Space Studies (CNES)

Biolab German Space Agency (DARA)

Bubble, Drop, and Particle Unit ESA

Critical Point Facility ESA

Cryostat German Aerospace Research Establishment (DLR)

Electromagnetic Containerless Processing Facility (TEMPUS) DARA

Electromagnetic Furnace DARA

Free Flow Electrophoresis Unit National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA)

Gradient Freezing Furnace ESA

Large Isothermal Furnace NASDA

Material for Study of Interesting Solidification Phenomena CNES

on Earth and in Space (MEPHISTO)

Microgravity Isolation Mount Canadian Space Agency (CSA)

Microgravity Measurement Assembly ESA

Mirror Furnace NASDA

Quasi-Steady Acceleration Measurement DLR

Queens University Experiment in Liquid Diffusion CSA

Satellite Test of the Equivalence Principle ESA/NASA
50

Space Station Facilities for Microgravity Research

The Microgravity Research Program (MRP) continues to

develop several multiuser facilities specifically designed for longduration scientific research aboard the International Space

Station (ISS). To obtain an optimal balance between science capabilities, costs, and risks, facility requirements definitions have

been aligned with evolving space station capabilities. In total, the

MRP has defined requirements for five multiuser facilities for the

ISS:

• Biotechnology Facility (BTF).

• Fluids and Combustion Facility (FCF).

• Low-Temperature Microgravity Physics Facility (LTMPF).

• Materials Science Research Facility (MSRF).

• Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG).

BTF

The BTF will accommodate systems to support cell growth,

tissue engineering, protein crystal growth, and fundamental

biotechnology research using the microgravity environment and

the extended mission time of the space station. In addition, this

facility will house the hardware for new areas of biotechnology

research that are being explored. Due to funding limitations, the

Expedite Processing of Experiments to Space Station (EXPRESS)

Rack facility will be used to accommodate the needs of biotechnology research during the early phases of the space station. The

development of the BTF as a facility dedicated to meet the comprehensive needs of biotechnology researchers has been delayed

to a later phase in the space station’s operational life. Development

of the BTF is taking place at Johnson Space Center.

In fiscal year (FY) 1998, the two-year, on-orbit operation of

the Biotechnology System (BTS) facility onboard Russian Space

Station Mir was successfully completed. Operation of the BTS

served as an important risk mitigation effort for the BTF.

Validation of BTF concepts and operations through long-duration

operations, demonstration of technology and systems to support

biotechnology investigations, verification of BTF operational and

training procedures, and fundamental science investigations were

included in the risk mitigation activities. Final analysis of risk

mitigation investigations will be completed by 2000.

FCF

The FCF will be a permanent on-orbit facility located in the

U.S. Laboratory Module of the ISS. The FCF will support

NASA’s Human Exploration and Development of Space microgravity program objectives. In particular, the FCF will accommodate and facilitate sustained, systematic microgravity fluid physics

and combustion science experiments for the lifetime of the ISS,

defined as 10 years with an option to extend to 15 years. The

FCF is being developed by Lewis Research Center, which is

responsible for managing NASA’s microgravity fluid physics and

combustion science programs. The capabilities and development

schedule for the facility have been tightly integrated with the scientific needs and schedules of these programs. As a consequence,

the most promising principal investigators (PIs) currently funded

by NASA have been scheduled to FCF availability beyond the

year 2004. A PI’s actual flight date will be determined later, based

on merit. This integrated approach assures the maximum scientific

relevancy and return at the lowest cost.

Since its concept design review in December 1994, the projected development cost of the FCF has been cut in half, while

the projected scientific productivity has been more than doubled.

Compared to NASA-funded microgravity fluids and combustion

experiments flown on the space shuttle, ISS FCF experiments

will cost about one-fifth to one-third as much to build. The FCF

will use three on-orbit racks working together to achieve the necessary economies — one rack for combustion research, one for

investigations in fluid physics, and one shared accommodations

rack, which will provide power and diagnostics to both of the science racks. In 1997, the hardware concept was substantially

revised to allow the three FCF racks to be launched at intervals

of approximately one year and operate independently until the

last rack arrives. 

In FY 1998, the first rack scheduled for launch, the

Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR), was further developed. The

revised FCF system concept, and the CIR in particular, was

reviewed by a nonadvocate committee at the hardware concept

review in June. Two pieces of FCF-developed advanced technology

received special recognition: the FCF Embedded Web Software

Technology won the NASA “Software of the Year” award, and

the ISS TRANSHAB considered using the FCF-developed

Electrical Power Control Unit in place of the standard ISS

power controllers.

The CIR will be launched in 2002, followed by the Fluids

Integrated Rack in 2003, and the Shared Accommodations Rack

(SAR) in 2004. When the SAR is on orbit, equipment will be

moved among the three racks to create the originally envisioned

three-rack system, which will perform the full range of fluids and

combustion experiments. The FCF project operated with minimal

staff in FY 1998. Staff will increase slightly in FY 1999, but full

staffing is not planned before FY 2000.

LTMPF

The LTMPF is being designed at the Jet Propulsion

Laboratory to accommodate a diverse group of long-duration

microgravity experiments in low-temperature physics. In FY

1998, the LTMPF project continued its Phase A activities. The

project team worked to develop a conceptual design and a science

requirements envelope document (SRED), which establishes key

interface descriptions. The SRED development focuses on meeting

the detailed requirements of the current flight definition experiments, while at the same time not precluding the future flight of

any of the current ground experiments. Based on the results of

trade studies, it was decided to change the baseline concept from

a dual-instrument dewar to two single-instrument dewars. This

baseline change will significantly reduce the complexity of the

instrument integration and test tasks, thereby reducing risk to the

program. The design work culminated at the end of the year in a
51

nonadvocate concept design review. Significant progress was also

made in developing the instrument concept that will be used by

the investigator teams to achieve experiment objectives in the

facility. The Fast Alternative Cryogenic Testbed (FACET)

flight definition task for the LTMPF made good progress

toward its technology demonstration milestone. To achieve

maximum synergy, the LTMPF industrial partner is developing

the electronics for FACET. Three additional flight definition

investigations for the LTMPF were selected from the 1996

NASA Research Announcement for fundamental physics. Two

of the selected projects are in low-temperature physics, and one

is in gravitational physics. A slightly earlier first launch planning

date for the LTMPF was negotiated with Johnson Space Center

and the Microgravity Research Program Office, although this

flight has not yet been manifested.

MSRF

The MSRF is being designed to meet the near-term and

long-range goals of the microgravity materials science program

and its evolving group of peer-reviewed science investigations.

The facility is expected to fulfill the science requirements of

increasingly sophisticated microgravity investigations and to permit the development of experiment equipment for research

throughout the life of the ISS. Development of the MSRF is taking

place at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC).

The initial concept for the MSRF consists of three Materials

Science Research Racks (MSRR-1, MSRR-2, and MSRR-3),

which will be developed for phased deployment beginning on the

third Utilization Flight (UF-3). The MSRRs will accommodate

investigations in basic materials research and applications in the

fields of solidification of metals and alloys, thermophysical properties, polymers, crystal growth of semiconductor materials,

ceramics, and glasses. Each MSRR is a stand-alone, autonomous

rack and will be composed of on-orbit replaceable experiment

modules; module inserts; investigation unique apparatus; and/or

multiuser, generic processing apparatus. Development of the first

MSRR configuration is being coordinated with the development

of the NASA/European Space Agency (ESA) experiment module,

which will be deployed on MSRR-1. Additional experiment

modules for MSRR-2 and MSRR-3 will be developed in the

future. The experiment modules for each rack will be designed to

be “smart” furnaces, including avionics packages designed to

support each unique investigation. The experiment modules for

MSRR-2 and MSRR-3 will be consistent with the developing

rack architecture studies conducted at MSFC and will have optimum flexibility to support on-orbit maintenance and change-out

of key components.

In FY 1998, significant progress was made on the MSRF.

Science requirements were coordinated with the various materials

science investigators who will utilize the facility, and a draft of

the SRED for MSRR-1 was developed and is nearing release. In

addition, work began on the SREDs for MSRR-2 and MSRR-3.

An overall payload accommodation study was completed for all

approved materials science flight and flight definition investigations, along with preliminary experiment module concepts for the

MSRF and a rack architecture study for the follow-on racks.

Initial project concept definition and budget development in

support of flight opportunities were completed along with

experiment module traffic models, which project the potential

long-term accommodation of the various materials science flight

investigations. A system requirements review for the MSRR-1

in-house activity was completed in August 1998, as scheduled.

Development of the MSRF project plan is well under way. This

plan describes the top-level overall approach to be utilized by

MSFC in the implementation of the MSRF project on the space

station. In addition, appropriate implementation plans have been

initiated. These plans delineate the agreements between the ESA

cooperative effort and the Space Product Development commercial

experiment module accommodation on MSRR-1. Development

of the preliminary MSRF integration requirements document

was completed and is in review. This document identifies the

responsibilities of the various experiment module developers during

payload integration into each MSRF rack.

MSG

The MSG is a multidisciplinary facility for small, low-cost,

rapid-response scientific and technological investigations in the

areas of biotechnology, combustion science, fluid physics, fundamental physics, and materials science. It allows preliminary data

to be collected and analyzed prior to any major investment in

sophisticated scientific and technological instrumentation.

Additionally, its enclosed working volume offers a safe interface

between space station crewmembers, the environment of the

space station, and investigations on potentially hazardous materials.

NASA’s previous successes with gloveboxes flown on the space

shuttle and on Mir provided valuable experience in determining

the requirements for the MSG. 

The MSG is being developed through an international

agreement between NASA and ESA. In exchange for developing

the MSG, the agreement provides ESA with early utilization

opportunities in the facility without any exchange of funds

between the two agencies. ESA’s prime contractor for the MSG is

Daimler-Benz Aerospace. In FY 1998, the MSG project entered

the critical design review phase. The MSG is tentatively scheduled

to launch to the ISS in November 2000. 

Ground-Based Microgravity Research Support

Facilities

In FY 1998, NASA continued to maintain very productive

ground facilities for reduced-gravity research that include KC-135

parabolic flight aircraft, a drop tower, the Zero-Gravity Facility, a

drop tube, and several other facilities. The reduced-gravity facilities

at Johnson Space Center (JSC), LeRC, and MSFC have supported

numerous investigations addressing various processes and
52

phenomena in several research disciplines. A state of apparent

weightlessness, also known as microgravity, can be created in

these facilities by executing a freefall or semi-freefall condition

where the force of gravity on an object is offset by its linear acceleration during a “fall” (a drop in a tower or a parabolic maneuver by

an aircraft). Even though ground-based facilities offer relatively

short experiment times of a few to 20 seconds, this available test

time has been found to be sufficient to advance the scientific

understanding of many phenomena. Also, many experiments

scheduled to fly on the space shuttle and the International Space

Station are tested and validated in the ground facilities prior to

testing in space. Experimental studies in a low-gravity environment can provide new discoveries and advance the fundamental

understanding of science. Many tests performed in NASA’s

ground-based microgravity facilities, particularly in the disciplines

of combustion science and fluid physics, have resulted in exciting

findings that are documented in a large body of literature. 

In FY 1998, JSC’s KC-135 became the primary aircraft for

reduced-gravity research. Like its predecessor, the DC-9, the

KC-135 can accommodate several experiments during a single

flight. Low-gravity conditions of approximately 20 seconds can be

obtained as the aircraft makes a parabolic trajectory. The trajectory

begins with a shallow dive to increase air speed, followed by a

rapid climb at up to a 50-55 degree angle. The low-gravity period

begins with the pushover at the top of the climb and continues

until the pullout is initiated when the aircraft reaches a 40 degree

downward angle. During the parabola, an altitude change of

approximately 6,000 feet is experienced. Over 50 parabolas can be

performed on a single flight. In FY 1998, 68 experiments were

performed during 3,925 trajectories over 159 flight hours.

The LeRC 2.2-Second Drop Tower obviously offers a shorter

test time than the KC-135, but its simple mode of operation and

capability of performing several tests per day make it an attractive and highly utilized test facility, particularly for performing

evaluation and feasibility tests. The drop tower is able to provide

gravitational levels that range from 0.01 of Earth’s gravitational

acceleration to 0.0001. Over 17,000 tests have been performed in

the drop tower to date. In FY 1998, as in the past several years,

drop tests averaged about 100 per month.

Reduced-gravity conditions in the drop towers are created

by dropping an experiment in an enclosure, known as a drag

shield, to isolate the test hardware from aerodynamic drag during a

24-m freefall in the open environment. Some 32 experiments

were supported during the 1,417 drops performed in FY 1998. As

in the past, several of these experiments were in support of the

development of experiments that will be conducted in space. The

steady utilization of the drop tower is expected to continue as

many new experiments are in the design and fabrication phases

of development for the coming years.

The Zero Gravity Research Facility at LeRC, a registered

U.S. national landmark, provides a quiescent low-gravity environment for a test duration of 5.18 seconds as experiments are

dropped in a vacuum chamber that goes 132 m underground.

Aerodynamic drag on the freely falling experiment is nearly

eliminated by dropping in a vacuum. This procedure restricts

drop tests to two per day, resulting in fewer projects supported in

this facility than in the 2.2-Second Drop Tower. However, the

relatively long test time and excellent low-gravity conditions

more than compensate for the lower test throughput rate. In FY

1998, seven major projects were supported as 154 test drops were

executed.

The Drop Tube Facility, located at Marshall Space Flight

Center, consists of sections of a 26-cm diameter stainless steel pipe

vertically assembled into a tube of 105 m in length. Completely

evacuated of air, the tube can produce freefall times of 4.6 seconds.

Vacuum levels of less than a billionth of an atmosphere are achievable. The drop tube is especially useful for high-temperature

material processing assays, as well as experiments in droplet

dynamics and engineering tests such as the ones designed to yield

results for the Tethered Satellite Mission. In FY 1998, three

experiments were supported during 334 drops.

Table 11 summarizes activities at ground-based microgravity

research facilities in FY 1998.

Table 11 Use of Ground-Based Low-Gravity Facilities in FY 1998

KC-135 2.2-Second Zero Gravity Drop Tube

Drop Tower Facility Facility

Number of investigations supported 68 32 7 3

Number of drops or trajectories 3,925 1,417 154 334

Number of flight hours 159 N/A N/A N/A
53

6 Education and Outreach

Getting the word out about what microgravity researchers

do and why they do it is crucial to maintaining the strength and

relevance of the science program. The Microgravity Research

Program’s (MRP’s) outreach efforts are aimed at a broad audience

that includes researchers at other institutions who have not yet

considered the benefits of conducting their experiments in microgravity, industrial engineers and scientists, students in all grade

levels, instructors and administrators in a variety of educational

settings, and the lay public. Methods for reaching out to these

groups are also broad. Microgravity researchers and support personnel are involved in a number of outreach activities that

include visiting classrooms, staffing exhibits at national conferences, offering tours and open houses at microgravity science

facilities, and sponsoring student researchers at NASA research

centers. Print and World Wide Web (WWW) publications highlighting specific research projects allow the MRP to reach a

worldwide audience. 

In fiscal year (FY) 1998, more than 39,000 elementary and

secondary school teachers and administrators attended annual

meetings of the National Science Teachers Association, the

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, and the

International Technology Education Association. These conferences give NASA the opportunity to demonstrate new ways to

teach students about the importance of microgravity research.

Microgravity science posters, teacher’s guides, mathematics briefs,

microgravity demonstrator manuals, microgravity mission and

science lithographs, and WWW microgravity site sheets were

distributed to teachers at these conferences.

In addition to these efforts, several new microgravity education products were developed and made available to educators

in FY 1998. Four new grade level–specific microgravity mathematics posters were developed and over 5,000 were distributed

at national education conferences. A new video describing the

microgravity demonstrator was developed and submitted to the

NASA CORE educational product catalog for distribution.

“Microgravity — A Teacher’s Guide With Activities in Science,

Mathematics, and Technology” was revised as a NASA

Educational Guide. Efforts were increased in FY 1998 to make

educators aware of all the microgravity research education

products that are available online through microgravity research

program WWW pages, NASA Spacelink, and the NASA

CORE education distribution system.

The MRP’s quarterly newsletter, Microgravity News, continues

to reach thousands of K–12 teachers, curriculum supervisors, science

writers, university faculty, graduate students, scientists and principal investigators, and technology developers. Microgravity News

features articles on experiment results, shuttle missions, science

and technology developments, research funding opportunities,

meetings, collaborations, and microgravity science researchers.

Distribution for each newsletter has grown to 10,300 copies, an

increase from the 9,082 copies distributed last year. A marked rise

has been seen in the number of individuals requesting to be

added to the mailing list via e-mail submission to the new address

microgravitynews@msfc.nasa.gov. In addition, distribution of

Microgravity News to public and private associations, corporations,

laboratories, and education resource centers continues to grow.

The newsletter can also be accessed on the WWW at

http://mgnews.msfc.nasa.gov/site/.

The Microgravity Research Program Office’s WWW home

page at http://microgravity.msfc.nasa.gov continues to provide regular

updates on upcoming conferences, microgravity-related research

announcements, enhanced links to microgravity research centers,

educational links, and links to the newly developed microgravity

image archive. A list of important microgravity WWW sites is

presented in Table 12.

The MRP was represented to more than 25,000 attendees at

the biennial conference of the American Association of Retired

Persons in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the week of June 1–5. During

the conference, the Human Exploration and Development of

Space exhibit was on display in the NASA exhibit area. A bioreactor was also on display and operating at the booth, generating

particular interest among conference-goers. Other conferences at

which exhibits and materials developed by the Microgravity

Outreach and Education staff in FY 1998 were used include the

American Association for the Advancement of Science conference,

the NASA University Research Centers Conference, the National

Manufacturer’s Association conference, and the biennial Space

’98 conference. 

Research Center Activities

The MRP was very active in education and outreach in FY

1998. One center-wide activity is the Graduate Student Research

Program (GSRP). From a national pool of 67 applicants who submitted research proposals to NASA to perform microgravity

research, 13 graduate students were selected to receive support

for ground-based microgravity research during 1998–99, under

the GSRP. Graduate students who will conduct a portion of their

research at a NASA facility were also selected. All selections were

based on a competitive evaluation of academic qualifications, proposed research plans, and the student’s projected use of NASA

and/or other research facilities. A list of the graduate students

selected to perform research in 1998–99 may be found at

http://microgravity.nasa.gov/gsrp.html.

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

JPL hosted 10 college students as summer interns in FY

1998. The students, many from colleges without substantial budgets for research, were expected to make significant contributions

to the research projects they worked on during their summer

tenure. The students wrote computer programs, helped design

hardware for magnetostrictive devices, and processed and tested

superconducting materials being applied to low-temperature

devices. JPL continues its involvement in the educational activity

begun last year in cooperation with the California Institute of

Technology Pre-College Science Initiative. JPL scientists are

working with middle school teachers to develop materials with

an emphasis on gravity effects on fluid behavior. These materials
54

will be used by middle school students in an inquiry-based

learning environment. JPL scientists are also actively engaged in

outreach to the community. Several have taken kits displaying

low-temperature phenomena to grade schools and high schools.

At the JPL Open House in June 1998, JPL scientists interacted

with more than 10,000 visitors in the Cryogenics Laboratory,

where demonstrations on topics ranging from levitating magnets

to the behavior of superfluid helium were conducted.

Johnson Space Center

Members of the biotechnology cell science program at JSC

also participated in numerous educational and outreach programs throughout FY 1998. These events included presentations

and exhibits on the bioreactor at the Defense Orientation

Conference Association meeting, Texas Children’s Hospital, a

conference at the University of Texas Medical Branch at

Galveston, and the Greater Houston Partnership state legislators’

visit. A bioreactor demonstration was presented at the JSC

Open House, and biotechnology cell science program personnel

volunteered to support exhibit displays. In addition to these

activities, several biotechnology personnel served as judges for

the 1998 Houston-area high school science fair, held at the

George R. Brown Convention Center, and during Engineering

Week, biotechnology personnel visited schools in Clear Lake,

Texas, to promote engineering studies.

Langley Research Center

“Connect — Microgravity: Doing More in Less,” one of four

live educational programs produced this year by the LaRC

Education Office, was aired April 23, 1998, on PBS stations in

Alabama, Kentucky, Ohio, South Carolina, and Virginia and to

other viewers in the United States via the StarNET system. The

program was selected for the 1998 Aurora Gold Award, under

the category of instructional and science education. The Aurora

Awards are designed to recognize independent excellence in the

film and video industries. The program focused on microgravity

research and was hosted by Shelley Canright, LaRC pre-college

officer. Senator John Glenn and NASA researchers from MSFC

(Felecia Ewing) and LeRC (Nancy Rabel Hall) were featured.

Pre-viewing activities for grades K–4 and 5–8, which were included

in the 50-page print material for the show, were developed in

part by LeRC Microgravity Science Division (MSD) staff. The

“Connect” video series is typically replayed on NASA TV several

times throughout the year as part of the standard NASA TV

Education File.

Lewis Research Center

The 11th Summer Session Program of the International

Space University (ISU) brought 88 students and more than 187

faculty, staff, research assistants, and distinguished lecturers from

32 countries to Cleveland, Ohio, this summer. The session was

hosted by Cleveland State University (CSU) and the Ohio

Aerospace Institute (OAI) and sponsored by LeRC, OAI, CSU,

and a group of northern Ohio businesses. Among the invited

presenters were several LeRC personnel. Howard Ross, Robert

Friedman, and Sandra Olson gave presentations on combustion

science. Ross gave a talk titled “Burning to Go: Combustion on

Orbit and Mars;” Friedman spoke on “Spacecraft Fire Safety;”

and Olson lectured on “Out of This World Fire Science: How

Solids Burn in Microgravity.” Representing fluid physics, Francis

Chiaramonte gave a presentation on “Pool Boiling in Microgravity”

as a topic of interest relative to the ISU Microgravity Activities

for Generating International Cooperation (MAGIC) design

project. Henry Nahra, project scientist for the Behavior of

Rapidly Sheared Bubbling Suspension project, presented a lecture

on aspects of his work in a discussion with the MAGIC project

design teams. Dennis Stocker organized tours of microgravity

exhibits in LeRC’s Visitor’s Center and Zero-Gravity Facility.

Stocker and Eric Baumann used a microgravity demonstrator to

explain the principle of freefall and led a tour that watched a drop

in the 2.2-Second Drop Tower. David Francisco presented the

Combustion Integrated Rack, which will be placed on the

International Space Station.

LeRC also hosted over 40 summer students and high school

and college faculty under the sponsorship of a number of summer

programs. These summer employees were able to contribute their

talents and skills to the microgravity research program and interact

with NASA scientists and engineers in both office and laboratory

settings. The programs offered the students and faculty opportunities to acquire new skills and firsthand experience using NASA’s

unique facilities. Most of the students and teachers were introduced

to the program through the Lewis Educational and Research

Collaborative Internship Program, the Lewis Summer High School

Apprenticeship Research Program, or the National Center for

Microgravity Research Summer Internship Program. 

Exhibits describing microgravity fluids and combustion

research, the future of microgravity research on the International Space Station, and educational outreach performed by

the MRP were provided at a number of events, including the

installation of a drop tower in the Lewis Visitor’s Center; displays and demonstrations at the National Science Olympiad; the

34th Joint Propulsion Conference sponsored by the American

Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the American Society

of Mechanical Engineers, the Society of Automotive Engineers,

and the American Society for Engineering Education; and a

Space Station Celebration event at LeRC in which 1,000 people

learned more about NASA, the International Space Station, and

microgravity research. In addition, LeRC MSD representatives

used the microgravity demonstrator and other devices at the

Cedar Point and Geauga Lake amusement parks during their

annual Physics Days to explain microgravity to middle and high

school students and teachers. The MRP was also represented in

the NASA exhibit at AirVenture ’98. AirVenture ’98 was the

44th annual fly-in at Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The event was sponsored by the Experimental Aircraft Association and drew a

record 855,000 visitors.
55

Microgravity research media events coordinated by LeRC

included the following highlights: 

• Howard Ross, a senior researcher in the microgravity combustion science program, was a key participant in the

February 1998 PBS video conference titled “ISS — Open for

Business.”

• A 15-minute segment on the History Channel’s program

“Fire Fighting — Extreme Conditions: Fire in the Sky,” was

broadcast March 17, 1998. 

• Popular Science included microgravity fire and fluids photos

as part of an article on the International Space Station in its

spring 1998 issue. 

• A sidebar piece by Ross on candle and solid combustion was

included in an article by Shannon Lucid in the May 1998

issue of Scientific American.

LeRC MSD representatives arranged more than 40 school

visits and tours at LeRC. In addition, MSD representatives

arranged classroom visits by astronauts Donald Thomas and

Roger Crouch and by Russian Academy of Science member

Vadim Polezhaev.

Marshall Space Flight Center

MSFC’s Microgravity Outreach and Education Office hosted

several tours and workshops. Among these events was a tour for

50 U.S. and 30 international teachers selected by their respective

state or country as Teacher of the Year. Their teaching disciplines

included not only science and technology but also English, special

education, math, music, geography, and foreign languages. The

Outreach and Education Office provided four separate groups of

teachers with an overview of microgravity and the benefits of

conducting research in space. Microgravity educational products

were made available to all teachers, and those teachers not in the

science or math disciplines were encouraged to share them with

their math and science colleagues.

A display providing an overview of each of the five microgravity science disciplines and a description of how microgravity

is achieved was developed and installed in the new Microgravity

Development Laboratory building at MSFC. The graphics developed for this display will serve as the foundation for future

exhibits and brochures.

An updated version of the MSFC biotechnology program

exhibit made its rounds to national conferences and meetings for

the first time in 1998 and exposed many in the scientific community

to the program. Approximately 4,500 scientists and professionals

affiliated with the Biophysical Society, the American

Pharmaceutical Association, the Biomaterials Society, and the

American Crystallographic Association received information at

conferences and through mailings about NASA’s role in the field

of biotechnology. In addition, 134 names were added to the

biotechnology database that will be used to inform scientists of

future NASA Research Announcements. The program shared its

exciting protein crystal growth story with the American

Pharmaceutical Association membership through a NASA session

titled “Pharmacy in Space.”

Microgravity Data Archiving

The Microgravity Research Program Office at MSFC manages

the Microgravity Flight Data Archive (MFDA), which houses

descriptions of experiment procedures and results, lists of publications, and points of contact for flight-based microgravity investigations. The archive has elements that reside at MSFC

(biotechnology and materials science investigations) and LeRC

(investigations in combustion science and fluid physics). In FY

1998, the MSFC portion of the MFDA became interoperable

with the European Space Agency’s (ESA’s) online Microgravity

Database. This cooperative work led to the design of the

International Distributed Experiment Archives (IDEA), which

allows a single access point for searching and browsing information on microgravity experiments from both archives. IDEA is

available at http://mgravity.itsc.uah.edu/microgravity/idea/idea.stm.

FY 1999 plans for IDEA include developing access to the Japanese

space agency’s (NASDA’s) online microgravity database.

Also in FY 1998, the local web pages and underlying database

for the MSFC biotechnology and materials science elements of

the MFDA were updated. The IDEA web site now provides an

integrated interface for searching local and international records.

Records from recent experiments were added, and duplicate ESA

records were purged. Plans for FY 1999 are to begin redesigning

the archive database for integration of information from multiple

sources, enhance reporting capabilities, as well as to provide interactive tools to allow experiment investigators to directly enter

information into the archive database.

LeRC has been actively building its archive collection in the

areas of combustion science and fluid physics. There are over 715

combustion science papers and over 446 fluid physics papers in

the archive; a listing of the papers by author, along with abstracts

from the papers, is being made available on the WWW. The

experiments database currently consists of information on a number

of recent experiments, along with information on a few experiments

from earlier missions. This information, contained in Experiment

Data Management Plan (EDMP) databases, includes such items

as experiment descriptions; lists of publications associated with

the experiment; summaries of experiment results and data; and

listings of videos, photos, and digital data. In FY 1998, archivists

continued gathering data on fluids and combustion experiments

from all missions previously flown. The EDMPs are being formatted for the WWW and will be available online in FY 1999.

Photographs from the experiments will also be added to the database in late FY 1999 and early FY 2000.
56

Table 12 Important Microgravity WWW Sites

NASA Home Page

Information and links to all NASA centers

http://www.nasa.gov/

Microgravity Research Division Home Page

NASA headquarters’ Microgravity Research Division and

microgravity sites with links to other news and programs and

NASA Research Announcements

http://microgravity.hq.nasa.gov/

Microgravity Research Program Home Page

Information about microgravity research activities with links to

image archives and related science and technology web sites

http://microgravity.msfc.nasa.gov/

Microgravity News Home Page

Online issues of Microgravity News, a quarterly newsletter

about the field of microgravity science

http://mgnews.msfc.nasa.gov/site/

Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) Home Page

Information about MSFC, current shuttle missions, the

International Space Station, and research at MSFC’s labs

http://www1.msfc.nasa.gov/

Lewis Research Center (LeRC) Home Page

Information on LeRC, including the work of its Microgravity

Science Division and descriptions of special facilities, such as the

Wind Tunnel Complex, the Propulsion System Laboratory, and

drop towers

http://www.lerc.nasa.gov/

Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Homepage

Links to the latest news, status reports, and images from JPL’s

missions, as well as information about the laboratory at JPL

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/

Microgravity Combustion and Fluids Database

Information on microgravity combustion science and fluid

physics experiments

http://www.lerc.nasa.gov/WWW/MCFEP/

Microgravity Research Experiments (MICREX) Database

Information on microgravity experiments with a link to the

European Space Agency (ESA) Microgravity Database

http://mgravity.itsc.uah.edu/microgravity/micrex/micrex.stm

ESA Microgravity Database

Experiment descriptions, results, diagrams, and video sequences

http://www.esrin.esa.it/htdocs/mgdb/mgdbhome.html

Zero-Gravity Research Facility

Description and images of one of the LeRC drop towers

http://zeta.lerc.nasa.gov/facility/zero.htm

NASA Human Spaceflight

A comprehensive source for information on NASA’s spaceflight

programs that support the Human Exploration and

Development of Space Enterprise

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/index-n.html

Shuttle Flights

Information on the most recent mission with links to all shuttle

flights to date

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/index.html

International Space Station

General and detailed information about the development of the

International Space Station, including links to recent news,

details of assembly, and images

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/index.html

What Is Microgravity?

The definition of microgravity and how it is achieved

http://microgravity.msfc.nasa.gov/wimg.html

LeRC Microgravity Science Division Educational Information

LeRC microgravity educational activities and links to other

NASA educational sites

http://zeta.lerc.nasa.gov/new/school.htm

NASA Spacelink: A Resource for Educators

NASA education information, materials, and services, including

NASA Educator Resource Centers

http://spacelink.nasa.gov/

Spacelink: Microgravity Teacher’s Guide

Microgravity Teacher’s Guide with physical science activities for

grades 6–12

http://spacelink.nasa.gov/Instructional.Materials/NASA.Educational.

Products/Microgravity/

Microgravity Meetings and Symposia

Bulletin board of meetings, conferences, and symposia, and a list

of societies and web sites of interest to the microgravity science

community

http://zeta.lerc.nasa.gov/ugml/ugml.htm
57

Funding for the Microgravity Research Program in fiscal year

(FY) 1998 totaled $139.6 million. This budget supported a variety

of activities across the microgravity science disciplines of biotechnology, combustion science, fluid physics, fundamental physics, and

materials science (the Advanced Technology Development

Program is also shown in this depiction), including an extensive

ground-based research and analysis program; development and

flight of microgravity shuttle and sounding rocket missions; ISS

planning, technology, and hardware development; and educational

outreach. The funding distribution for combined flight and ground

efforts in the various microgravity research disciplines is illustrated

in Figure 1.

Figure 2 presents the funding distribution by microgravity

mission function. Included in this representation is the research and

analysis element that supports the ground-based microgravity principal investigators (PIs) not covered in a mission-specific budget. PI

funding associated with flight investigations and flight services

(including science, engineering, and management support and parabolic aircraft and suborbital rocket fees) is identified. Middeck

payloads; Spacelab payloads; and Hitch-Hiker (HH), Get-Away

Specials (GAS), and Suborbital Rocket (SR) payloads are separately

identified. The NASA Research and Technology (R&T) institutional portion covers elements such as Program Mission Support

and Headquarters-Incurred Costs. The International Space Station

(ISS) element represents funding for experiments for the ISS and

Mir programs.

The Microgravity Research Program operates primarily

through four NASA field centers. Figure 3 illustrates the funding

distribution among these centers and includes NASA headquarters

funding. The Microgravity Research Program science discipline

authority and major responsibilities are as follows:

• Jet Propulsion Laboratory — fundamental physics.

• Johnson Space Center — cell and tissue culture portion of

the biotechnology discipline.

• Lewis Research Center — combustion science, fluid physics,

and microgravity measurement and analysis.

• Marshall Space Flight Center — materials science, biotechnology, and the glovebox program.

Program Resources for FY 1998 7
58
59

For More Information 8

NASA’s goal is to improve the quality of life on Earth by

using ground- and space-based research to promote new scientific

and technological discoveries. The Microgravity Research

Program plays a vital role in our nation’s economic and general

health by carefully selecting, funding, and supporting scientists

across the country. It also serves as an important link in the international endeavors that are the hallmark of America’s space program, which is conducting business better, cheaper, and faster

through cooperative ventures and other streamlined practices.

By disseminating knowledge and transferring technology

among private industries, universities, and other government

agencies, NASA’s Microgravity Research Program continues to

build on a foundation of professional success, evidenced by the

number of publications and conferences attended, while reaching

out to encompass the populace at large. Educational outreach and

technology transfer are among the program’s top goals, making

the benefits of NASA’s research available to the American public.

Space shuttle and Mir research missions, as well as experiments

performed in short-duration microgravity facilities, are yielding

new understanding about our world and the universe around us,

while paving the way for long-duration microgravity science on

the International Space Station.

For more information about NASA’s Microgravity Research

Program, use the following contact information:

Microgravity Research Division

NASA Headquarters

300 E Street, S.W.

Washington, D.C. 20546-0001

Fax: (202) 358-3091

Phone: (202) 358-1490

World Wide Web address:

http://microgravity.hq.nasa.gov/

http://microgravity.msfc.nasa.gov/
60

9 Acronyms and Abbreviations

AADSF .............. Advanced Automated Directional 

............................ Solidification Furnace

ACES .................. Atomic Clock Ensemble in Space

AIAA.................. American Institute of Aeronautics and 

............................ Astronautics

AIChE................ American Institute of Chemical Engineers

AIDS .................. acquired immunodeficiency syndrome 

APS.................... American Physical Society

ARIS .................. Active Rack Isolation System

ASME ................ American Society of Mechanical Engineers

ATD .................... Advanced Technology Development 

atm.................... atmosphere

BDU.................... Bioreactor Demonstration Unit

BEC .................... Bose-Einstein condensation

BIO3D................ Biotechnology of Three-Dimensional 

............................ Tissue Engineering

BRS .................... Bioproduct Recovery System

BSTC.................. Biotechnology Specimen Temperature 

............................ Controller

BTF.................... Biotechnology Facility

BTR.................... Biotechnolgy Refrigerator

Caltech ............ California Institute of Technology

CDOT ................ Colloid Disorder-Order Transition 

CGEL.................. Colloid Gelation Experiment

CHeX ................ Confined Helium Experiment

CHT.................... Capillary-Pumped Heat Transfer

CIE...................... Center for Interfacial Engineering

CIR .................... Combustion Integrated Rack

CNES.................. French space agency

COCULT ............ Biotechnology Coculture

COLLIDE............ Collision Into Dust Experiment

COSPAR ............ Committee on Space Research of the 

............................ International Council on Scientific Unions

CPL.................... capillary-pumped loop

CSA.................... Canadian Space Agency

CSU.................... Cleveland State University

CT ...................... computed tomography

CVX.................... Critical Viscosity of Xenon

CWRU................ Case Western Reserve University

DACS.................. Data Acquisition and Control System

DARA ................ German space agency

DCAM.................. Diffusion-Controlled Protein Crystallization

............................ Apparatus for Microgravity

DC/PCG .......... Dynamically Controlled Protein Crystal 

............................ Growth Apparatus

DLR .................... German Aerospace Research 

............................ Establishment

DPIMS .............. Diffusion Processes in Molten 

............................ Semiconductors

EDMP ................ Experiment Data Management Plan

ELF .................... Enclosed Laminar Flames

ERE .................... Extensional Reology Experiment

ESA .................... European Space Agency

ESTEC................ European Space Research and Technology

............................ Center

EXPRESS .......... Expedite Processing of Experiments to 

............................ Space Station

FACET ................ Fast Alternative Cryogenic Testbed 

FCF .................... Fluids and Combustion Facility

FDA.................... Food and Drug Administration 

FY ...................... fiscal year

GAS.................... Get Away Special

GMSF ................ Growth and Morphology of Supercritical 

............................ Fluids

GN2 .................... gaseous nitrogen

GRP.................... gravitational and relativistic physics

GSM .................. Gas Supply Module

GSRP ................ Graduate Student Research Project

HEDS.................. Human Exploration and Development of 

............................ Space

HH ...................... Hitch-Hiker

HIV .................... human immunodeficiency virus 

HOST ................ Hubble Space Telescope Orbital 

............................ Systems Test

HRT .................... high-resolution thermometer

IDEA .................. International Distributed Experiment 

............................ Archive

IDGE.................. Isothermal Dendritic Growth Experiment

IFFD .................. Internal Flows in a Free Drop

IML.................... International Microgravity Laboratory

IMSPG .............. International Microgravity Strategic 

.......................... Planning Group

IPCG .................. Interferometry of Protein Crystal Growth

ISS .................... International Space Station

ISU .................... International Space University

JPL .................... Jet Propulsion Laboratory
61

JSC .................... Johnson Space Center

LCAP.................. laser cooling and atomic physics

LeRC.................. Lewis Research Center

LIF...................... Large Isothermal Furnace

LMS.................... Life and Microgravity Spacelab

LPE .................... Lambda Point Experiment

LTCMP .............. low-temperature condensed matter 

............................ physics

LTMPF .............. Low-Temperature Microgravity Physics 

.............................. Facility

MAGIC .............. Microgravity Activities for Generating 

............................ International Cooperation

MAMS................ Microgravity Acceleration Measurement 

.............................. System

MEPHISTO .......... Material for the Study of Interesting Solidification Phenomena on Earth and in Space

MFDA ................ Microgravity Flight Data Archive

MGM.................. Mechanics of Granular Materials

MGMG .............. Microgravity Measurements Group

MICREX ............ Microgravity Research Experiments

MIT .................... Massachusetts Institute of Technology

MMA.................. Microgravity Measurement Assembly

MRD .................. Microgravity Research Division 

MRP .................. Microgravity Research Program

MRPO................ Microgravity Research Program Office

MSD .................. Microgravity Science Division

MSFC ................ Marshall Space Flight Center

MSG .................. Microgravity Science Glovebox

MSL.................... Microgravity Science Laboratory

MSRF ................ Materials Science Research Facility

MSRR ................ Materials Science Research Rack

MW.................... molecular weight

NASDA .............. Japanese space agency

NCMRfc ............ National Center for Microgravity Research

............................ on Fluids and Combustion

NIH .................... National Institutes of Health

NIST .................. National Institute of Standards and 

.......................... Technology

NMR .................. nuclear magnetic resonance

NRA.................... NASA Research Announcement

NSF.................... National Science Foundation

OAI .................... Ohio Aerospace Institute

OARE ................ Orbital Acceleration Research Experiment

OPCG ................ Observable Protein Crystal Growth 

............................ Apparatus

OSA.................... Optical Society of America

PCAM ................ Protein Crystallization Apparatus for 

............................ Microgravity

PCG.................... protein crystal growth 

PEP .................... Particle Engulfment and Pushing by a 

............................ Solid/Liquid Interface

PI........................ principal investigator 

PIMS.................. Principal Investigator Microgravity 

............................ Services

PMMA .............. polymethyl methacrylate

RDR.................... requirements definition review

RSV.................... Respiratory Synctial Virus 

R&T .................. Research and Technology

SAMS ................ Space Acceleration Measurement System

SAMS-FF.......... Space Acceleration Measurement System 

............................ for Free Flyers

SAR.................... Shared Accommodations Rack

SBSL.................. single bubble sonoluminescence

SCR .................... science concept review

SL ...................... Spacelab

SR ...................... Suborbital Rocket

SRED.................. science requirements envelope document

SSCE.................. Solid Surface Combustion Experiment

STES .................. Single-Locker Thermal Enclosure System 

STS .................... Space Transportation System

TEMPUS............ Electromagnetic Containerless Processing 

............................ Facility

TGDF ................ Turbulent Gas-Jet Diffusion Flames

TMS .................. Minerals, Metals, and Materials Society 

UF ...................... Utilization Flight

USML ................ United States Microgravity Laboratory

USMP ................ United States Microgravity Payload

VDA.................... Vapor Diffusion Apparatus

WCI.................... Wetting Characteristics of Immiscibles

WWW................ World Wide Web

Zeno.................. Critical Fluid Light Scattering Experiment