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Relive the ISS Symposium and watch the presentations you may have missed.

In addition to the speaker slides all presentations and round tables discussions can be now be seen on video.

Highlights include the round table discussion with ISS partner heads, presentations on AMS-02, plasma healing, space clocks, biotechnology and the closing remarks by NASA administrator Charles Bolden or ESA Director of Human Spaceflight and Operations Thomas Reiter.

A complete list of videos is available here or search the ISS symposium 2012 site by subject or speaker. 

 The ISS Symposium 2012 was a unique occasion to share scientific research from the Space Station. A showcase of these results could be seen in the ‘ISS Utilisation Exhibition’ at the symposium.

The exhibit gave basic information on experiments conducted in the orbital outpost, leading to spin-offs for the benefit of people on Earth. Industry presented their state-of-the-art products and technologies based on Station research.

The exhibition was divided into five themes with examples of experiments and products for each theme:

•  Non-invasive medical diagnostics: 3D Eye Tracking Device, HealthLab, ThermoLab, Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT), Galileo Vibration Trainer, Long Term Medical Survey (LTMS), Hand Grip Dynamometer.
• Biomedicine: CAMDASS, Portable Pulmonary Functioning System (PPFS), Robotized Tele-echography, Human Respiratory Analyses (FIPEX), Bone and muscle modelling, Flywheel technology.
• Exobiology & Space Environment: Expose, Matroshka, Solar.
• Material Science: Geoflow, X-Ray diagnostics, Blades & Foams, FOAM-C.
• Biology: KI Biology Experiment Hardware, European Modular Cultivation System (EMCS), Plasma Crystak & Plasma Medicine.

You can download a summary of the exhibition in pdf or visit the exhibit through this visual tour:

Three days were devoted to research benefits of the International Space Station (ISS) and its future at the first ISS symposium in Berlin 2-4 May. Many impressive results were presented and the message was clear:  scientific research on the Space Station is increasing our knowledge of the world and creating tangible benefits for humankind - right now. This is only the beginning because the Space Station will continue to operate for at least eight more years as the only permanent weightless laboratory available to scientists. Nobody knows exactly what results the Station will produce but the future is promising.

ISS director for NASA Mark Uhran said in his presentation that many people underestimate building and maintaining a large Space Station. “It is surely as big a challenge as building the pyramids in Egypt but fortunately it did not take as long” he said. Space Station construction completed in 2010 allowing more time to be spent on research. In only two years of normal operation the results are remarkable.

Highlights of the symposium and research results cover fundamental science as well as industrial, medical and consumer applications.

Science for the benefit of humankind

JAXA’s MAXI instrument monitors the complete sky using X-Rays. It acts as an early warning system for ground telescopes, telling operators where to look when something interesting occurs in our universe. Scientists on Earth managed to capture the first-ever images of a black hole swallowing a star 3.9 billion light years away. Without MAXI astronomers would not have known where to look.

AMS-02 before launch

The AMS-02 instrument is searching for dark matter on the Space Station. Proclaimed the ‘crown jewels of ISS’ by Professor Schaele, it is a triumph in international cooperation and high-precision engineering. Featuring multiple sensors that can self-calibrate, it detects quantum particles and is recording vast amounts of data. Professor Schaele explained how this fundamental research could benefit actual problems of people on Earth: “when Max Planck was investigating fundamental science, he never could have imagined that his discoveries would lead to the semiconductor and eventually to the internet”.

ACES will be the some of the most precise clocks created by humans. The ISS is a an ideal platform for atomic clocks: free from the influence of gravity they will be more accurate than they could ever be on Earth. By comparing the time on the ISS with atomic clocks on Earth, scientists will test fundamental constants of physics but ACES will also double the accuracy of satellite navigation.

Medical breakthroughs

Many life-changing technologies result from ISS research in the field of medicine. Spin-off technology used on astronauts offers simple ways of monitoring patients’ temperature with only one sensor placed on the forehead. Embarrassing and intrusive thermometers will no longer be needed and this will increase hygiene and reduce nurses workloads.

Plasma therapy demonstrated at ISS symposium

Plasma therapy, using electrically-charged gas developed on the ISS, may help save many lives. Each year thousands of people die from antibiotic resistant bacteria. Zapping

bacteria with plasma irradiation kills the microbes but is harmless to human beings. This revolution in health care can be used to sanitize plants and cure symptoms of genetic disorders as well. Soon we will see commercial sanitizers for home use enter our everyday lives.

Canada has developed an expertise in robotic arms for the Space Station and spin-off technology is being used in operating theatres. A robot as dexterous as the human hand, but even more precise and tremor-free allows for more precise interventions making brain surgery in MRI scanners possible.

Research on astronaut health promises benefits for humans on Earth. Many biological functions degrade in space. Astronauts’ bodies offer an ideal test bed to understand osteoporosis or weakened immune systems for example. Researchers are linking osteoporosis to salt intake and have targeted the enzyme partly responsible for immune cell death.

Industrial appliances

There is more, consumers will benefit from ISS research through better smartphones and tastier cappuccinos. Foams offer many benefits over solid materials, they can be stronger and lighter than conventional materials. But understanding foams and creating foam materials on Earth is very difficult - gravity pulls on the bubbles and hinders research.

The ISS has a metal furnace to research metallic foams. Access has developed a titanium-aluminium alloy that is being used in jet turbines. The first commercial airplanes to use Space Station metals were commissioned during the symposium. The lighter alloy means that the aircraft weigh less and are more fuel efficient.

Commercial applications based on NASA’s research in metals will be found everywhere by the end of this year as the latest generation of iPhones will use ‘Liquidmetal’ technology. Developed in micro-gravity these alloys mix three or more metals, with characteristics similar to plastic that cool quickly and have more than twice the strength of titanium.

Nestlé is using research on the ISS to understand foams better. Foam’s are present in many of their products, from chocolate bars to instant cappuccino’s and chocolate mousse. The Space Station is helping Nestlé  creating the perfect foam that consumers demand.

The future

The five partner space agencies still have at least eight years of ISS utilisation ahead of them. Many agencies are using the ISS to research further space exploration technologies. Roscosmos is looking towards improving space systems such as air-locks as well as developing new inflatable modules. JAXA is focussing on the field of bio-medicine on a progressively larger scale: from microbes via plants and animals to human beings. NASA is allowing commercial companies to take over transportation to focus on science and using the ISS as a platform for exploring beyond low Earth orbit.

All agencies are committed to decreasing operational costs and shortening the time between submitting a research proposal to flying an experiment on the ISS. All organisations are invited to submit proposals, from universities and industry research groups to commercial companies. By applying an open invitation model  as many communities as possible can benefit from ISS research.

Human exploration is starting today, global cooperation, economic progress, innovation, inspiration and increased knowledge await all who join the endeavour.

The ISS is available now: let’s use it!

Seen first on the opening day of the ISS Symposium 2012 the image of Berlin by ESA astronaut André Kuipers is now available for download. Can you spot the conference location?

The ISS Symposium 2012 is finished. The third and last day of the ISS Symposium 2012 ended with wrap-up sessions, followed by a press conference in which the Heads (or delegates) of the five International Space Station partner agencies discussed the future of the Station and the challenges ahead.

It was an amazing conference with much to reflect on.

Presentation slides of most speakers on day 3 will be online next week.

That concludes the ISS Symposium 2012. A replay of highlights will be available next week.

Presentation slides are available for many speakers of day 1 and 2 and have been added to their summary post.

Use the programme page and search function to find the right presentation.

You can also download a ZIP archive of all presentation PDF files here.

Heads or top representatives from ISS agencies respond to press

• Jean-Jacques Dordain, ESA Director General
• Charles F. Bolden, Jr., NASA Administrator
• Alexey Krasnov, Director of Human Spaceflight Programme, Roscosmos
• Kiyoshi Higuchi, Vice President JAXA
• Gilles Leclerc, Director General for Space Exploration, CSA
• Thomas Reiter, ESA Director of Human Spaceflight & Operations

Thomas Reiter: It was a very successful conference with fantastic achievements shown. Having been involved in some of the experiments it is very rewarding to see the results. The transition from the assembly phase to the operational phase is complete and we are now operating in 'routine' mode. The results presented yesterday are remarkable in many fields. They gave a clear indication of the importance of this research. Clearly we must continue to optimise ISS, cost-reduction was mentioned often. There are limits but we will of course continue to reduce costs as much as possible.

Kiyoshi Higuchi: Japan’s module Kibo means ‘hope’ -- we heard many impressive results and concepts. We have been using our module for more than three years. The most impressive thing for me is: I do not want to use the term ‘international cooperation’ I would prefer to use ‘human being undertaking’.  

Alexey Krasnov: I agree the symposium was a success and showed tremendous results. I would like to emphasise that flying to the same destination for almost half a century we are still not finished, we have more things to discover. We can use the ISS to go a step further to a next destination that still can be defined. ISS has a very good legal framework, which is a chapter in further exploration.

Jean-Jacques Dordain: Thank you partners for joining us in Berlin. We saw significant results. We have only started utilising the Space Station. In only three years we have outstanding results demonstrating the Station’s unique capabilities. We have more users that wish to use the ISS than ever before. We have to choose projects and the short-list needs to be more efficiently handled, with a shorter turnover.

We are no longer the owners of the Space Station: the scientists are.

The partnership created is irreversible, we need to expand on this. The future is more and more partnership.

Charles F. Bolden: I will leave you with two messages to take away:

1. I hope you have seen the values and benefits of research benefits on Earth.
2. I hope that you see the value of the partnership that has grown for over 11 years.

Gilles Leclerc: Canada will celebrate 50 years in space this year. Jean-Jacques Dordain often says that cooperation is a benefit of ISS. This whole conference shows that this is true.

A brief summary of Q&A with media

Q: 75% of ISS is American, so it is one big partner with [several] smaller partners. I understand when commercial companies go bankrupt.

Charles F. Bolden: We don’t anticipate companies going bankrupt. We adopted this model as the US could no longer afford access to LEO as well as exploring beyond. We feel if we can rely on industry, we can become more involved with partners.

Space-X is not on hold, they are trying to achieve their launch date.

Q: What cost cutting are you thinking of?

Thomas Reiter: We have already cut operational costs last year by 30%. We need to look at the lon- term perspective. There are limits to further reductions. I do not want to make reductions in the utilisation part but that is dependant on member states as they play a direct role.

Launch costs are not my role; I am just a customer.

Q: How do you judge success? Can you give specific ideas of how to measure success?

Charles F. Bolden: We are trying to establish metrics of success. The ISS 'Benefits to Humanity' document is an example of quantitative measure of success. Another thing is operational costs; the lower the launch cost, the more I can do. Hopefully, we can share with the public in a couple of years that we have lowered costs.

Alexey Krasnov: Practically it is very hard to show success. However I have hundreds of very good examples of success. We are not ready yet for further exploration, we need the ISS to get ready. If we asked the audience if they need the ISS for further research, they would say yes.

Q: What would your wish be for ESA contribution after ATV?

Charles F. Bolden: I wish we could further enhance the partnership and focus on advancing the ISS. I wish that Jean-Jaques achieves success in getting member states to support him in his projects.

Q: Is it possible that ESA will buy seats on a US commercial launch vehicle in the future?

Jean-Jacques Dordain: We are developing launchers at ESA. We have new capability to transport crew on the Soyuz. When we were flying astronauts on the Space Shuttle we were paying; nothing is for free. If it is better to pay in cash to commercial partners or in barter, as before, we have to see. It is possible to pay, but we have to think of taxpayers' money. Charles Bolden has said that commercial services are not solely US-run; maybe in the future an international consortium of industry could supply commercial services.

Photos now in the ESA Flickr channel.

Symposium participants meet the press in Berlin.

@danielscuka iss symposium berlin, press conference has started... twitter.com/nicola_sousa/s…

— Nicola Sousa (@nicola_sousa) May 4, 2012