ISS Expedition Three Science Operations Weekly Science Status Report 15 Aug 2001
The first experiments of the Expedition Three mission began this week as new
research facilities for the International Space Station were transferred
onboard from Space Shuttle Discovery.
Astronaut Frank Culbertson and cosmonauts Vladimir Dezhurov and Mikhail
Tyurin performed the Hoffman Reflex experiment on Saturday, August 11 and
are scheduled for a second round of tests on Friday, August 17. Dr. Doug
Watt, the investigator in Montreal, received the data a few hours after the
first session was completed and reported that the data are of excellent
quality.
To do this experiment a small electrical impulse is applied to the back of
the knee and the response measured. They will be tested again near the end
of their mission. This Canadian Space Agency experiment measures spinal
cord excitability. If response decreases as thought, in-flight exercise
would be less effective. Researchers hope to make exercise more effective.
The crew has started shooting video of operations on board with the
Dreamtime high definition TV camera, using three tapes and two batteries.
The video equipment is part of a public-private NASA partnership with
Dreamtime Holdings Inc., Moffet Field, Calif., to upgrade NASA’s equipment
to next-generation HDTV technology. The crew plans to videotape a variety
of activities for documentary, future training, historical and educational
use. In addition to the traditional applications for imagery captured in
orbit for public information, the camera also will be used to capture
commercial imagery that may be used for a variety of purposes by Dreamtime.
Crewmembers also have started participating in the Renal Stone experiment,
aimed at reducing their chances of getting kidney stones. Changes in renal
function and increased risk of kidney stones are among the changes in the
human body induced by the microgravity environment in the Space Station.
Beginning three days before launch and continuing through 14 days after
their return to Earth, the crew is ingesting two potassium citrate pills – a
proven Earth-based therapy — or placebos daily and collecting urine samples
during that period to learn whether the pills are effective.
The Dynamically Controlled Protein Crystal Growth (DCPCG) experiment was
transferred Monday, August 13, from the Shuttle middeck to EXPRESS Rack 1 in
the Destiny module. The Commercial Protein Crystal Growth (CPCG)
experiment, completed during Expedition Two, was transferred from the lab to
the middeck. The science team reported that the two delicate microgravity
experiments, which require precise temperature control, were without
electrical power for only 4 to 5 minutes during the transfer, well within
the planned constraint of 30 minutes. CPCG is scheduled to return to the
Station next February with new biological samples for processing.
Also moved from the Shuttle to the Station and activated on Monday was the
Advanced Protein Crystallization Facility, sponsored by the European Space
Agency. Like DCPCG and CPCG, it is designed to grow samples of proteins
that are key ingredients in many life processes. Scientists hope to grow
larger and more perfect protein crystals for analysis later on the ground.
This research could offer new insights on protein structure, with potential
applications in medical and agricultural research.
On Monday, astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the orbiting research facility
transferred EXPRESS Rack 4 from the Multi Purpose Logistics Module into the
Destiny lab one day earlier than planned. They transferred EXPRESS Rack 5
from the Shuttle to the Station on Tuesday, August 15. The EXPRESS Rack is
a standardized payload rack system that transports, stores and supports
experiments aboard the International Space Station. EXPRESS stands for
EXpedite the PRocessing of Experiments to the Space Station, reflecting the
fact this system was developed specifically to maximize the Station’s
research capabilities. The EXPRESS Rack system supports science payloads in
several disciplines, such as biology, chemistry, physics, ecology and
medicine, including commercial activities. Seven additional experiments
will be hosted by the EXPRESS Racks on Expedition Three.
The new racks bring the total number of research facilities in the lab
module to five. EXPRESS Racks 1 and 2 were installed in the Station in
April 2001 during Expedition 2 on the STS-100 Space Shuttle Mission, ISS
Mission 6A. The Human Research Facility science rack was installed in the
Station in March, 2001. Express Rack No. 3 is scheduled to be installed on
the Space Station in May 2002.
In a spacewalk this week, astronauts Dan Barry and Patrick Forrester will
attach the Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE) to the
outside of the Station. The experiment will stay there, exposed to the
harsh environment of space for a year before being retrieved on another
spacewalk and returned to Earth for study. Managed by NASA’s Langley
Research Center, Hampton, Va., MISSE is the first externally mounted science
experiment on the Station. It consists of two suitcase-sized packages
containing experimental materials for solar power cells, radiation
shielding, paint, optical materials, and lightweight building materials.
Also this week, the crew will transfer the Protein Crystal Growth Enhanced
Gasseous Nitrogen Dewar experiment, which arrived on a Shuttle visit in
July, from the Station to the Shuttle for return. Several Expedition Two
experiments are continuing during Expedition Three. The Experiment on the
Physics of Colloids in Space team carried out three scheduled runs in the
past week. The main focus of these ground-commanded tests was on getting a
final detailed look at each sample before the end of the initial
investigation program. All samples are behaving well. A colloid is a
system of particles suspended in a fluid. Well-known examples are paint,
milk and ink. Better understanding of colloid behavior may lead to
development of new materials on Earth.
The Microgravity Acceleration Measurement System collected high rate data
during the STS-105 docking last week. Scientists are interested in the
vibrations caused by spacecraft dockings that could be detrimental to
delicate microgravity experiments.
The Crew Earth Observations photography program is continuing, with new
sites uplinked to the crew this week. Among the sites are three new dams in
the Tigris and Euphrates river area of Turkey, coastal islands and mangrove
vegetation in Malaysia, coastal features in the Mekong River Delta of
Vietnam, the Yellow River Delta around Beijing, China, water levels in Lake
Eyre, Australia, coral reefs in the Philippines, stream activity in the
Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, and fault patterns n the Canadian
Rocky Mountains.
The Expedition Three cadre officially took over for the Expedition Two team
last week at the Payload Operations Center at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight
Center in Huntsville, Ala. Computers also were switched over to the new
mission. Controllers reported some minor glitches during that transition
but nothing considered serious.
A package of five CD-ROM computer discs created last week at the Marshall
Center is among the equipment being transferred to the Station this week.
The discs were created to resolve some problems that require the computers
that control EXPRESS Racks 1 and 2 to be rebooted periodically. The
software is undergoing additional ground tests before it will be approved
for the crew to install in the rack computers. In the meantime, the Payload
Operations Center and the science team have developed an operating plan to
slow data transmission rates through the racks to reduce the occurrence of
the problems.
Editor’s Note: The Payload Operations Center at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight
Center in Huntsville, Ala., manages all science research experiment
operations aboard the International Space Station. The center is also home
for coordination of the mission-planning work of a variety of international
sources, all science payload deliveries and retrieval, and payload training
and payload safety programs for the Station crew and all ground personnel.
