The apparatus shown was designed to hold microcapsules for research on mission STS-107.

The apparatus shown was designed to hold microcapsules for research on mission STS-107. It is one over several included in the Commercial ITA Biomedical Experiments payload. The box was recently recovered during the search for Columbia debris. The drug delivery system and spaceflight hardware was developed jointly by JSC, the Institute for Research Inc. and Instrumentation Technology Associates Inc. to conduct microencapsulation experiments under microgravity conditions. This microcapsule contains an antibiotic for treating deep resistant pulmonary infections. Dr. Dennis Morrison, senior biotech project scientist, is principle investigator on microencapsulation and urokinase crystal growth.