「きぼう」船外実験プラットフォーム利用の概要

抄録

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has completed the construction of Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) or “KIBO”, i.e. the nickname of JEM, on orbit till 2009 after three times STS flights. The Exposed Facility of JEM (JEM-EF) is one of the most characteristic accommodations on ISS to provide an environment directly exposed to the outer space. JEMEF is expected to be suitable for experimental missions of a wide variety of field such as earth and space sciences and technological development. In this paper, JEM-EF and its payload are outlined, the interface between them and some significant constraints which must be taken into consideration on using JEM-EF are also discussed. Four missions now on JEM-EF and two being prepared for next utilization stage are introduced. I close this paper by the discussion of the strategies to make JEM-EF utilization be wider and more fruitful.