Low temperature research aboard the Space Station

A cryogenic Space Station facility is being developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and industrial partners to support the microgravity needs of the international scientific community. The facility will be attached to the Japanese Experiments Module's Exposed Facility and will operate with a 6 month helium cryogen lifetime. Flights of the facility are planned at 2 year intervals starting in 2003 with each flight accommodating multiple scientific experiments. Capabilities, conceptual designs and development plans for the facility will be discussed along with a summary of potential near term flight candidate experiments.