Its aluminium casing is playing an integral part in transporting key elements of a scientific experiment safely to and from the Earth’s troposphere.
The mission, undertaken by a team from the university, was launched in order to test the effects of glucose uptake in abnormal gravity conditions. Three separate flights in October allowed a study of cell signalling transduction, the process by which cells sense and respond to their environment, which will determine the viability of using fresh food as sustenance for crew in future space flights.
Due to the nature of the experiment, its complete containment was required while in flight. Zarges played a vital part in the mission by providing a safe, durable and leak-proof means to transport the experiment, with its K470 universal case being used to house the custom-built microscope, and allow easy access for the team to add new samples by opening the securely sealed case lid.
Available in one of 25 standard sizes and with capacity ranging from 13 to 829 litres, the K470 box has been designed to be durable, secure and eliminate the risk of combustion – a vital consideration for the transportation of scientific equipment.
Koren Murphy at the University of Newcastle, said: “Leak-proof containment was a concern for our experiment, and having a Zarges K470 immediately solved this issue. The microscope we designed was sensitive to vibrations and had to be transported carefully from the UK to France, and the K470 case lent itself perfectly to this task. Zarges helped us achieve a large chunk of our design goals with an already perfectly designed case, so we just had to focus on the science.”
