1 00:00:01,400 --> 00:00:04,350 The ISS is truly a global asset. 2 00:00:04,350 --> 00:00:10,259 It’s the result of 15 nations working together, sharing planning, technology, scientific advancements, 3 00:00:10,259 --> 00:00:11,809 and the talents of its people. 4 00:00:11,809 --> 00:00:15,959 We recently celebrated a decade of continuous human presence off-planet. 5 00:00:15,959 --> 00:00:20,880 We’re learning how humans can exist in the extremely unforgiving environment of space, 6 00:00:20,880 --> 00:00:23,699 where resupply from home is difficult and costly. 7 00:00:23,699 --> 00:00:26,180 What we do here will improve life on Earth. 8 00:00:26,180 --> 00:00:31,929 Over the past decade we’ve conducted over 600 experiments leading to advances in materials, 9 00:00:31,929 --> 00:00:37,330 environmental science, medicine and our understanding of the human body, our planet and the universe. 10 00:00:37,330 --> 00:00:41,350 Let me quickly grab the camera as I fly you through some of the research facilities that 11 00:00:41,350 --> 00:00:43,150 we have on board and tell you more. 12 00:00:43,150 --> 00:00:47,350 We’re presently in the Japanese Experiment Module also known as the JEM, where we have 13 00:00:47,350 --> 00:00:52,650 this airlock where we could put experiments out into the vacuum of space replace to be 14 00:00:52,650 --> 00:00:58,600 place on this external platform, out these beautiful windows out here. 15 00:00:58,600 --> 00:01:01,000 The JEM also has several experiments racks. 16 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:06,940 We’ll talk about the first one here which is the Ryutai rack. 17 00:01:06,940 --> 00:01:10,940 The Ryutai rack at the moment is being used for a Protein Crystal Growth experiment which 18 00:01:10,940 --> 00:01:14,770 could lead to advancements in medicine, and was recently as for a fluids experiment which 19 00:01:14,770 --> 00:01:17,580 investigated the Marangoni convection effects. 20 00:01:17,580 --> 00:01:20,700 Improved understanding of this phenomena can have numerous applications including improved 21 00:01:20,700 --> 00:01:25,980 silicon chip manufacturing, high quality materials, improved medical diagnostics and advancements 22 00:01:25,980 --> 00:01:29,950 in micro and nanotechnology. 23 00:01:29,950 --> 00:01:34,430 The Saibo or cell rack is presently conducting plant growth experiments. 24 00:01:34,430 --> 00:01:38,060 In the unique micro-g environment of the space station we can better understand how gravity, 25 00:01:38,060 --> 00:01:43,050 light and water affect how plants grow, which may help us grow crops more efficiently, especially 26 00:01:43,050 --> 00:01:46,070 in the arid and drought affected regions of the world. 27 00:01:46,070 --> 00:01:50,549 The JEM also has two of our many freezer facilities that we have onboard for biological and other 28 00:01:50,549 --> 00:01:54,729 samples that must be kept frozen to preserve the science. 29 00:01:54,729 --> 00:02:01,409 We’re now flying starboard across the forward edge of the space station toward the European 30 00:02:01,409 --> 00:02:03,909 module known as Columbus. 31 00:02:03,909 --> 00:02:08,380 This rack contains the Geoflow experiment which is helping us better understand the 32 00:02:08,380 --> 00:02:13,890 Earth’s inner core which could help us predict natural disasters such as volcanoes and earthquakes 33 00:02:13,890 --> 00:02:15,480 better. 34 00:02:15,480 --> 00:02:19,720 In Columbus there’s also many facilities dedicated to study of biology and the human 35 00:02:19,720 --> 00:02:25,129 body including two Human Research Facility racks which contain medical diagnostic equipment, 36 00:02:25,129 --> 00:02:29,400 Biolab and the European physiology and cultivation modules. 37 00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:32,769 Some of the experiments in these facilities will look at how to grow plants in harsh climates 38 00:02:32,769 --> 00:02:37,159 and poor soil and explore methods of boosting the human body's immune system. 39 00:02:37,159 --> 00:02:41,209 In the US lab there’s a number of EXPRESS racks that can be configured for a wide range 40 00:02:41,209 --> 00:02:50,040 of experiments, more freezer facilities and a laboratory glovebox facility. 41 00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:53,680 This is the Combustion Integrated Rack which is used to create a controlled combustion 42 00:02:53,680 --> 00:02:58,040 environment and includes a pressure vessel and advanced diagnostics. 43 00:02:58,040 --> 00:03:01,819 Some of the benefits of microgravity combustion research include fire safety and prevention 44 00:03:01,819 --> 00:03:07,950 both on spacecraft and on the Earth, pollution control and increased fuel efficiency. 45 00:03:07,950 --> 00:03:11,629 This is the Fluids Integrated Rack which is used to perform fluid physics experiments 46 00:03:11,629 --> 00:03:16,480 in microgravity and contains a microscope facility in a sealed glovebox. 47 00:03:16,480 --> 00:03:20,359 Some of our fluids experiments investigate how fluids behave near the critical point 48 00:03:20,359 --> 00:03:24,260 which can lead to advancements in clean energy production and clean methods for eliminating 49 00:03:24,260 --> 00:03:25,829 hazardous waste. 50 00:03:25,829 --> 00:03:31,040 I’d like to show you inside the WORF, the Window Observational Research Facility, although 51 00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:33,999 we can’t open it up right now because we have an experiment ongoing in there called 52 00:03:33,999 --> 00:03:38,180 ISSAC, the International Space Station Agricultural Camera. 53 00:03:38,180 --> 00:03:44,569 This camera takes frequent visual and infrared pictures of vegetated areas around the Earth. 54 00:03:44,569 --> 00:03:48,840 This camera takes images frequently enough to evaluate rapidly changing conditions of 55 00:03:48,840 --> 00:03:52,739 crops and areas which have a short growing season and provides valuable information that 56 00:03:52,739 --> 00:03:57,239 farmers can use to optimize crop growth and increased food production. 57 00:03:57,239 --> 00:04:02,029 Beyond its initial agricultural focus, scientists also plan and investigate how a quick response 58 00:04:02,029 --> 00:04:06,519 Earth sensor such as ISSAC can be used to study a number of rapidly changing phenomena 59 00:04:06,519 --> 00:04:10,969 around the planet, for measuring how glaciers are changing to the potential applications 60 00:04:10,969 --> 00:04:15,749 in helping monitor conditions following natural disasters. 61 00:04:15,749 --> 00:04:19,400 Technologies developed and demonstrated here on orbit will help alleviate some of the issues 62 00:04:19,400 --> 00:04:21,790 humans face daily on the planet. 63 00:04:21,790 --> 00:04:24,229 One example has to do with water purification. 64 00:04:24,229 --> 00:04:27,190 As we flight aft through the space station to the Russian segment I’ll tell you all 65 00:04:27,190 --> 00:04:29,900 about it. 66 00:04:29,900 --> 00:04:34,060 One of the challenges of our technology on the ISS is that it needs to be sustainable. 67 00:04:34,060 --> 00:04:38,060 Which means it needs to be easy to use and work for long periods of time without maintenance 68 00:04:38,060 --> 00:04:39,669 or resupply. 69 00:04:39,669 --> 00:04:43,870 Applying this sustainable engineering approach, a group of NASA engineers volunteered their 70 00:04:43,870 --> 00:04:48,150 time and developed the water treatment system for communities in Rwanda where they also 71 00:04:48,150 --> 00:04:51,180 need clean water with limited training and resupply. 72 00:04:51,180 --> 00:04:55,030 That project went to a project in Kenya for providing household-scale water treatment 73 00:04:55,030 --> 00:04:56,290 systems for 4 million people. 74 00:04:56,290 --> 00:05:00,690 It is the largest water treatment project of its kind in the world. 75 00:05:00,690 --> 00:05:08,310 I’m entering the MRM2 research facility in the Russian segment. 76 00:05:08,310 --> 00:05:14,460 Here in the Russian MRM2 module, this experiment is investigating how electromagnetic fields 77 00:05:14,460 --> 00:05:16,800 can affect the structure of crystal growth. 78 00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:25,080 Here in the Russian service module there’s a number of scientific experiments. 79 00:05:25,080 --> 00:05:30,300 In the LADA experiment investigators are evaluating different methods of growing wheat and vegetables 80 00:05:30,300 --> 00:05:31,970 using hydroponics. 81 00:05:31,970 --> 00:05:38,449 Here in the Russian segment there’s also a great deal of photo equipment that’s used 82 00:05:38,449 --> 00:05:41,840 for Earth observation through these great Earth-facing windows. 83 00:05:41,840 --> 00:05:46,780 We look at things like human impact, the effect of human impact on the environment, on the 84 00:05:46,780 --> 00:05:48,860 atmosphere, on pollution control. 85 00:05:48,860 --> 00:05:54,100 There’s also an experiment called Rusalka which evaluates the human impact on the Earth’s 86 00:05:54,100 --> 00:05:55,100 atmosphere. 87 00:05:55,100 --> 00:05:59,000 These are just a small subset of all the research that’s being conducted aboard the International 88 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:00,000 Space Station. 89 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:04,580 All the research is leading to things like new emergency sutureless wound closure and 90 00:06:04,580 --> 00:06:08,949 disinfection, breakthroughs in the understanding and protection against bacteria such as Salmonella, 91 00:06:08,949 --> 00:06:13,389 the treatment of osteoporosis and skin disorders, and the development of a NASA bioreactor which 92 00:06:13,389 --> 00:06:18,570 is being used in laboratories around the world for research in things like cancer, regenerative 93 00:06:18,570 --> 00:06:23,830 medicine, artificial organs, diabetes, AIDS, vaccine production and infectious disease. 94 00:06:23,830 --> 00:06:29,129 Thanks to the cooperation of the 15 nations of our International Space Station partnership, 95 00:06:29,129 --> 00:06:32,360 research is being conducted onboard the ISS that simply cannot be done on Earth and is 96 00:06:32,360 --> 00:06:35,389 making a big positive impact on our world.