In 2012 the Timepix chip arrived at the International Space Station. This was the culmination of efforts by collaboration members at the Institute of Experimental and Applied Physics in Prague and the University of Houston, Texas, to use the chip for monitoring the radiation environment of the station. Five chips were plugged into the USB ports of the station laptops and immediately started delivering data to the Earth-based team in Houston. This team is now carefully analysing the data and comparing it with data from the more conventional but rather bulky area-monitors.

The picture is of Astronaut Craig Cassidy in the Cupola of the International Space Station. The Timepix-based Fitpix-Lite is plugged into the laptop in the lower left corner.