The decontamination system was designed with crew members’ safety in mind by using high-power, ultraviolet, light-emitting diodes (UV LEDs) to sanitize surfaces inside the MSG. This cleaning process takes only a matter of minutes before and after the crew conducts the experiments. The sanitation process also removes airborne contaminants – such as biological and chemical impurities – and cleans up spills inside the glovebox, providing optimal accommodations for cell science and life science research. It also has an exchangeable glove system that was redesigned to be better suited for these types of studies.

Read: Decontamination System to Up Research on Space Station

Here, (above) NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio, Expedition 38 flight engineer, prepares to test the ultraviolet light decontamination hardware, which will be used for life science experiments inside the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG).