Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus Science Insert - 03 (CSI-03) is the third set of investigations in the CSI program series. The CSI program provides the K-12 community opportunities to utilize the unique microgravity environment of the International Space Station as part of the regular classroom to encourage learning and interest in science, technology, engineering and math. CSI-03 will examine the complete life cycle of the painted lady butterfly and the ability of an orb weaving spider to spin a web, eat and remain healthy in space

Cushing, Paula

Hamilton, Mary Ann

Moreno, Nancy

Stodieck, Louis

Stowe, Mark

Werner, Ken

NASA Technical Reports Server

Acronym: CSI-03 
 
Title: Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus Science Insert – 03 
 
Principal Investigator(s):  
Nancy Moreno, Ph.D., Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 
Louis Stodieck, Ph.D., University of Colorado - Boulder, BioServe Space Technologies, Boulder, 
CO 
Paula Cushing, Ph.D., Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Denver, CO 
Mark Stowe, Gainesville, FL 
Mary Ann Hamilton, Butterfly Pavilion, Westminster, CO 
Ken Werner, Gulf Coast Butterflies, Naples, FL 
 
Co-Investigator: N/A 
 
Contact(s): Louis Stodieck., Stodieck@colorado.edu, (303) 492-4010 
 
Mailing Address: 
Dr. Louis Stodieck 
BioServe Space Technologies 
University of Colorado 
UCB 429, ECAE 1B02 
Boulder, CO 80302  
 
Payload Developer(s):  BioServe Space Technologies, University of Colorado - Boulder, 
Boulder, CO 
Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 
Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Denver, CO 
Butterfly Pavilion, Westminster, CO 
Gulf Coast Butterflies, Naples, FL 
 
Sponsoring Agency: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) 
 
Increment(s) Assigned: 18 
 
Brief Research Summary (PAO): Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus Science Insert 
- 03 (CSI-03) is the third set of investigations in the CSI program series. The CSI program 
provides the K-12 community opportunities to utilize the unique microgravity environment of the 
International Space Station as part of the regular classroom to encourage learning and interest in 
science, technology, engineering and math. CSI-03 will examine the complete life cycle of the 
painted lady butterfly and the ability of an orb weaving spider to spin a web, eat and remain 
healthy in space.    
 
Research Summary:  
  
• Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus Science Insert – 03 (CSI-03) is the third in 
the series of CSI, an educational and science program designed to interest students in 
Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) by providing the opportunity for 
students to participate in near real-time research conducted on board the International 
Space Station (ISS). Each experiment is designed to be easily reproducible in the 
classroom providing hands-on experience to the students. 
 
• CSI-03 involves two specific investigations: 
o One will examine the complete life cycle of the Vanessa cardui, painted lady 
butterfly, (egg to butterfly). Students will compare how the complete life cycle of 
the butterfly differs in space, when compared to butterflies on Earth. 
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20090014799 2019-08-30T06:35:13+00:00Z
o The other experiment will examine the ability of an orb weaving spider to live in 
space. Students will compare how the spider in space differs in behavior, feeding 
and web spinning, when compared to the spiders on Earth.  
 
• For both experiments, students will observe the butterflies and spiders on Earth in their 
classrooms and compare them to imagery from the ISS.   
 
Detailed Research Summary: Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus Science Insert - 
03 (CSI-03) is the third set of investigations in the CSI program series. The CSI program provides 
the K-12 community opportunities to utilize the unique microgravity environment of the 
International Space Station as part of the regular classroom to encourage learning and interest in 
science, technology, engineering and math.  
 
CSI-03 involves two specific investigations, one will examine the complete life cycle of the 
Vanessa cardui, painted lady butterfly. Students will compare how the complete life cycle of the 
butterfly differs in space, when compared to butterflies used on Earth. The other experiment will 
examine the ability of an orb weaving spider to live in space. Students will compare how the 
spider differs in behavior, feeding and web spinning in microgravity when compared to the spiders 
on Earth.  
 
CSI-03 can be conducted in the classroom in near real-time, or it can be utilized by teachers at 
any point during the school year after the space flight experiments are completed. Images and 
data from the space based experiment are downlinked to the BioServe Payload Operations and 
Control Center (POCC) on a daily basis while the experiment is active. The downlinked visual 
data once received will be uplinked to the BioEd Online (http://www.bioedonline.org/) website. 
Participating teachers will be provided with a teacher's guide featuring background information, 
lesson plans, and student activities for conducting the project in their classrooms.   
 
Scientific Objectives: 
• Complete one full life cycle of the painted lady butterfly in space.   
• Compare life cycle of the painted lady butterfly on Earth to the life cycle in the 
microgravity environment of space. 
• Compare the ability of an orb weaving spider to spin webs and catch food on the ground 
to its ability to perform the same tasks in the microgravity environment of space. 
 
Education Goals: 
• Students will learn about the life cycle of the painted lady butterfly. 
• Students will learn about the behavior, web-building, and food-catching abilities of an orb 
spider. 
• Students will learn about microgravity and its implications for scientific research. 
• Students will conduct controlled experiments, practice humane animal-handling and 
experimental procedures, and compare their control experiment results to those obtained 
in the flight experiment. 
• Students will learn about space science research careers. 
 
Project Type: Payload 
 
Images and Captions:  
 
Vanessa cardui, painted Lady Butterfly, similar to the butterflies scheduled for use in the CSI-03 
investigation on the ISS.  Immage courtesy of Jeffrey Pippen 
(http://www.duke.edu/~jspippen/butterflies/paintedlady.htm) 
 
Operations Location: ISS Inflight 
 
Brief Research Operations:   
• CSI-03 will launch to the ISS on board a Space Shuttle. Once the Space Shuttle docks 
with the ISS, the experiments will be transferred to the ISS by the crew for operation. 
CSI-03 hardware will be automated to activate the experiments.CSI-03 is an automated 
payload which will require a small amount of crewmember time to initiate and deactivate. 
• The spider experiment will be considered activated once the spider is released from its 
confined holding area within the habitat and the habitat is placed inside Commercial 
Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus (CGBA). The butterfly habitat will be considered 
activated once it is placed inside CGBA. 
 
• Visual imaging will be used to collect data from the two experiments as well as monitor 
the overall progress of each organism.   
 
Operational Requirements: CSI-03 will operate in the CGBA under controlled temperature 
conditions and will require imaging and data download daily to BioServe's Payload Operations 
and Control Center.  
Operational Protocols: CSI-03 will be transferred from the Space Shuttle to the ISS and placed 
inside a CGBA for activation. The hardware for the experiment has been automated to allow 
imagery of the experiments independent of crew. The ISS crew will implement a procedure to 
activate CSI-03 on orbit. The ISS crew will also manipulate different feeding components of the 
hardware to allow fresh food or drink to be exposed for the organisms at a set point in the 
mission. BioServe will be able to monitor all experiments via data and image downlink. The 
research will be contained inside the spider and butterfly habitats.  
Review Cycle Status: PI Reviewed 
 
Category: Observing the Earth and Educational Activities 
Sub-Category: Educational Activities 
Space Applications: Results from CSI-03 may help scientists more clearly understand how 
different organisms are affected by the microgravity environment. CSI-03 influences children to 
continue their education in the science, technology engineering and math areas and pursue 
related careers. 
Earth Applications: CSI-03 provides a unique educational opportunity to encourage and inspire 
students to pursue careers in the scientific and technical fields by participating in near real-time 
research activities on the ISS. This will promote education of the next generation of scientists, 
engineers, astronauts for the space program. 
 
Manifest Status: New 
 
Supporting Organization: Space Operations Mission Directorate (SOMD) 
 
Previous Missions: Space Technology and Research Students (STARSTM), a similar 
investigation was performed on STS-93 and STS-107. CSI-01 was begun on ISS Expedition 14 
and completed during ISS Expedition 15. CSI-02 was performed during ISS Expeditions 15 – 17.  
 
Results: N/A 
 
Results Publications: N/A 
 
Related Publications:   
Witt P, Scarboro M, Daniels R, Peakall D, Gause R. Spider wed-building in outer space: 
evaluation of records from the Skylab spider experiment. Journal of Arachnology. 1977;4:115-
124. 
 
Web Sites: 
BioServe Space Technologies 
www.colorado.edu/engineering/BioServe   
 
Butterfly Pavillion 
http://butterflies.org/ 
 
Denver Museum of Natural Science 
http://www.dmns.org/main/en/ 
 
BioEd Online 
http://www.bioedonline.org/  
 
Related Payload(s): CSI-01, CSI-02 
 
Last Update: 8/12/08 
 


Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus Science Insert - 03

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