Excellent Thermal Control Ability of Cell Biology Experiment Facility (CBEF) for Ground-Based Experiments and Experiments Onboard the Kibo Japanese Experiment Module of International Space Station

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has been developing several life science hardware components for the Japanese experiment module ‘Kibo’ in the International Space Station (ISS). The Cell Biology Experiment Facility (CBEF) is one of these. It contains an environmental control system to regulate variables such as the temperature and humidity. It is also equipped with a centrifuge and has the ability to culture bio-specimens in a temperature range of 15 to 40°C. In biological experiments that include in vitro cell culture, temperature control is a key factor in the success of the experiment. Thus, we first examined the temperature data in the CBEF on the ground while changing the room temperature and cooling water temperature to investigate the ability of the CBEF. Based on the ground experiment data, we carried out life science experiments onboard Kibo. Judging from the temperature data in the CBEF under microgravity, 12 life science experiments were successfully conducted up until 2011. Considering our present data, we strongly believe that the CBEF is a functional incubator in the ISS and will contribute to future experiments.