GLACIER (General Laboratory Active Cryogenic ISS Experiment Refrigerator)

GLACIER (General Laboratory Active Cryogenic ISS Experiment Refrigerator) was designed and developed by University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Center for Biophysical Sciences and Engineering (CBSE) for NASA Cold Stowage. Glacier was originally designed for use on board the Space Shuttle, but is now used for storing scientific samples on ISS in the EXpedite the PRocessing of Experiments to Space Station (EXPRESS) rack, and transporting samples to/from orbit via the Spacex Dragon (spacecraft) or Cygnus (spacecraft). GLACIER is a double middeck locker equivalent payload designed to provide thermal control between +4 °C and -160 °C.^[1]

Description

• GLACIER can use air or water to reject heat depending on the temperatures required for the scientific samples.
• GLACIER can maintain temperatures from +4 to -95 °C using only air cooling, and can cool to -160 °C when connected to the water supply.
• GLACIER can accommodate up to 36 lb of sample mass.^[2]

Additional Cold Stowage

GLACIER is one of multiple units available for storage on the ISS and/or transportation to and from the ISS.

• Minus Eighty Degree Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI)
  • +4 °C to -80 °C

• MERLIN (Microgravity Experiment Research Locker/ Incubator)
  • +48 °C to -20 °C

• Polar (Research Refrigerator for ISS)
  • +4 °C to -95 °C

See also

• Scientific research on the ISS
• International Space Station
• Dragon (spacecraft)

References