The Microgravity Vibration Isolation Subsystem (MVIS), integrated within the European Space Agency's Fluid Science Laboratory (FSL) inside the Columbus Laboratory, was delivered to the International Space Station in February 2008. MVIS is designed to actively isolate vibrations with closed loop control for experiments in the FSL's FacilityCore Element (FCE) by monitoring acceleration levels and compensating for them using Lorentz force actuator assemblies. The objectives of this paper are to discuss the rationale for developing MVIS technology, provide an overview of its features, integration and operational concept, update the operations community with its commissioning status, and provide information to experiment developers such that the benefits of MVIS can be maximized. MVIS commissioning Phase 1 was completed in January 2010 with MVIS team support at the FSL Facility Responsible Centre at the Microgravity Advanced Research and Support (MARS) centre along with support from the Canadian Space Agency's (CSA) Payload Telescience Operations Centre. The MVIS hardware is functioning nominally and MVIS centered the FCE with closed loop control and provided measurable vibration attenuation. Preparations are underway for Phase 2 during which time MVIS isolation performance will be tested. Phase 3 will identify an experiment's impact on the system (e.g. configuration, front FCE umbilicals) and assess the fully integrated isolation performance. Since the MVIS isolation performance and operational envelope are directly related to umbilical characteristics, umbilical design recommendations and best practices for experiment developers are provided. The completion of Phase 1 is the culmination of many years of hard work by the large number of individuals who have participated in this program. There continues to be an excellent working relationship between CSA, Bristol Aerospace Limited, ESA, MARS, and Thales Alenia Space. The success of Phase 1 activities paves the way towards future MVIS commissioning activities and routine operations. 2 b) Figure 1. MIM technology. a) Experiment installed on MIM-1's isolated platform b) MIM-2 (Source of images: CSA) a)
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