Microgravity Experiment Research Locker/Incubator (MERLIN) was designed by University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Center for Biophysical Sciences and Engineering (CBSE) to operate as a hardmounted, single middeck locker equivalent within the ISS EXPRESS rack, the Space Shuttle, SpaceX Dragon, and Cygnus (spacecraft) . It is used to provide a temperature controlled environment for scientific experiments between -20 °C and 48.5 °C. MERLIN is also used to Support Crew Galley Operations.
Description MERLIN is cooled using Thermoelectric elements, and can be cooled to -20 °C while using ISS water supply or -10 °C while only being air cooled. Resistive heating elements are used to provide an incubation capacity up to 48.5 °C. MERLIN contains temperature sensor connections inside the payload volume, for monitoring sample temperature, for up to 12 sensors. The internal sample volume is ~0.65 cubic feet (0.018 m3).
Additional Cold Stowage MERLIN is one of multiple units available for storage on the ISS and/or transportation to and from the ISS.
Minus Eighty Degree Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI) +4 °C to -80 °C GLACIER (General Laboratory Active Cryogenic ISS Experiment Refrigerator) +4 °C to –160 °C Polar (Research Refrigerator for ISS) +4 °C to -95 °C
See also Scientific research on the ISS International Space Station SpaceX Dragon
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