The General Purpose Work Station, A Spacious Microgravity Workbench 921394
The General Purpose Work Station (GPWS) is a laboratory multi-use facility, as demonstrated during the Spacelab Life Sciences 1 (SLS-1) flight. The unit provided particulate containment under varying conditions, served as an effective work space for manipulating live animals, e.g., rats, served as a containment facility for fixatives, and was proposed for use to conduct in-flight maintenance during connector pin repair.
The cabinet has a front door large enough to allow installation of a full-size microscope in-flight and is outfitted with a side window to allow delivery of items into the cabinet without exposure to the spacelab atmosphere. Additional support subsystems include inside cabinet mounting, surgical glove fine manipulations capability, and alternating or direct current power supply for experiment equipment, as will be demonstrated during Spacelab J.
The GPWS, integrated and maintained in a double flight-rack, interfaces to spacelab systems including water cooling, avionics and cabin air, and power. Verification has been completed for multiple spacelab scenarios including SLS-2, SL-J, and SLS-3.
Citation: Dalton, B., Schmidt, G., and Savage, P., "The General Purpose Work Station, A Spacious Microgravity Workbench," SAE Technical Paper 921394, 1992, https://doi.org/10.4271/921394. Download Citation
Author(s):
Bonnie P. Dalton, Greg K. Schmidt, P. D. Savage
Affiliated:
NASA Ames Research Center
Pages: 11
Event:
International Conference On Environmental Systems
ISSN:
0148-7191
e-ISSN:
2688-3627
Also in:
SAE 1992 Transactions: Journal of Aerospace-V101-1
Related Topics:
Biological sciences
Water
Particulate matter (PM)
Microgravity
Surgical procedures
Cooling
Avionics
Connectors and terminals
Windows and windshields
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