CALM Technologies has a long standing relationship with the Canadian Space Agency, both as a prime contractor, and subcontractor for hardware development. CALM’s Principals have an extensive history working with the CSA, with projects dating back to 1993. Ongoing programs involving CSA include the CCAP Cell and Tissue Culture program, and the eOSTEO Bone Cell Research Facility.

 

As part of the spacecraft qualification process, our systems are tested extensively, to ensure that they can perform after being exposed to the most strenuous conditions associated with space flight. CALM has used the CSA’s David Florida Laboratories for a wide array of testing, including vibration, EMC/EMI, and thermal.

 

The European Space Agency flew a number of experiments on the eOSTEO hardware, developed and supported by CALM Technologies. CALM provided mission support to ESA for the FOTON-M3, and worked extensively in qualifying the eOSTEO hardware through the ESA FOTON M3 mission management.

 

Mission support for the FOTON-M3 included participation at the ESRANGE satellite tracking station. Telemetry downloaded from the FOTON during the mission, containing crucial payload operational data was analyzed to monitor and optimize the hardware’s performance on-orbit.

 

In support of the eOSTEO and eERISTO science activities, CALM Technologies was sponsored by ESA to perform a series of flow experiments on the 40^th Novespace parabolic flight campaign. The CALM staff each logged a total of 93 parabolas in 3 days of testing.

Having worked closely with the transplantation research department (OSTEO2, eOSTEO), CALM has maintained its ties to the University Health Network (UHN) through cell culture collaboration, and biological consulting. Working with researchers at the MaRS facility in Toronto, Ontario, CALM has worked extensively with the UHN in the definition and approach applied to the CCAP system, by demonstrating the efficacy of new technologies relating to cell culture in space.

CALM Technologies is acting as a subcontract to the University de Laval’s HY-BMCD program, which is investigating the use of a Microfluidic Centripetal Device and System Workstation for Ultrafast Molecular Hybridisation in Microgravity. CALM is supporting their activities as they work toward making their technology space compatible. This will include supporting a microgravity flight campaign, and the development of the hardware for this activity.

In order to qualify its equipment for flight on the FOTON capsule, CALM worked closely with the integration team or the FOTON at the spacecraft manufacturing facility in Samara, Russia. With support from the Canadian and European Space Agencies, the program was steered successfully through the flight verification reviews to a successful twelve day mission.