CSS employee owners supporting NASA recently completed an upgrade of a new cold plate for Solidification Using a Baffle in Sealed Ampoules (SUBSA) ground unit. The Cold Plate is a piece of ground support equipment (GSE) that helps control the temperature of the SUBSA furnace for ground testing, similar to the Cold Plate in the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) onboard the International Space Station.

machine (SUBSA) with large holes in the front
SUBSA on the International Space Station
(Credit: NASA)
Diagram of a SUBSA pointing out all the parts including the cold plate at the bottom

Diagram of the SUBSA on the International Space Station. 

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Aerial view of a burned facility surrounded by a woods

Responding to Tangipahoa River Contamination 

Following a fire at Smitty’s Supply facility in Louisiana’s Tangipahoa Parish on August 24, 2025, CSS employee owners supporting the Environmental Protection Agency’s Scientific Technical and Assessment for Consequence Management (STACM) contract deployed to the scene on August 31 to assist with response efforts. Initially staff worked on logistics at the staging warehouse. After a…

New Data and Reports on the U.S. Marine Economy

Each year CSS economists on contract with NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management work with other federal agencies to process the most recent economic and labor data, and extract the portions related to marine-dependent sectors.

Bee on a flower

Developing a Database for Ecosystem Service Models 

CSS scientists have been major developers and contributors to the online U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s EcoService Models Library (ESML) database since its inception in 2012. The ESML database contains detailed but concise descriptions of ecosystem service models to facilitate the selection of models by ecosystem scientists for a variety of management and research applications. The…