By Jim Gerard, KSC, FL
A great LiveChat last night with Katie Presson and Stephanie Dudley from the Payload Operations Integration Center (POIC) at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. That is 'Mission Control' for all the science payloads on the International Space Station. The two ladies were able to chat with us from inside an ISS mockup where they can check out the experiments that are flying aboard the ISS. We don't get to see the work place that often because our guest speakers chat with us after hours from home.
Did you know the ISS has been continuously crewed since October of 2000? That means 12+ years of science experiments that have flown aboard. The POIC is the place that makes those experiments happen, and provide the ground control to help the astronauts in performing them. Hundreds of experiments, from crystal growth and ultrasound to materials science and earth photography have made their way to orbit. And this is just the start, as commercial vendors begin providing access to the ISS, the opportunities will be even greater.
To download a flyer about the POIC, click here. You must be logged into the OLC to download.
Next week, we will learn about mini-robots from Jet Propulsion Laboratory engineer Paolo Younce. Don't forget to come early and visit the INSPIRE Cafe!
Discuss this blog here: http://tinyurl.com/bloginspire12
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