ISS Science Operations Status Report 20 Feb 2002
Scientists collected their first spacesuited data with the EVA Radiation
Monitoring Experiment (EVARM) during Wednesday’s six-hour spacewalk by
Flight Engineers Dan Bursch and Carl Walz.
On Monday and Tuesday they performed pre-spacewalk baseline measurements on
the radiation badges to be worn inside their spacesuits. On Friday, they
are scheduled to take post-spacewalk measurements to determine the amount of
radiation they received during the spacewalk.
EVARM is the first radiation-monitoring device to measure dosage received by
the eyes, internal organs and skin during specific spacewalks and relate
those levels to the type of activity, location and other factors in the EVA
environment. Analysis may be useful in mitigating potential radiation
exposure to spacewalkers in the future.
The experiment consists of sets of three dosimeters utilizing Metal Oxide
Field Effect Transistor (MOSFET) technology to measure radiation in three
locations in the cooling undergarment and communications cap of the U.S. EVA
suits in up to four spacewalkers. There is also a badge reader unit located
on the Space Station used to read and download information on the badges and
store the badges when not in use. The experiment was developed by Thomson &
Nielsen Electronics, Ltd., of Ottawa, Canada, and managed by NASA’s Johnson
Space Center in Houston.
Bursch and Walz also performed pre-spacewalk lung function tests Monday as
part of the Pulmonary Function in Flight (PuFF) experiment. A
post-spacewalk test is scheduled for Thursday. PuFF focuses on crew lung
function both following EVAs and inside the International Space Station,
laying the groundwork for future experiments, which are key to understanding
and maintaining crew health. PuFF’s five lung function tests measure
changes in the evenness of gas exchange in the lungs and changes in
respiratory muscle strength.
During their spacewalk Wednesday, the astronauts took a moment to take
pictures of the Materials International Space Station Experiment, a
suit-case size package of insulation, paint, and other space construction
materials attached outside a Station airlock last year. Earlier this year,
ground controllers noticed incidentally in some downlinked images that
several samples appeared to be peeling, prompting a photo request from
scientists on the ground.
The spacewalk was also an opportunity for the Microgravity Acceleration
Measurement System and the Space Acceleration Measurement System to record
vibrations associated with the activity. This information is useful to
scientists and engineers planning future experiments that could be affected
by the vibrations.
The Payload Operations Center last weekend uplinked commands to the Advanced
Astroculture (ADVASC) experiment to change the pressure, temperature and
humidity inside the plant growth experiment, activated February 13. The
science team on the ground has scheduled the crew to perform nutrient
sampling next week, followed by the first harvest the seedlings for study in
March. ADVASC is growing plants from seeds produced on the ground as well
as in space on an earlier Space Station mission in an effort to evaluate
plant life support technologies, plant life cycle, and genetic makeup. A
commercial firm is using the experiment to produce an Internet-based
education program for students.
Geographical targets for the Crew Earth Observation photography program this
week included dust and smog over the eastern Mediterranean basin, smog over
northern Italy, the active Fuego volcano in southeastern Guatemala, aerosols
off the Eastern U.S. coast, geology in northeast Ethiopia, Lake Nasser and
the Toshka Lakes in Egypt, smog over the southeastern U.S., and the icepack
in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
On Friday, February 15, the Experiment on Physics of Colloids in Space
initiated a 120-hour run to perform a host of diagnostics, including a look
at fast fractal formation. The sample is behaving as hoped, showing signs
of aggregation – or clumping. A fractal is something that appears to have
the same structure under different degrees of magnification, such as a
coastline or a river system. Scientists are interested in the fractal
structure of the colloid experiment because fractals they are involved in
many processes on Earth, such as the degradation of motor oil or the
spoilage of food.
Looking ahead, the Earth Knowledge Acquired by Middle school students
(EarthKAM) experiment will be reactivated for the second time during the
Expedition on March 6 and deactivated on March 9. It allows students to
command a still camera aboard the Station to take pictures of cities,
mountains, rivers and other subjects for use in various classroom studies.
The Educational Payload Operations experiment, a demonstration of some basic
principles of physics using toys and simple devices, is now scheduled for
February 25 and March 1.
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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.
Contact
Steve Roy
Media Relations Department
(256) 544-0034
Steve.Roy@msfc.nasa.gov
