MERLIN (Microgravity Experiment Research Locker / Incubator)
MERLIN (Microgravity Experiment Research Locker / Incubator) is a unit for the thermally controlled storage of scientific experiments in the ISS and during transport to Earth or during transport from Earth to the ISS. The MERLIN units are permanently installed in the ISS EXPRESS rack , in the Dragon and Cygnus spaceships and in the space shuttle .
description
MERLIN was developed at the University of Alabama, Birmingham , Center for Biophysical Sciences and Engineering (CBSE) to create a temperature-controllable environment for scientific experiments. MERLIN can generate internal temperatures from −20 ° C to +48.5 ° C. MERLIN has a capacity of around 18.4 liters.
functionality
MERLIN uses Peltier elements for cooling , which can generate up to −20 ° C inside the ISS by water cooling . With air cooling , they can only generate −10 ° C.
Heating elements are used to heat the MERLIN, which can generate temperatures of up to 48.5 ° C inside.
Up to 12 sensors are built into the MERLIN unit that continuously measure and control the temperature.
Other refrigerated storage areas on the ISS
- MELFI (Minus Eighty-Degree Laboratory Freezer For ISS) (+4 ° C to −80 ° C)
- GLACIER (+4 ° C to −160 ° C)
- Polar (Research Refrigerator for ISS) (+4 ° C to −95 ° C)
swell
- MERLIN on the NASA homepage (accessed October 30, 2016)