WAICO is an experiment system for the BIOLAB fitted to the COLUMBUS module of the International Space Station to examine root growth and the incidence of waving and coiling in arabidopsis thaliana in different phases of weightlessness as well as in fully gravity-free conditions.

The OHB model provides for fully automatic execution of the experiment, with the astronaut's task largely confined to sowing the arabidopsis seed in the eight experiment containers and placing them on centrifuges in the BIOLAB incubator. This incubator is fitted with a life support system to create the atmospheric conditions necessary for the plants to grow, while the centrifuges simulate various degrees of gravity right up to twice the earth's gravity. Both the centrifuges and the life support system have been sourced from OHB.

• WAICO I comprising eight experiment containers was sent to the ISS on February 7, 2008 together with the COLUMBUS module on board the Space Shuttle "Atlantis" (STS-122)