Why Space? : Harvesting the benefits of science in orbit.

To do experiments in space, scientists must carefully think out and prepare their experiments long ahead of time, wait for an available launch window to get their projects up to the laboratories on the International Space Station (ISS) (Figure 1), rely in some cases on the expertise of the astronauts to carry out the experiments correctly, and then wait for their results either to be transmitted or, in some cases, to be physically transported back to Earth. Yet, scientists from widely different fields are eagerly awaiting their chance to get their projects into orbit.