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. 

See More CSS Insights

View over a valley with a fog settled between the mountains

Monitoring Air Quality in California’s San Joaquin Valley

CSS employee owners supported the deployment and operation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) air quality monitoring trailer (WEAVE COM – Western Enhanced Air quality VEhicle for COmmunity Monitoring) in California’s San Joaquin Valley in during late fall and early winter of 2024.  Elevated particulate matter (PM2.5) is frequently found throughout the valley during…

tractor trailers stationed in a parking lot

Emergency Response Support for the Republican National Convention

CSS employee owners on contract with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Portable High-throughput Integrated Laboratory Identification System — a mobile analytical unit known as PHILIS — provided emergency response support for the 2024 Republican National Convention. PHILIS mobile laboratory units are designed to provide onsite analysis of environmental conditions, including air and soil samples, contaminated…

Octocoral in a tank

Planning, Preparing for, and Participating in a Major Partner Workshop

The Mesophotic and Deep Benthic Communities (MDBC) team with NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science attended a team meeting at the Wicker Center in Gulfport, Mississippi. CSS employee owners supporting this team (as part of our joint venture with RPI) participated in the meeting January 26-29. The objective of this workshop was for project managers, advisors, and partners to discuss 2025 accomplishments and plan next steps for 2026 and…