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Analogous to Earth-based medical care facilities, space-based facilities must provide capability for laboratory diagnosis. A clinical laboratory system, based on commercially available devices or technologies, is being designed for space station Freedom that can be used by the crew medical officer to provide analysis of discrete samples of blood and other biological fluids. Clinical chemistry, blood gas analysis, hematology, and microbiology are planned to be available at the space station as components of the Crew Health Care System. As with many space systems, ease of use, compact size and reliability are primary guidelines. Due to the many types of blood and urine analyses that are available, clinical chemistry may be the most frequently used analytical procedure for space medicine.