OASIS Liquid Crystal Facility
Short Name:The short name or acronym of the facility. OASIS LCF
Facility Description
The Observation and Analysis of Smectic Islands in Space (OASIS) Liquid Crystal Facility (LCF) allows researchers to study liquid crystal structures and dynamics in microgravityThe condition of perceived weightlessness created when an object is in free fall, for example when an object is in orbital motion. Microgravity alters many observable phenomena within the physical and life sciences, allowing scientists to study things in ways not possible on Earth. The International Space Station provides access to a persistent microgravity environment.. The hardware enables researchers to control the ambient temperature (0-90 °C), electric field (90 V, 0-10 kHz), magnetic field (0-100 G, 0-1000 Hz), chamber pressure (0-300 kPa), droplet dispensing rate (0-1000 drops/sec), and sample concentration. Diagnostics include microscopic video (30 fps) and environmental sensor data. OASIS LCF is operated in the Microgravity Sciences Glovebox (MSG).
OASIS LCF has been used to study liquid crystal nucleation and growth, the kinetics of gelation phase separation, the structure and dynamics of many different and new composites of liquid crystal materials, the self-assembly of colloidal disks under an applied electric field, ferromagnetic fluid phases, and crystallization of magnetic nano-plates in colloidal suspensions.
Availability:The general availability status of the facility. Please contact the facility manager
ISS Environment:The facility location (internal or external to the ISS.) Internal
Owner:The entity that owns the facility. NASA
Operator/Implementation Partner:The entity or ISS National Lab Implementation Partner that operates the facility.
NASA
Developer(s):The entity, or entities, that developed the facility.
ZIN Technologies
Facility Manager:The name of the facility manager and their organization.
John McQuillen,
NASA Glenn Research Center
Manager Email:The facility manager's email address.
john.b.mcquillen@nasa.gov
Parent Facility:Any facility that is necessary to operate the facility described on this webpage. i.e., a parent facility is one level higher in the operational hierarachy. MSG
Child Facility:Facilities that can be operated within the facility described on this webpage.
Sponsoring Space Agency:The government space agency that sponsors investigations that use the facility. NASA
Equipment Category:"The facility's ISS National Lab equipment designation type. Designations include:
1. ISS National Lab Commercial Service Provider (CSP) Facility
2. Support Hardware
3. Capability Capability
