Space Touch

On Earth, Aleksander Ostrogorsky peers into the MSG through its large clear windows.

Scientists are looking forward to using the MSG for many things - to probe the physics of fluids, the strange behaviour of flames, the inner workings of cells, the growth of tissues ... the list goes on and on. Some of the experiments slated for flight are so cutting-edge they sound more like science fiction than ordinary science.

Imagine, for example, a fluid that stiffens when you hold a magnet near it, and softens again when the magnet goes away. Sounds amazing, but it's a real effect. An upcoming experiment called InSPACE will use the glovebox to explore these exotic liquids, called "magnetorheological fluids."

The possibilities are mind-boggling: In theory, surfaces coated with such fluids could change form at the bidding of magnetic controls. A single magnetorehelogical mould could cast an infinite variety of shapes. Book makers could publish magnetic texts in Braille - as easily scrolled and edited as words on a computer screen. Medical engineers could build magnetorheological limbs that bend and move as if alive.

Valery Korzun, the commander of the International Space Station (Expedition 5), floats beside the newly-installed Microgravity Science Glovebox

"But first," cautions Jack Lekan, the project manager for InSPACE at the Glenn Research Centre, "we have to learn more about the basic physics of these fluids." That's what InSPACE aims to do.

During the experiment, astronauts will observe what happens when a floating magnetorehelogical fluid is exposed to magnetic pulses. To collect the data scientists need, astronauts will reach into the glovebox to align and focus cameras on a spot only 0.2 mm wide. If a fluid bubble gets in the way of the shot ... flick! they can remove it. "Astronauts are an integral part of our study," says Lekan.

Shuttle Endeavour (STS-111) delivered the glovebox to the space station this week - good news for scientists on Earth and for the station's crew. Says Wright: "astronauts love doing hands-on experiments." And now they can.

Note - The Microgravity Science Glovebox was built for NASA by the European Space Agency (ESA). In exchange, the ESA will be able to use other facilities inside the Destiny lab until that agency's own laboratory – the Columbus Orbital Facility – is attached to the space station in a couple of years.