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Facility/Payload OverviewBrief Facility Summary
The Animal Enclosure Module (AEM) hardware is used for investigations which study the influence of microgravity on rodent physiology and anatomy. Research conducted with the AEM is an analog to the human research program (which has the objective are to extend the human presence safely beyond low Earth orbit). The hardware is maintained by NASA at the Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA.
Facility Manager(s)Information Pending
Facility DeveloperAmes Research Center, Moffett Field, CA
Sponsoring AgencyNational Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Expeditions Assigned|4|15|
Previous ISS MissionsAEMs have flown on 23 previous Space Shuttle mission, most recently on STS-118 in August 2007.
Facility/Payload Description
Facility Summary
- The Animal Enclosure Module (AEM) is a self-contained habitat that provides its occupants with living space, food, water, ventilation, and lighting.
- The unit's internal waste management system is designed to keep the animals isolated from their waste by-products and to prevent these by-products and food crumbs from escaping into Shuttle habitable environment.
- The AEM is space-proven hardware and has been flown on 23 shuttle missions.
The Animal Enclosure Module (AEM) hardware is used for experiments which study the influence of microgravity on rodent physiology and anatomy. The AEM is a self-contained habitat that provides its occupants with living space, food, water, ventilation, and lighting. Its internal waste management system guarantees that animals are isolated from their waste by-products and that these by-products and food crumbs do not escape into the open middeck where the crew is living. Animal research is a key component of solving critical human health and performance problems resulting from long-duration missions in space.
The AEM supports up to five adult rats or eight adult mice and fits inside a standard middeck locker with a modified locker door. It is composed of a stainless steel grid cage module, fan blowers, a layered filter system, interior lamps, food bars and a water unit. Total animal floor space, with water box installed, is 645 cm2. A removable divider plate provides two separate animal holding areas (if required). The AEM remains in the stowage locker during launch and landing. On orbit the AEM may be removed from the locker and the interior viewed or photographed through the clear Lexan cover over the cage; the AEM must be pulled out of the locker approximately three quarters of its depth for observation of the rodents. Temperatures inside the AEM can be recorded with a data logger and the data is read out and provided to investigators postflight. A main breaker protects and distributes power to fan and lighting subsystems. Additional circuit breakers independently protect lights and fans in diagonally opposed corners to assure light and air circulation on each side of the AEM should one breaker fail. The AEM can be moved into the Orbiter approximately twelve hours before launch and removed approximately one hour after landing.
Cabin air is exchanged with the AEM through a filter system. Four fan blowers, operated by a switch on the front panel, create a slight negative pressure inside the cage, causing an air sweep to pull animal waste products into a collection filter. Cabin air is drawn through the front panel inlet slots, then along the side plenum walls, to be directed though the inlet filter located at the rear of the AEM, into the animal habitat. High efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters (electrostatic and phosphoric acid treated fiberglass pads) prevent any microbiological escape into the cabin atmosphere. Treated charcoal, within the unit, confines animal odors within the closed system. After exiting the habitat through the exhaust filter, located at the front of the unit between the rodent cage and fans, the filtered air is drawn through the fans into the cabin and directed by the air deflector.
The four internal lamps provide an average of 14 lux illumination and are controlled by an automatic timer to provide a programmable lighting cycle for the AEM. The lamps are mounted two to a side in the rear corners of the AEM, between the animal habitat and inlet filter, and are covered with a clear cap to protect each lamp from animal debris. The timing of the day/night sequence can be selected, and is typically set to a 12/12-hour day/night cycle.
The AEM has a 1,500 and 2,000 cm3 capacity automatic watering unit that utilizes four "Lixit Drinking Valves" and two flexible plastic (polyvinylchloride) bladders for water storage. Sufficient water pressure is maintained via compression springs. Water consumption can be monitored in flight by observation of water levels via a Lexan window on the top of the water box. Rodent food bars are attached to up to four slide-in food bar plates inside the rodent cage. The food, a sterilized laboratory formula, is molded into rectangular bars (approximately 1.8 x 1 x 8 inches) accessible to the animals at all times during the mission.
The AEM is 24.50 x 43.69 x 51.05 cm and weighs approximately 27.2 kg (with food, water, and animals). The AEM requires a minimum of 35.5 W from the Space Shuttle. The temperature of the AEM is elevated 3 - 8 degrees C above orbiter middeck temperature (four internal fans circulate air through the AEM from the cabin).
Operations
Facility Operations
Once the rodents are in space, the flight hardware and experiment are relatively self-sufficient. The AEMs contain enough food and water to house the rodents safely and effectively for the mission duration. A crewmember will check the health status of the rodents on a daily basis, by assessing them through the viewing window on each AEM. Depending on mission duration refill of the water boxes can be conducted inflight to ensure adequate water supply.
Results/More Information
Information Pending
Availability
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Publications
Results Publications
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Images
Animal Enclosure Module hardware. Image provided by BioServe Space Technologies.+ View Larger Image
Information Provided and Updated by the ISS Program Scientist's Office