The International Space Station receives its first space refrigerator

Unless you are an astronaut sucking your dinner out of a bag and munching on frozen dry ice cream, there is no consistency in the multi-year shelf traditionally needed for fresh food. Fortunately, the days of refurbished snacks will soon be over thanks to a unique refrigeration system at the University of Colorado called the Boulder, Cali and Experimental Freezer Refrigerator Incubator Device (Fridge).

The units were designed by Bioserve Space Technologies at UCP, which are only about the size of a standard microwave. “No rotating parts, no fans, which is too big for reliability,” said Robbie Aaron, a space master student working on the project. April Press Release. “An ordinary refrigerator on earth is hot in the back. We can’t keep it in space. Micro Gravity does not rise in hot air; It will be stable, and things will overheat, so you have no choice but to get rid of the heat. ISS has a water-cooling system that will directly tap the waste heat to keep the system cool. ”

So far, NASA uses eight units. Both are currently ISS Cygnus NG-14 robot reusable craft Allocated for food – perishable food supplied from the planet and new products produced by the station’s hydroponic garden – as well as medicine. Others, already in use at the station, are used in cooling temperature-sensitive test materials.