Fluid Processing Apparatus (FPA)
Mixing fluids in space in a controlled manner is tricky business. For this purpose, BioServe has created the FPA. The FPA is a test tube that allows for controlled, sequential mixing of two to four fluids in microgravity while maintaining safe levels of contaiment.
How does it work? The fluids, or cultures, are contained in a glass barrel and are isolated from each other by a rubber septum. As a plunger mechanism pushes the septum forward, a bypass in the glass barrel allows a fluid in one chamber to flow into an adjacent chamber.
The FPA has been used to conduct a variety of research, including:
- Small plants/seed germination
- Small invertibrates
- Microorganisms
- Mammalian cells
- Viruses
- Protein crystal growth
- Biomaterials
-Written By: Ari Sandberg, Intern