ICE Cubes Service

The International Commercial Experiment Cubes Service provides fast, simple and affordable access for research & technology to the International Space Station

[ICE Cubes Service @ICECubesService]

We're striking the heart of the matter - with a 3D bioprinter, a miniature heart, a microfluidic chip and Space.

With AstroCardia, our latest research project, we look at a microscopic level at what happens to our heart as we age. 👨‍🔬👵

Explore more: https://t.co/vh1OscsVuE

[Adenot Sophie @Soph_astro]

Day 130, orbit 2017 — The variety of research carried out on board the International Space Station is simply amazing — and in this timelapse, I’m installing an experiment at the intersection of planetary science and astrophysics. 230 years ago, French scientist Pierre-Simon Laplace theorised that planets 🪐 are born from vast clouds of gas and dust. Today, the experiment named after him aims to reproduce this process… and observe it in real time!

Set up inside the commercial ICE Cubes Facility in the Columbus module, Laplace explores how tiny grains of dust can come together to form the first building blocks of planets. To do this, it observes clouds of dust floating in a thin gas, watching them collide and gradually stick together – something best studied in microgravity.

The results will improve our models of planet formation, shedding light on the origins of Earth 🌍, and guiding the study of exoplanets. They will also help scientists make better sense of what we see through both space- and ground-based telescopes. Go science!

🎥 @esa / @NASA

#εpsilon • @esaspaceflight • @Space_Station • @nasajohnson • @ICECubesService • @DLR_en • @UCF

[Adenot Sophie @Soph_astro]

Jour 130, orbite 2017 – La variété des recherches menées à bord de la Station spatiale internationale est impressionnante  – pour preuve ce timelapse de l’installation de l’expérience Laplace, à la croisée de la science planétaire et de l’astrophysique. Au 18e siècle, le scientifique français Pierre-Simon Laplace postulait que les planètes 🪐 naissent d’un nuage de gaz et de poussière. Aujourd’hui, l’expérience qui porte son nom vise à reproduire ce processus… et à l’observer en direct !

Installée dans le dispositif commercial ICE Cubes Facility du module Columbus, Laplace cherche à comprendre comment de simples grains de poussière finissent par former les premières briques d’une planète. L’expérience propose donc d’observer, jusqu’à leur aggrégation, des nuages de poussière en suspension dans une fine atmosphère gazeuse – un phénomène qui s’étudie bien mieux en micropesanteur !

Les résultats permettront notamment d’améliorer les modèles de formation planétaire, contribuant à mieux comprendre la formation de la Terre 🌍 et éclairer l’étude des exoplanètes. Ils permettront aussi d’affiner l’interprétation des observations réalisées au moyen des télescopes spatiaux ou terrestres. Vive la science !

🎥 @esa / @NASA

#εpsilon • @esaspaceflight •  @ESA_fr • @Space_Station • @nasajohnson • @ICECubesService • @DLR_en • @UCF

[Adenot Sophie @Soph_astro]

Jour 137, orbite 2125 – Depuis le début de la mission εpsilon, j’ai installé plusieurs expériences dans l’ICE Cubes Facility (ICF), située dans le module européen Columbus. Déployée par l’ESA dans le cadre d’un partenariat public-privé, cette plateforme modulaire est un super exemple d’un service commercial qui permet un accès rapide et flexible à la recherche en micropesanteur.

Lancée en 2018 par Space Applications Services, l’ICF a déjà accueilli des dizaines d’expériences. C’est génial de voir tant d’entreprises tirer parti de l’environnement unique de la Station spatiale internationale pour faire avancer la recherche au service de tous sur Terre ! 👏
Petit aperçu d’expériences ICF activées pendant ma mission, dans des domaines très variés :

➡ MSAC (📸 2), qui étudie la formation de matériaux ultra-légers en aérogel en l’absence de mouvements de fluides induits par la gravité. Ces résultats pourraient aider à concevoir de meilleurs matériaux pour capter le dioxyde de carbone et à définir comment les produire sur Terre, contribuant ainsi à un avenir plus durable.

➡ Baby BOX‑E (📸 3), qui vise à démontrer une méthode industrialisable pour faire croître des cristaux de médicaments en micropesanteur, où ils atteignent une taille plus importante – tout en étant plus purs et plus homogènes – que sur Terre. Cela pourrait permettre de développer des versions injectables de certains traitements contre le cancer, plus simples et plus accessibles pour les patients.

➡ TIGERS‑X (📸 4), un mélangeur et émulsificateur automatisé qui étudie comment des fluides médicaux complexes se mélangent et forment des émulsions stables en micropesanteur. Les résultats pourraient améliorer les formulations médicales et les systèmes de support vie pour les futures missions de longue durée, mais aussi sur Terre, notamment pour la nutrition intraveineuse.

➡ Laplace (📸 1), qui étudie comment des nuages de poussières microscopiques donnent naissance aux planètes en observant les collisions et l’agrégation des particules dans une fine atmosphère gazeuse.

Quatre expériences, quatre domaines de recherche : science des matériaux 🔬, biotechnologies 💎, sciences de la vie 🩸 et astrophysique 🪐 ! Vive la science !

📸 @esa /@NASA – S. Adenot

#εpsilon • @Space_Station • @NASAJohnson • @ICECubesService • Space Applications Services NV/SA • Aerospace Applications North America Inc. • @esaBSGN • @BioOrbitSpace • @spacegovuk • @DLR_en • ISHA Lab (CRA) • @tuBraunschweig • SRI • International Space Station National Laboratory

[Adenot Sophie @Soph_astro]

Day 137, orbit 2125 — Since the beginning of the εpsilon mission, I’ve installed several payloads in the ICE Cubes Facility (ICF) located in the European Columbus module. Enabled by ESA through a public-private partnership, this modular platform is a great example of how commercial services can open up fast and flexible access to research in microgravity.

Launched in 2018 by Space Applications Services, the ICF has already hosted dozens of payloads. It’s truly inspiring to see so many companies making use of the Space Station and its unique environment to boost their research and bring benefits back to Earth! 👏

Here’s a look at some of the ICF payloads I’ve handled so far, supporting a wide range of research:

➡ Microgravity Synthesis of Aerogel Copolymers – MSAC (📸 1), exploring how ultra‑light aerogel materials form in the absence of gravity‑driven fluid motion. The results could help design improved materials to capture carbon dioxide and guide the way these are produced on Earth, contributing to a more sustainable future.

➡ Baby BOX‑E (📸 2), aiming at demonstrating a scalable way to grow drug crystals in microgravity, where they form larger, purer and more uniform than on Earth. This could help develop injectable versions of certain cancer treatments, making them simpler and more accessible for patients.

➡ TIGERS‑X (📸 3), an automated mixer and emulsifier studying how complex medical fluids mix and form stable emulsions in microgravity. The results could help improve medical formulations and life‑support systems for future long-duration missions and on Earth, including intravenous nutrition.

➡ Laplace (📸 4), investigating how clouds of microscopic dust evolve into planets by studying how particles collide and stick together while suspended in a thin gas atmosphere.
4 experiments and 4 different fields of research: materials science 🔬, biotechnology 💎, life science 🩸 and astrophysics 🪐! Go science!

📸 @esa /@NASA – S. Adenot

#εpsilon • @Space_Station • @NASAJohnson • @ICECubesService • Space Applications Services NV/SA • Aerospace Applications North America Inc. • @esaBSGN • @BioOrbitSpace • @spacegovuk • @DLR_en • ISHA Lab (CRA) • @tuBraunschweig • SRI • International Space Station National Laboratory

[KP Labs @labs_kp]

🛰️ Here you can see exactly where LeopardISS is mounted inside ESA’s Columbus module by @astro_slawosz, in the @ICECubesService Facility - a modular platform that provides power, thermal stability, data links, and real-time communication with Earth.

[Human Spaceflight @esaspaceflight]

@Space_Station @ICECubesService @RoInSpace @esa @ISS_Research @NASA 🔬 @astro_Pettit explains it better in this video from space just before he installed the experiment in the @ICECubesService facility on @esa’s Columbus module.

[Stefano Seriani @StefanoSeriani]

🎯 This night at 3:29 CET our #RISE Experiment Cube reached orbit on a @SpaceX Falcon 9! 🛰

📡 #RISE now in transit to the #ISS, where it will arrive at ~16:15 CET.

After docking, #RISE will be installed in the @ICECubesService facility.

And then... we're doing science!!🚀

[Alsaleh Lab - Oxford Space Innovation Lab @AlsalehAgingLab]

TONIGHT our “Aging Beyond Earth” organoids will be sent out to the ISS on the @SpaceX -31 shuttle at @NASA at Cape Canaveral 🚀🛰️☄️

The samples were SUCCESSFULY loaded into the IceCubes as you can see in the images below!

Stay tuned for the updates on the launch this evening!

[PULSE EU @pulse_eic]

Happy #NationalAerospaceWeek! 🌍✈️ We celebrate how partnerships between government, industry, and researchers help innovate human activities in space! 🌌

Discover how our #EUfunded project plans to 3D bioprint cardiac models in microgravity at https://t.co/yEXrDQFI2F! 🚀💓

[ICE Cubes Service @ICECubesService]

@XRPeaceOfMind And if we may add, Space Applications Services is not a startup ;). The company exists since 1987!

[Extremo Technologies @Extremo_Tech]

Today we had a productive tour at 2 Polish TVs at @TVP3Warszawa with @axelia86 and Leonardo from @ICECubesService and @FaktyTVP3 with @WMUrbanska
#SpaceVolcanicAlgae #PLinSpace #ISS #TV

[ICE Cubes Service @ICECubesService]

We are sending Volcanic Algae to space! Want to know more? Follow us and @Extremo_Tech for the latest update on this groundbreaking research project!

[Extremo Technologies @Extremo_Tech]

Space Volcanic Algae article on @tvp_info. Thank you for spreading the news about experiment 🧪🥼🥽

[Ian Luca Benecken @Ian_Benecken]

So cool: #JimGreen mentions @ICECubesService in his lecture about Microgravity research. @ISUnet #SSP24

[ICE Cubes Service @ICECubesService]

@Ian_Benecken @ISUnet Thank you dear #JimGreen and @Ian_Benecken and greetings to #SSP24 @ISUnet

[PULSE EU @pulse_eic]

We are proud to be part of the #organoids sector in this panoramic landscape of groups using space to advance #biotech! 💗

Our @EUeic project, coordinated by @MoroniGroup , will be 3D #biorpitning #cardiac models via a combo of acoustic & magnetic levitation in space! 🔊 🧲

[Joseph ‘Sci’ Borg @joseph_borg_]

New studies on astronauts and space biology bring humanity one step closer to the final frontier https://t.co/RbzDELAEMB @elonmusk @SpaceX @JAXA_en @NASA @UMmalta @UMhealthscience @WeillCornell @BlueMarbleSpace @Spaceomix @ICECubesService @mason_lab @AfshinBeheshti @rookisaacman

[ICE Cubes Service @ICECubesService]

🚀 Thrilled to announce! 🚀

KP Labs' Leopard Data Processing Unit (DPU) is heading to the #ISS! 🌌🐆

LeopardISS will:
💻 Enhance edge computing
🤖 Facilitate autonomous data processing
🛰 Pave the way for space-based data centers

More info: https://t.co/fKej0AnfuB
@labs_kp

[Extremo Technologies @Extremo_Tech]

Our 'Space Volcanic Algae' experiment is heading to the ISS! PI @axelia86 will lead our team in studying extremophilic algae in space. Thanks to @POLSA_GOV_PL @MRiTGOVPL @esa @ICECubesService 🚀
#ISS #spacevolcanicalgae
#PLinSpace #extrimophiles #misjaISS

[ICE Cubes Service @ICECubesService]

🚀 Exciting News! 🚀
We're supporting @Extremo_Tech in flying their "Space Volcanic Algae" experiment to the #ISS! 🌌🛰️

Volcanic algae can thrive in extreme conditions on Earth. Let's see how they adapt to #microgravity in Space!

Explore more: https://t.co/kZSKEhGPDl