Multi-purpose ISS Experiment Flight Facility (External Facility)

Facility Description

MISSE is a cost effective, rapid, turnkey way to test and advance new technologies in the external space environment. All customer experiment flight articles are returned to the owners after the mission. This highly flexible, commercial facility owned and operated by Aegis Aerospace is permanently installed on the external ISSInternational Space Station truss on Express Logistics Carrier 2 (ELC 2) near the solar arrays. The facility accommodates three MISSE experiment carriers on each facility face (ram, wake, zenith and nadir), for a total of 12 locations.

Carriers are launched and returned twice every year. They can accommodate several users each and a wide array of flight articles for passive and powered testing. A wide variety of material experiments are routinely flown on MISSE as are electronics boards, processors, sensors, Earth observing cameras, biological samples such as seeds, bacteria and extremophiles, and other technologies. Two types of experiment carriers are available, the MISSE Science Carrier (MSC) and the MISSE Pallet Carrier (MPC).

An MSC comprises two boxes hinged together, each 33cm X 17.8cm X 7.6cm (13” X 7” X 3”). MSCs are launched and returned closed to protect user experiments. MSCs can carry up to 10kg of experiments and test articles. Continuous power of up to 50W at 28VDC is available (12V, 5V, & 3V are also possible) and communication is provided via ethernet and RS422 with up to 5Mbps of shared data through the ISS downlink (higher bandwidth can be provided as needed). Commands and software updates can be uploaded to the experiment. Data from several environmental sensors are also available: atomic oxygen, ultraviolet radiation, total ionizing dose radiation, contamination, and temperature. Monthly HD images of exposed test articles are provided as a standard service.

The MISSE Pallet Carrier (MPC) is used for larger experiments. It has one integration plate ~45cm x ~24cm (~18″ x 9″) for experiment mounting with up to 25.4cm (10″) above the integration plate available for experiment hardware (roughly 24U of available experiment hardware volume). MPC-mounted test articles can be protected during launch and landing by a cover that the ISS crew removes prior to the MPC going external through the airlock. The MPC has the capacity to carry up to ~20kg of test articles and provides 50W of continuous power at 28VDC. Communication is available via ethernet and RS422 and data downlink is nominally 5Mbps (higher bandwidth is possible). Users can uplink commands and software updates as needed. Data from several environmental sensors is available: atomic oxygen, ultraviolet radiation, total ionizing dose radiation, contamination, and temperature.

Both the MSC and MPC have solar cell testing capabilities using the Orbital Electronics Lab (OEL) that integrates in to a MISSE carrier. Benefits of OEL include but are not limited to: direct Sun pointing for over 150 orbits (< ±5 degree Beta angle), and numerous IV, Isc, Voc measurements per orbit. Solar cells, like all customer experiment flight articles are returned from orbit and sent back to the owner. The OEL accepts standard cell sizes (2x2cm, 1-per or 2-per cells from 10cm (4”) or 15cm (6”) wafers) and custom sizes.