Cancelled element of the International Space Station
The Centrifuge Accommodations Module (CAM) is a cancelled element of the
International Space Station. Although the module was planned to contain several parts, the 2.5 m (8.2 ft)
centrifuge still was considered the most important capability of the module.
History
The centrifuge would have provided controlled acceleration rates (
artificial gravity) for experiments and the capability to:
Expose a variety of biological specimens that are less than 24.5 in (0.62 m) tall to artificial gravity levels between 0.01g and 2g.
Simultaneously provide two different artificial gravity levels.
Provide partial g and hyper g environment for specimens to investigate altered gravity effects and g-thresholds.
Provide short duration and partial g and hyper g environment for specimens to investigate temporal effects of gravity exposure.
Provide
Earth simulation environment on ISS to isolate
microgravity effects on specimens.
Provide Earth simulation environment on ISS to allow specimens to recover from microgravity effects.
Provide
in situ 1g controls for specimens in micro-gravity.
It was built by
JAXA's predecessor,
NASDA, but owned by
NASA, who obtained ownership of the CAM by trading in a free launch of the
Japanese Experiment Module Kibo to the Station.[1] The CAM flight model along with the engineering model of the centrifuge rotor were manufactured. The CAM would have been attached to the zenith port on the
Harmony module of the ISS.
It was cancelled in 2005[2] alongside the
Habitation Module and the
Crew Return Vehicle, because of ISS cost overruns and scheduling problems in Shuttle assembly flights.