Oil Emulsions Experiment (OEE)
Research Area: Classroom version of ISS Investigations
Expedition(s): 13
Principal Investigator: ● Hartmut Ripken, PhD, German Aerospace Center (DLR),
Cologne, Germany
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
Oil Emulsion is an experiment that is used to teach students basic principles of fluid physics.
Identical experiments are performed on the International Space Station (ISS) and in the
classroom to compare mixing oil and water in microgravity to mixing them on Earth.
RESULTS
Students (11-14 years old) carried out this experiment
on Earth, and Thomas Reiter did the same in orbit
during his long-duration Astrolab mission aboard the
ISS. The space section of Oil Emulsion was filmed and
downlinked. This experiment aimed to highlight how
an oil and water emulsion behaves differently in
weightlessness and under gravity conditions. A sealed
container holding 2 non-combining fluids, clear oil and
ink colored water, was shaken until the 2 fluids were
slightly mixed.The fluids’ behavior in space was filmed within
defined time slots during a 2-week period. The data
was downlinked and the results were shown in a
special children’s program on German public
television. The different kinds of segregation that
occurred during the experiment, in space, and on
Earth, could be observed and then explained by the teacher. This experiment can form the basis
of further physics lessons (concerning weightlessness, density, and other fluid parameters) and
maybe even lessons in other scientific areas. The Oil Emulsion experiment was introduced by
DLR and is a co-operation between DLR and the European Space Agency.
This investigation is complete; however no publications are expected.
The container with the oil and water mixture
that is used in the Oil Emulsion investigation.
DLR image.