COSIMA - PROTEIN CRYSTAL-GROWTH FACILITY FOR AUTOMATIC PROCESSING ON UNMANNED SATELLITES

To investigate the effects of gravity for the crystal growth of macrom olecules, the effects of acceleration during re-entry and the influenc e of orbit-radiation in the X-ray range for already grown protein crys tals the COSIMA hardware was re-configured. The system now fulfils all needs for a multi-approach crystallization experiment. The achieved c rystallization results are equivalent to the best which can be obtaine d by crystallization techniques used in the laboratories. The modifica tion of the hardware, in particular the newly designed crystallization vials, will be described in detail. In October 1991, COSIMA IV was pe rformed on a Russian re-entry Photon capsule. 99 crystallization exper iments were accommodated using three different protein crystallization techniques. Additionally, five already grown crystals were send to an alyse the influence of the transport. Four radiation detectors were in tegrated to measure the radiation dose during the mission. A compariso n of space- and ground-grown crystals will be included, which were not influenced by a malfunction of the satellite power supply.