title: Plasmakristall-4: New complex (dusty) plasma laboratory on board the International Space Station.
abstract: New complex-plasma facility, Plasmakristall-4 (PK-4), has been recently commissioned on board the International Space Station. In complex plasmas, the subsystem of μm-sized microparticles immersed in low-pressure weakly ionized gas-discharge plasmas becomes strongly coupled due to the high (103-104e) electric charge on the microparticle surface. The microparticle subsystem of complex plasmas is available for the observation at the kinetic level, which makes complex plasmas appropriate for particle-resolved modeling of classical condensed matter phenomena. The main purpose of PK-4 is the investigation of flowing complex plasmas. To generate plasma, PK-4 makes use of a classical dc discharge in a glass tube, whose polarity can be switched with the frequency of the order of 100 Hz. This frequency is high enough not to be felt by the relatively heavy microparticles. The duty cycle of the polarity switching can be also varied allowing to vary the drift velocity of the microparticles and (when necessary) to trap them. The facility is equipped with two videocameras and illumination laser for the microparticle imaging, kaleidoscopic plasma glow observation system and minispectrometer for plasma diagnostics and various microparticle manipulation devices (e.g., powerful manipulation laser). Scientific experiments are programmed in the form of scripts written with the help of specially developed C scripting language libraries. PK-4 is mainly operated from the ground (control center CADMOS in Toulouse, France) with the support of the space station crew. Data recorded during the experiments are later on delivered to the ground on the removable hard disk drives and distributed to participating scientists for the detailed analysis.
authors: Forschungsgruppe Komplexe Plasmen, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, Münchener Straße 20, 82234 Weßling, Germany.
authors: M Y
authors: MY
authors: Pustylnik
authors: Forschungsgruppe Komplexe Plasmen, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, Münchener Straße 20, 82234 Weßling, Germany.
authors: M A
authors: MA
authors: Fink
authors: Forschungsgruppe Komplexe Plasmen, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, Münchener Straße 20, 82234 Weßling, Germany.
authors: V
authors: V
authors: Nosenko
authors: Forschungsgruppe Komplexe Plasmen, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, Münchener Straße 20, 82234 Weßling, Germany.
authors: T
authors: T
authors: Antonova
authors: Forschungsgruppe Komplexe Plasmen, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, Münchener Straße 20, 82234 Weßling, Germany.
authors: T
authors: T
authors: Hagl
authors: Forschungsgruppe Komplexe Plasmen, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, Münchener Straße 20, 82234 Weßling, Germany.
authors: H M
authors: HM
authors: Thomas
authors: Joint Institute for High Temperatures, Russian Academy of Sciences, Izhorskaya 13/19, 125412 Moscow, Russia.
authors: A V
authors: AV
authors: Zobnin
authors: Joint Institute for High Temperatures, Russian Academy of Sciences, Izhorskaya 13/19, 125412 Moscow, Russia.
authors: A M
authors: AM
authors: Lipaev
authors: Joint Institute for High Temperatures, Russian Academy of Sciences, Izhorskaya 13/19, 125412 Moscow, Russia.
authors: A D
authors: AD
authors: Usachev
authors: Joint Institute for High Temperatures, Russian Academy of Sciences, Izhorskaya 13/19, 125412 Moscow, Russia.
authors: V I
authors: VI
authors: Molotkov
authors: Joint Institute for High Temperatures, Russian Academy of Sciences, Izhorskaya 13/19, 125412 Moscow, Russia.
authors: O F
authors: OF
authors: Petrov
authors: Joint Institute for High Temperatures, Russian Academy of Sciences, Izhorskaya 13/19, 125412 Moscow, Russia.
authors: V E
authors: VE
authors: Fortov
authors: Max-Planck-Institut für Extraterrestrische Physik, Giessenbachstraße 1, 85741 Garching, Germany.
authors: C
authors: C
authors: Rau
authors: Max-Planck-Institut für Extraterrestrische Physik, Giessenbachstraße 1, 85741 Garching, Germany.
authors: C
authors: C
authors: Deysenroth
authors: Max-Planck-Institut für Extraterrestrische Physik, Giessenbachstraße 1, 85741 Garching, Germany.
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Albrecht
authors: I. Physikalisches Institut, Justus-Liebig-Univerität Gießen, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 16, 35392 Gießen, Germany.
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Kretschmer
authors: I. Physikalisches Institut, Justus-Liebig-Univerität Gießen, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 16, 35392 Gießen, Germany.
authors: M H
authors: MH
authors: Thoma
authors: Terraplasma GmbH, Lichtenbergstraße 8, 85748 Garching, Germany.
authors: G E
authors: GE
authors: Morfill
authors: OHB System AG, Manfred-Fuchs-Straße 1, 82234 Weßling, Germany.
authors: R
authors: R
authors: Seurig
authors: OHB System AG, Manfred-Fuchs-Straße 1, 82234 Weßling, Germany.
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Stettner
authors: S.P. Korolev RSC "Energia," 4A Lenin Street, 141070 Korolev, Moscow Region, Russia.
authors: V A
authors: VA
authors: Alyamovskaya
authors: European Space Research and Technology Centre, European Space Agency, Keplerlaan 1, 2200 Noordwijk, The Netherlands.
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Orr
authors: European Space Research and Technology Centre, European Space Agency, Keplerlaan 1, 2200 Noordwijk, The Netherlands.
authors: E
authors: E
authors: Kufner
authors: Central Research Institute for Machine Building (TsNIIMash), Pioneer Street 4, 141070 Korolev, Moscow Region, Russia.
authors: E G
authors: EG
authors: Lavrenko
authors: Gagarin Research and Test Cosmonaut Training Center, 141160 Star City, Moscow Region, Russia.
authors: G I
authors: GI
authors: Padalka
authors: Gagarin Research and Test Cosmonaut Training Center, 141160 Star City, Moscow Region, Russia.
authors: E O
authors: EO
authors: Serova
authors: Gagarin Research and Test Cosmonaut Training Center, 141160 Star City, Moscow Region, Russia.
authors: A M
authors: AM
authors: Samokutyayev
authors: European Astronaut Center, European Space Agency, Linder Höhe, 51147 Köln, Germany.
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Christoforetti