Texas A&M develops TAMU-SPIRIT, a dedicated research platform on the International Space Station
The partnership with Aegis Aerospace positions Texas A&M University System scientists at the forefront of space-based research and exploration.
Texas A&M University has developed TAMU-SPIRIT, a first-of-its-kind orbital research platform planned for deployment aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
Developed in partnership with Aegis Aerospace, TAMU-SPIRIT will provide experiment space on the Express Logistics Carrier 3 on the ISS, enabling Texas A&M System faculty, researchers and students to conduct experiments in the unique environment of low-Earth orbit. TAMU-SPIRIT — short for the Texas A&M/Aegis Aerospace Multi-Use Space Platform Integrating Research & Innovative Technology — is designed to function as a “satellite campus in space,” accommodating projects and experiments across a wide range of disciplines including advanced materials manufacturing, robotics testing, space surveillance, tracking technologies and in-space research.
Texas A&M System researchers will have exclusive priority rights to send their experiments to be installed on the TAMU-SPIRIT flight Facility.
An initial round of experiments has already been selected for the first mission, TAMU-SPIRIT-1:
- Chitosan in Space: Assessing Biopolymer Durability Under Vacuum and Radiation — P1: Dr. Justin W. Wilkerson, J. Mike Walker ’66 Department of Mechanical Engineering; Co-PI: Dr. Jeffery K. Tomberlin, Department of Entomology
- Dexterous Robotics Avionics and Component Testing and Validation — PI: Dr. Robert Ambrose, Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES)
- Grape Seeds in Space — PI: Dr. Justin Sheiner, Department of Horticulture Sciences
- In-Orbit Thermal Insulation of Printed Aerogels and Microgravity Printability of Magnetic-Responsive Resins — PI: Dr. Emily Pentzer, Department of Chemistry; Co-PIs: Dr. Peiran Wei and Dr. Jung-Bin Ahn, TEES
- The Spaceflight Endothelial and Coagulation Biology Experiment (SECoBE) Initiative: Engineering Demonstration and Microbial Survivability — PI: Dr. Jeffery C. Chancellor, Director of Aerospace Medicine in the College of Medicine; Co-PIs: Dr. Serena M. Auñón-Chancellor, College of Medicine; Dr. John Ford, Department of Nuclear Engineering; Dr. Walter Cromer, Aerospace Medicine in the College of Medicine; Dr. Travis R. Hein, Department of Medical Physiology; Dr. Mariappan Muthuchamy, Department of Medical Physiology
- Shape Memory Alloy Torque Tube-Based Morphing Radiator — PI: Dr. Darren Hartl, Department of Aerospace Engineering; Co-PI: Thomas Cognata, NASA Johnson Space Center
- Shield-2 — PI: Dr. Kalyan Raj Kota, TEES; Co-PIs: Dr. Robert Kelley Bradley, Lamar University; Dr. Merlyn Pulikkathara, Prairie View A&M University; Dr. Masoumeh Ozmaeian, MatterMind Analytics LLC; Justin Carter, TEES
- Solar-Induced Hot Electron Current Measurements via Quantum Dot Upconversion — PI: Dr. Dong Hee Son, Department of Chemistry; Co-PI: Ian Murray, Department of Chemistry
Additional missions are planned, and the next call for proposals this spring will provide continued opportunities for researchers and students to participate.
To learn more about TAMU-SPIRIT capabilities and to start planning a flight experiment, contact TAMU-SPIRIT@tamu.edu.
