Past Canadian Experiments on the Station

Advanced Plant Experiments on orbit (APEX-Cambium)

Willow trees undergoing testing in the ABRS incubator. (Photo: CSA)

Canada's first study of its kind, APEX-Cambium helped to determine the role gravity plays in how trees form different kinds of wood.

Advanced Plant Experiments on Orbit (APEX-CSA2)

APEX-CSA2 white spruce seedlings being prepared for spaceflight. (Photo: CSA)

Canadian white spruce seedlings were sent to the Space Station to help researchers understand how trees make wood.

Perceptual Motor Deficits in Space (PMDIS)

NASA Astronaut Suni Williams performs the PMDIS experiment on the International Space Station in December 2006. Credit : NASA.

The study found that astronauts' bodies must be restrained while performing fine motor movements but arm restraints are not necessary.

Bodies In the Space Environment (BISE) - Which way is up in space?

BISE experiment undergoes testing during parabolic flights in France. (Photo: Dr. Laurence Harris, York University)

An experiment that studied how astronauts distinguish up from down in a near-weightless environment.

Space travel can be dizzying (CCISS Experiment)

The CCISS team prepares for a post-flight experiment at the Kennedy Space Center. From right to left: Principal Investigator Dr. Richard Hughson, research assistant Danielle Greaves and a medical student substituting for an astronaut. (Photo: Kathryn Zuj)

This experiment studied how long periods in space affect the human body. It also offers approaches that will better protect space travelers in the future.

Little transistor records radiation levels (EVARM)

Table comparing internationally established annual limits for workers and the doses astronauts are exposed to. (Source: International Commission on Radiological Protection, 1977)

An experiment that enabled researchers to measure the levels of radiation astronauts are exposed to during a spacewalk.

H-Reflex flexes its muscles!

The experiment uses the Hoffman Reflex technique, which is similar to the knee tap test in a doctor's office. The H-Reflex experiment replaces the doctor's hammer with an electrical stimulus to the nerve of the muscle and measures muscle activity electronically.

H-reflex was the first medical experiment completed on the Space Station to study how the human body adapts to weightlessness. So how does zero gravity affect an astronaut's body?

The Ultimate Tickle Test (HYPERSOLE)

Simulation of a data collection session with Canadian Space Agency Astronaut, Dr. Dave Williams.

A Canadian research project that studied sudden changes in skin sensitivity experienced by some astronauts.

Marangoni Experiment in Space (MEIS-2)

The MEIS-2 solid disks. (Photo: JAXA)

The results from the Marangoni experiments on the ISS could be used to develop higher quality, more efficiently produced semiconductor crystals.

Radi-N Neutron Field Study

Liquid droplets are dispersed throughout the clear polymer gel of the bubble detectors. (Courtesy: Bubble Technology Industries)

The astronauts of the International Space Station receive much higher doses of radiation than we do on Earth. These unstable particles have the potential to damage or mutate DNA—this can cause cataracts, and cancer.

SODI-IVIDIL

The SODI-IVIDIL components. (Photo: ESA)

To properly learn about how thermal diffusion works, it is necessary to isolate it so that it is the only thing affecting molecular movement in a liquid—gravity must be removed. SODI-IVIDIL does just that.

Binary Colloidal Alloy Test (BCAT-5)

The BCAT-5 apparatus with three colloidal samples provided by the Canadian team. (Photo: NASA)

Did you know that if you drink a glass of milk, you consume colloids? If you paint the walls of your home, you use colloids to create a protective coating for the wall.