In the last ten years, space organisations globally, along with new market players, have made it easier to access space for scientific and technological research. This movement towards making space more accessible has attracted a broader spectrum of scientists who were previously unaware of the possibilities for conducting experiments in space. This growing group includes experts from various fields such as biology, physiology, pharmaceutical chemistry, fluid physics, soft matter, and thermodynamics, although this list is far from complete.
However, many researchers from this broadened community may not completely grasp the intricate requirements for setting up and carrying out space experiments. CRESTLAB has been established to provide an extensive research platform to assist both academic and industrial sectors in designing, preparing, and performing benchmark experiments on Earth, which can then be modified for different space environments—whether it be in microgravity, lunar or Martian gravity, or hyper gravity.
CRESTLAB is structured around four specialized laboratories—Life Sciences, Material Sciences, Physical Sciences, and Data Science—along with two technical workshops. These facilities boast advanced instruments and support services that cover all phases of space experiment planning, from the initial engineering design and breadboard construction to early testing and data analysis.
Along with the technical support offered by our experts at CREST, here is a list of some major equipment available at CRESTLAB to help design space experiments:
Benchtop confocal microscope BC43
Brand: ANDOR
Description: Andor BC 43 Benchtop Confocal Microscope. Including 2x objective and joystick for motorized sample positioning. Equipped with: Brightfield and Differential Phase Contrast transmitted white light illumination, widefield epifluorescence for low-light imaging and patented Borealis™-illuminated multipoint confocal for fast high-contrast 2D & 3D imaging. Includes built-in vibration management, dual function Focus Seek and Lock™. Excitation lines 405nm, 488nm, 561nm & 638nm, and emission filters for commonly used fluorophores such as DAPI, GFP, mCherry, CY5. 4.1 MP (6.5µm pixel, 16-bit) sCMOS camera up to 82% QE. 18.4 mm field of view. Workstation: 10 Core, 18M Cache, 2.8GHz up to 4.9GHz; 64GB RAM; 512GB SSD Boot drive; 8GB Graphics card, 2TB Data storage; Windows 10 operating system. Software: Fusion BC43 acquisition software for multi-dimensional experiments in 2D, 3D, time series, multi-field, multi-well and large area montage with image stitching. Renders 3D images in real-time as a volume. Includes ClearView GPU™ for enhanced resolution images with reduced sample background. Imaris Quant for high-quality snapshots, movie creation, isosurface reconstructions, 2D point-to-point measurement and Imaris Arena for image management.
Lens 10x and 20x
