![](\"http:\/\/www.esa.int\/var\/esa\/storage\/images\/esa_multimedia\/images\/2018\/02\/kubik_on_space_station\/17366117-1-eng-GB\/Kubik_on_Space_Station_small.jpg\")
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\nA miniaturised laboratory inside the orbital laboratory that is ESA\u2019s Columbus module, this 40 cm cube has been one of its quiet scientific triumphs.\n<\/p>\n
\nKubik \u2013 from the Russian for cube \u2013 has been working aboard the International Space Station since before Columbus\u2019 arrival in February 2008.\n<\/p>\n
\n\u201cKubik hosts a wide range of life science experiments in weightlessness with minimal crew involvement,\u201d explains Jutta Krause of the payload development team. \u201cResearch teams prepare their experiments and make use of existing or custom-built \u2018experiment units\u2019, which are each about the size of a box of pocket tissues.\n<\/p>\n
\n\u201cOnce slotted into Kubik by an astronaut, they are automatically activated through internal electrical connections, running autonomously on a programmed timeline until they are finally retrieved for return to Earth.\n<\/p>\n
\n\u201cAt the centre of the temperature-controlled Kubik is a centrifuge to simulate gravity, so double experiments can be run with one unit in microgravity plus an Earth-gravity control or intermediate gravity level \u2013 giving researchers insight into whether any results they observe might be related to weightlessness or some other environmental factor, such as space radiation.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\nThe challenge for researchers is to miniaturise their experiments to fit within the confines of these compact units, adds team member Janine Liedtke: \u201cWe aim to refurbish experiment units as much as possible, so in some cases teams can adapt a previously flown unit, or else we can tailor new units to their needs.\n<\/p>\n
\n\u201cWhy fly biological samples in weightlessness? Because we know many biological systems are partially gravity-dependent, so by \u2018taking away\u2019 gravity researchers can gain broader insight into how they work.\n<\/p>\n
\n\u201cTo give an idea, Kubik has over the years hosted samples of bacteria, fungi, human white blood cells and stem cells from bone marrow and umbilical cords, plant seedlings, and swimming tadpoles. A pending payload is designed to examine how microbial biofilms interact with rock surfaces across different gravity levels, from weightlessness to Mars and Earth gravity.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\nExperiment times are limited because the samples are biological \u2013 part of the work is carefully planning the mission scenario. Even the hours needed for the ascent and descent of the experiment unit to and from Columbus are carefully accounted for, to ensure that they are back again within a couple of weeks of launch, depending on the sensitivity of the samples.\n<\/p>\n
\n\u201cWe\u2019ve been using the Soyuz, and now the SpaceX Dragon,\u201d adds Jutta. \u201cTypically, when one vehicle goes up another one comes down. This ensures that experiments can be up- and downloaded rapidly.\n<\/p>\n
\n\u201cA fixative is often added to an experiment at its conclusion, so researchers get to examine it as it was in microgravity. Additionally, units can be refrigerated during their return trip.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\nTwelve experiments from ESA and national space agencies have so far been run in Kubik, with ESA planning seven more by the end of this decade. The facility is due to be upgraded with new electronics, to offer more features and keep it fully operational into its second decade.\n<\/p>\n