Fluids and Combustion Facility: Fluids Integrated Rack

Abstract The Fluids Integrated Rack (FIR) is a modular,multi-user facility to accommodate a wide varietyof microgravity fluid physics science experimentson-board the US Laboratory Module of theInternational Space Station (ISS). The FIR is oneof three racks comprising the Fluids andCombustion Facility (FCF). The FCF is beingdesigned to increase the amount and quality ofscientific data and decrease the development costof an individual experiment relative to the era ofSpace Shuttle experiments. The unique, long-term, microgravity environment and longoperational times on the ISS will offerexperimenters the opportunity to modifyexperiment parameters based on their findingssimilar to what can be accomplished in groundlaboratories. The FIR concept has evolved overtime to provide a flexible, "optics bench"approach to meet the wide variety of anticipatedresearch needs. The FIR's system architecturepresented is designed to meet the needs of thefluid physics community while operating within theconstraints of the available ISS resources.