- Success Stories
- Space Science Application Support & Operations
Ensuring Safety and Support for Sample Testing on the International Space Station
The International Space Station (ISS) gives scientists the opportunity to study the effects of space travel on human and plant tissues as well as understand how physical materials react during formation or exposure to a microgravity environment. CSS provides integrative expertise to NASA to support research and development and technology demonstrations conducted on the ISS, including a recent experiment testing a new technique for growing semimetal conductor composite crystals in microgravity. The intent is to develop these crystals into “wafers” by capitalizing on the unique physical characteristics of microgravity that reduces the potential for inconsistencies and imperfections during the formation process improving their use in electronic devices.
For this effort, CSS employee owners work with all the stake holders (NASA project team, principal investigator (PI) team, operations team and ISS Integration team) to develop a research mission that ensures all science objectives and engineering requirements are met, and the payload is safe for ISS operations. Additionally, CSS staff support ISS crew members during real-time operations to ensure mission success. Finally, after the testing, CSS ensures delivery of the samples/ science back to the PI team for analysis.
The new material recently endured a successful mission on orbit, and the team turned over six new samples for delivery to the International Space Station.
Visit the Space.com photo of the day to learn more about the crystal wafers.
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Installing Environmental Monitoring Stations
Our field crews installed/updated two environmental monitoring stations in remote locations in the Pacific Northwest. Multiple types of sensors were installed including air and soil temperature, precipitation, soil moisture and soil redox potential. These stations provide data for designing and evaluating soil remediation projects for U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Research and Development. Installing…
Diesel Leak Remediation
Our employee owners have been supporting a remediation project in the Philippines. Diesel fuel leaked from a storage tank and seeped into the groundwater and soil. Emergency measures were taken but clean-up was delayed due to COVID restrictions. After some of the more strict COVID restrictions were lifted, CSS scientists joined the environmental due diligence…
Supporting the Mississippi River Basin Drought and Water Dashboard Development
Congratulations to NOAA’s National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) on the launch of the Mississippi River Basin Drought and Water Dashboard. This dashboard provides crucial, timely information to support decision-making for those living and working in the basin, which spans 31 states and 40 percent of the contiguous U.S. The team created the dashboard to…