During its early commercialization phase, the Observation Platform will be offered, along with operational services, to customers planning and seeking funding for research on the ISS. Later, assuming production costs can be reduced, the product will be offered as a compact, high-end observation stage for laboratory research customers. The product would then be competing in a market that currently consists of larger, more cumbersome, less-automated equipment.
The proposed Observation Platform for space flight is designed specifically for the Light Microscopy Module (LMM) recently transferred to the ISS. It is to be used by investigators who have been granted time on the LMM to investigate dynamic processes, such as cell differentiation, microbial and animal cell proliferation, cell counting, cell motion, blood analysis, interfacial fluid dynamics, self-assembly processes, and crystal growth. The Platform is expected to serve to create new users and novel uses of the LMM.
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