International Space Station Science Operations Weekly Status Report #1 – 4 April 2001

While the Expedition Two crew continues to set up their
laboratory and living quarters, they also have started work on
their science experiments.

They began before they even transferred from the Space Shuttle
to the Space Station, performing two runs with the Hoffman
Reflex neurological experiment. Both of those were conducted
on the middeck of Space Shuttle Discovery. The crew will
perform one more test before they return at the end of the
Expedition. H-Reflex measures how spinal cord reflexes are
affected by space flight. Astronauts set up and activated the
Bonner Ball Neutron Detector and the Dosimetric Mapping
radiation-measuring experiments. Bonner Ball was activated
March 23. DOSMAP was activated March 28. The crew also did
the initial set-up for a third radiation experiment – Phantom Torso
– which has additional components arriving on the STS 100/6A
Shuttle mission to the Station.

The crew performs status checks daily to make sure the
instruments are working correctly. Radiation is one of the most
significant hazards for human beings during long-term space
missions. These experiments will measure the different types of
radiation that penetrate the station and help scientists more
accurately predict the crew’s radiation exposure and develop
countermeasures to safely prolong human exposure to radiation
during space travel.

On March 28, Susan Helms set up and activated the Human
Research Facility laptop computer. It will be used to operate and
store data from several experiments.

On Thursday, March 29, the crew successfully hooked up the
Human Research Facility Rack. The umbilical mating provides
the rack and its experiments with cooling air and water,
electricity, pressurized gases and vacuum, and data and
communications links. Final activation, power-up and check-out
activities are planned soon. The Station’s first science rack was
carried to the orbiting laboratory by Space Shuttle Discovery in
March. During the Station program, it will house a variety of
experiments for studying the physiological, behavioral and
chemical changes in human beings caused by space flight.

On April 2, Jim Voss conducted the first Expedition Two photo
session of the Crew Earth Observation experiment. He
photographed the Parana River Basin in Paraguay, Argentina, an
area experiencing rapid land use changes. Voss also transferred
radiation data collected by a pair of radiation sensors called
Dosimetry Telescopes to the Human Research Facility personal
computer for transmission to the ground later.

The crew has also been doing the Interactions experiment. This
requires them to fill out a questionnaire once a week about how
they feel and how they are getting along with their colleagues.
After the mission, this experiment will provide scientists on the
ground with “snapshots” of crew interactions during various
phases of the mission. The goal of the experiment is to identify
and characterize interpersonal and cultural factors that may
impact crew performance in space. Ground controllers in
Huntsville, Ala., Houston, and Moscow also are participating in
the surveys.

While Expedition Two science got started, science experiments
from Expedition One returned to Earth, including two
experiments that gave hundreds of students an opportunity to
participate in research aboard the Station.

The Expedition One crew over a period of days watered
containers of corn and soybean seeds. Images of the seeds will
be distributed via the Internet to students to demonstrate the
germination capability and growth of seeds in space.

In addition to seeds, Discovery also landed with hundreds of
biological crystals grown during Expedition One. Many of the
solutions used to grow these crystals were prepared by more
than 200 students and teachers from 89 schools in six states:
Alabama, California, Florida, Michigan, Tennessee, and Texas.
The program helps students learn about biological substances
that carry out many important functions in humans, animals and
plants. Students use the Internet to follow scientists’ analysis of
the space-grown crystals and compare them with crystals grown
in their classroom.