Spinning science: multi-use Variable-g platform arrives at the ISS

Delivered to the International Space Station aboard SpaceX CRS-14, the Multi-use Variable-g Platform (MVP) is a new commercial testbed for centrifuge-based science aboard the orbiting laboratory. Because gravity determines so much of a live organism’s behavior and growth, centrifuge-based experiments have long been a part of biological investigations in space. While the pull of Earth’s gravity makes this type of investigation difficult at home, the space station’s microgravity environment makes it the perfect place for fractional gravity experimentation. MVP greatly expands that testing capability for the space station.