Preparing An Airbus Random Positioning Machine

Jeffrey Richards, a payload research and science coordinator on the LASSO contract at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, prepares an experiment for a test in an Airbus Random Positioning Machine in the Microgravity Simulation Support Facility (MSSF) inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Feb. 11, 2020.
The facility was developed to provide ground simulation capability to the U.S. research community in order to supplement the limited opportunities to access the International Space Station and other platforms for microgravity research. The MSSF is designed to support biological research on microorganisms, cells, tissues, small plants and small animals.

The simulator provides NASA with an alternative platform for microgravity research and creates the opportunity to conduct experiments on the space station in parallel with conditions of simulated microgravity on the ground.

Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett KSC-20200211-PH-KLS01_0084 Larger image