ONE CAD PER EXPERIMENT
Fifteen payload modules, each packed into a LELP-1 bay
Every experiment's module sheet in the catalog, drawn part by part: the cassette on its microscope stage, the reagent bags, the pumps, the cryo cassette, the furnace, the seed plates, the photobioreactors. Each module is packed into the large bay and checked: does it fit, does it weigh what the catalog says, where is its centre of mass. 15 of 15 fit.
CAD
CadQuery models from cad/build_modules.py. Front panel and grapple fixture left off in the 3-D view; both are in the STEP. Concept geometry, not released designs.
What the modules say
- Volume is not the limit, mass is. The parts' boxes fill 15 to 55 % of the 21.1 L inside a large bay, and every module sits at or near its 6 kg class limit.
- The housings are thin. The catalog gives 0.25 to 1.61 kg for structure and containment; as aluminium boxes that is 0.12 to 0.76 mm skins. A 1 mm aluminium box this size weighs about 1.3 kg on its own, so either each module budget carries about 1.5 kg of structure, or the bay's rails carry the launch loads and the module is a light canister. A decision for the team.
- The microscope sets the depth. The XY stage travels 96.5 x 57.9 mm, so every one of the 24 wells reaches the objective; with the stage the imaging stack is 232 x 151 mm, which sets the module's depth budget.
- Tightest fits: Bone cells: resorption and mineralization (11 mm spare), Seed germination and root growth (21 mm spare), Immune T-cell activation (28 mm spare), 3D tumour spheroids for drug testing (29 mm spare). Modules with a -80 C cryo cassette and eight or more reagents are the full ones.
- The waste bag shares its room with the reagent bags: it lies under them and fills as they empty, the way flight fluid packs do. Without that, the waste of a 30-day culture would need a deck of its own.
The fifteen modules
| Module | Experiment deck | Floor deck | Top deck | Spare height mm | Fill % | Mass kg | Skin mm |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stem-cell organoidsMOD-stem-cell-organoids | imaging stack: inverted microscope, XY stage, sample | fluid pack; controller and data storage; 2 micro-pumps on a manifold; 4 valves on a manifold | - | FITS 122 | 36 | 5.30 | 0.34 |
| Protein crystallization for drug formulationMOD-protein-crystals | imaging stack: inverted microscope, XY stage, sample; 2 micro-pumps, 4 valves on a manifold; sensor pack | fluid pack; controller and data storage; counter-diffusion capillary rack | - | FITS 135 | 36 | 5.40 | 0.30 |
| Antibiotic resistance of pathogenic bacteriaMOD-antibiotic-resistance | cassette in the optical readout; sensor pack; dosimeter; peristaltic pump, 12-port rotary valve on a manifold | controller and data storage; fluid pack | - | FITS 205 | 15 | 5.80 | 0.32 |
| Seed germination and root growthMOD-plant-germination | seed plates, LED panel, cameras | controller and data storage; fluid pack; sensor pack; 2 micro-pumps, 4 valves on a manifold | - | FITS 21 | 55 | 5.50 | 0.76 |
| Alloy solidificationMOD-alloy-solidification | gradient furnace: crucible, hot and cold blocks, pull stage, camera | - | controller and data storage | FITS 102 | 36 | 5.70 | 0.49 |
| Bioreactor for tissue engineering and biomanufacturingMOD-bioreactor | perfusion bioreactor: 4 chambers, camera; fluid pack; insulated aliquot pocket (4 C); optical sensor reader | controller and data storage; glucose/lactate flow sensor; 2 micro-pumps, 8 valves on a manifold; gas exchanger and bubble trap | - | FITS 116 | 22 | 5.55 | 0.52 |
| Microfluidic lab-on-a-chip and organ-chipsMOD-microfluidics | imaging stack: inverted microscope, XY stage, sample | effluent carousel on a Peltier stage; controller and data storage; 4 micro-pumps, 4 valves on a manifold; bubble traps and inline sensors | fluid pack | FITS 91 | 36 | 5.80 | 0.14 |
| Cell mechanobiology: how cells sense gravity and loadMOD-cell-mechanobiology | imaging stack: inverted microscope, XY stage, sample; 2 micro-pumps, 4 valves on a manifold | fluid pack; -80 C passive cryo cassette | controller and data storage | FITS 58 | 40 | 5.80 | 0.38 |
| Biofilm formation on spacecraft and medical materialsMOD-biofilms | imaging stack: inverted microscope, XY stage, sample; sensor pack; dosimeter | fluid pack; 1 micro-pump, 24 valves on a manifold; controller and data storage | - | FITS 125 | 36 | 6.00 | 0.30 |
| Microalgae and cyanobacteria for oxygen and foodMOD-microalgae | 4 flat-panel photobioreactors with LED panels; controller and data storage; optical sensor reader; 2 micro-pumps, 4 valves on a manifold | fluid pack | - | FITS 187 | 18 | 5.40 | 0.60 |
| Human heart muscle cells from stem cellsMOD-heart-cells | imaging stack: inverted microscope, XY stage, sample; sensor pack | fluid pack; controller and data storage; 2 micro-pumps, 4 valves on a manifold | - | FITS 136 | 34 | 5.90 | 0.48 |
| Immune T-cell activationMOD-t-cell-activation | imaging stack: inverted microscope, XY stage, sample | fluid pack; 2 micro-pumps, 4 valves on a manifold | -80 C passive cryo cassette; controller and data storage | FITS 28 | 43 | 5.60 | 0.17 |
| Bone cells: resorption and mineralizationMOD-bone-cells | imaging stack: inverted microscope, XY stage, sample | supernatant aliquot rack, 100 tubes; fluid pack; 2 micro-pumps, 4 valves on a manifold | -80 C passive cryo cassette; controller and data storage; sensor pack | FITS 11 | 46 | 5.90 | 0.14 |
| C. elegans muscle and ageingMOD-c-elegans-muscle | imaging stack: inverted microscope, XY stage, sample; dosimeter; 2 micro-pumps, 4 valves on a manifold | fluid pack; controller and data storage | - | FITS 122 | 37 | 5.60 | 0.38 |
| 3D tumour spheroids for drug testingMOD-tumour-spheroids | imaging stack: inverted microscope, XY stage, sample | fluid pack; -80 C passive cryo cassette; 2 micro-pumps, 4 valves on a manifold | controller and data storage; sensor pack | FITS 29 | 44 | 5.80 | 0.12 |
How they are drawn
Envelope. The twin's large bay module: 313 mm wide, 191 mm deep, 365 mm tall (web/static/scene.js at 11.5 units per metre). Layout. The back face is the bay interface (connector, 10 mm cold-wall band); a 20 mm channel behind the front panel carries the fluid lines; inside, decks on 2 mm shelves with 8 mm corner posts, 4 mm between parts and 6 mm over each deck for the lines. Parts. Standard parts keep their formats: SBS 127.76 x 85.48 mm cassette with 24 wells at 19.3 mm pitch, 120 mm square seed plates, 75 x 25 mm slide-format organ-chips, NEMA 17 stepper. The XY stage travels 96.5 x 57.9 mm so every well reaches the objective. Other parts take their size from their catalog mass: cassettes 1.6 kg/L, electronics 1.1 kg/L, sensors 1.2 kg/L, the cryo cassette 1.0 kg/L; bags hold 75 % of their item's mass as liquid, up to 22 mm thick, with the volumes the catalog states used as stated. Packing. A grid packer places each part, trying every deck choice and fluid-pack shape and keeping the lowest stack. Checks. Every component inside the envelope, no two components' boxes overlapping, parts' masses adding up to the catalog's module mass, the stack within the bay's height. Centre of mass and inertia come from the solids. All of it is in each module's JSON.