The German Microgravity Laboratory for material science and space processing experiments - Growth of protein crystals by diffusion into sodium solution - A material science experiment in Spacelab

The Microgravity Laboratory, a pilot project of the German Shuttle/Spacelab Utilization program for material science and space processing experiments under microgravity, to be flown on the first Spacelab Mission is presented. The overall concept of the Microgravity Laboratory which will rely on the Spacelab resources for energy, heat dissipation, venting capability, data storage and transmission to ground is described. The isothermal heating facility for parallel heating and fast cooling, the mirror heating facility for crystal growth, the gradient heating facility for crystal growth and melting/solidification experiments, the fluid physics module, the cryostat for protein crystal growth, the capillarity measurement equipment, and the UHV-chamber for tests of metal adhesion are discussed. Finally, the support equipment including the accelerometer, the vacuum and gas system, the instrument cooling system, the power supply, and the central console are described.