NASA to deliver commercial research equipment to station

NASA, Astrium Space Transportation and NanoRacks LLC are expanding the research capability of the International Space Station through delivery of a small commercial centrifuge facility that will conduct molecular and cellular investigations on plant and animal tissue, according to a press release.

The centrifuge enhances NanoRacks's lab equipment aboard the space station, which includes microscopes and a plate reader used to detect biological, chemical or physical activity in samples.

According to the release, NASA will deliver the centrifuge as part of its responsibility to provide transportation for U.S. National Laboratory research and facilities to the space station.

"This is an important step in the expansion of National Lab facilities aboard the space station," Marybeth Edeen, U.S. National Laboratory manager at NASA's Johnson Space Center, said in the release. "Having companies develop research and facilities for the National Lab with their own funding demonstrates the beginnings of the commercial space marketplace that the National Lab was created to serve."

For more information about the International Space Station, visit www.nasa.gov/station.