Improved crystals will aid their design of new drugs. The superior crystals grown in space contribute insights that otherwise might not have been possible, despite huge investments in ground-based research. Another USML-2 protein facility, the University of Alabama at Birmingham's Commercial Protein Crystal Growth vapor diffusion apparatus, had experienced somewhat elevated temperatures yesterday due to warmer than normal crew cabin temperatures after launch. Coleman spent the first portion of her shift activating more of the biological samples in NASA's Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus. The facility, managed by Bioserve Space Technologies at the University of Colorado in Boulder, is a generic research tool for a wide variety of life-science experiments.
Subjects range from molecules and cells to tiny organisms.
Groups of eight syringe-like fluid containers are packaged together so they can be activated simultaneously by turning a crank on the pack. Leslie's first major assignment was loading six samples into the Marshall Center's Crystal Growth Furnace, a multi-user facility for growing crystals of semiconducting material, metals and alloys. Crew members also installed a flexible glovebox atop the furnace, which they will use later in the mission to remove crystallized samples and replace them with new sample cylinders. An automatic sample exchanger within the furnace allows ground controllers to command processing of multiple crystals in sequence, freeing the Spacelab crew for other duties. Just after midnight, Crystal Growth Furnace team members began vapor crystal growth of their first semiconductor sample, a mercury cadmium telluride compound provided by Dr. Heribert Wiedemeier of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.