Dispatches from BIO 2016
Dissolving powders
(Mini-tablets used in the investigation of wettability and float effect. Image credit: Eli Lilly)
In microgravity, there shouldn’t be a “float.”
“Things should just be a jumble and we hope to compare this situation to that of control experiment done here on earth where the float effect has a definite impact,” said Savin.
Lilly plans on testing this theory using a set of tiny balls made up of a “known material” used in pill production.
A set number of balls will be placed in vials, and once onboard ISS, NASA techs will fill the vials with water and mix them.
"We will observe the dissolution (the dissolving) of the pellets with a camera and compare to the same experiment we will run on earth," said Savin.