T0082-S Dynamic Microscopy System

Program start date is on hold until Space Act Agreement is signed.  Placeholder date of January 2014 is used as placeholder.

This study proposes to provide a microscope and a microscope stage that functions as an automated miniature laboratory and to meet experimenters’ requirements on the forthcoming generation of suborbital spacecraft being developed by the private sector. Intended is the incorporation of a robust digital microscope to produce a versatile mini-microscopy laboratory for the study of fluid phenomena, colloid science, motile cells such as algae and protozoa, model organisms such as nematodes, and plant science. At the core of the system is a hollow slide whose dimensions can be tailored to each experiment and within which fluids can be exchanged at any time before, during and after flight.