CU Research Lab Onboard ISS
A new microbe lab designed and built by the University of Colorado Boulder has been installed on the International Space Station.
The Space Automated Bioproduct Lab (SABL) is an incubator for cell cultures and other biological experiments. The suitcase-sized lab is a project of Bioserve Space Technologies.
The lab was installed and activated by Astronaut Tim Peake on February 24, 2016, who worked with the CU team to setup the equipment.
SABL was designed to enhance the capabilities of the ISS's current incubator system, which was also developed by CU-Boulder and first flew onboard a space shuttle in 2001. The new lab has a larger experiment space and improved temperature controls. It also is water-cooled, eliminating the need for loud fans.
The first two SABL units were launched as part of a Cygnus resupply mission sent to the ISS in December 2015. Experiments will begin later this year.