Third experimental theme using the Electrostatic Levitation Furnace (ELF) is commencing!

To expand upon the achievements of utilization of the ISS and deepen Japan-United States cooperation, there is a Japan-U.S. Open Platform Partnership Program (JP-US OP3) that encourages both Japanese and U.S. experiments with each other. Based on this program, two space experiments of U.S. have started using the ELF in Japanese experiment module “Kibo” since June 2020. (link)

In August 2023, a third space experiment commences. The aim of this study is to observe the resonance phenomena of liquid metals with ELF and demonstrate a relationship between the resonance phenomena and  surface tension. We plan to conduct further US experiments continuously.

1. Principal Investigator: University of Florida, Prof. Ranga Narayanan
2. Experimental name: Resonance Induced Instability for Surface Tension determination (RIIST)
3. Experiment objective: Observe the resonance phenomena of liquid metals and demonstrate relationship between the resonance phenomena and surface tension.

▶ in Japanese