ISS Weekly Science Status Report 20 Dec 2001
Human cell tissue research that could contribute to the study of cancer,
heart diseases and AIDS, has kept the new Expedition Four crew busy aboard
the International Space Station during the past week.
Cell research using the Cellular Biotechnology Operations Support
System was one of the major crew activities on Sunday, Monday and
Tuesday, Dec. 16-18. One of the most crew-intensive experiments, the
cell research requires the crew to inject cells into 32 containers of
nutrient solution, place them in an incubator and then periodically remove
nutrient solution for analysis and re-inject fresh growth fluid. At the
end of the experiment, the crew must stop growth and inject a preservative
into the cell containers. The crew activated cell growth on Sunday.
Since then, the crew has continued to analyze cell growth and replenish
the nutrient solution. Additional experiment work is planned for Dec.
21, Dec. 24 and Dec. 27.
Cells being grown on this mission include human renal cells, blood cells
and tonsillar cells. In microgravity, cells can be cultivated into healthy,
three-dimensional tissues that retain the form and function of natural,
living tissue. On Earth, studying normal growth and replication of human
cell tissue outside living organisms is difficult, because most cells
cultivated outside the body form flat, thin specimens that limit insight
into the way cells work together.
Scientists from Tulane University VA Medical Center, New Orleans, Harvard
University, Cambridge, Mass., and National Institutes of Health, Bethesda,
Md., are participating in this experiment, managed by the Cellular Biotechnology
Program Office at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
The Microgravity Acceleration Measurement System, an experiment
that measures vibrations aboard the station, recorded the Saturday, Dec.
15, Shuttle undocking. This information is used by scientists planning
experiments that require a very vibration-free environment.
Research operations also resumed on Monday, Dec. 17 with the Space
Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS), Active Rack Isolation System
ISS Characterization Experiment (ARIS-ICE) and the Experiment on
Physics of Colloids in Space (EXPPCS). EXPPCS conducted a 48-hour
test run on Tuesday and Wednesday, Dec. 18-19.
The first questionnaires of the Crew Interactions experiment to
be completed by the Expedition Four crew were filled out by Dan Bursch
on Tuesday, with Yury Unufrienko and Carl Walz scheduled to complete their
questionnaires on Friday, Dec. 21. The computer-based experiment, which
includes ground controllers as well as Station crews, will identify and
characterize important interpersonal and cultural factors that may affect
the performance of the crew and ground support personnel during Space
Station missions.
The Protein Crystal Growth-Single Thermal Enclosure (PCG-STES)
Unit 10 experiment continued to operate normally this week after activation
on Dec. 6. An identical experiment designated Unit 7 is scheduled for
activation in February, 2002. Other Expedition Four experiments also
awaiting activation later in the mission include the Advanced Astroculture
plant growth, the Zeolite Crystal Growth and Earth Knowledge
Acquired by Middle school students experiments.
Expedition Four’s two “sortie” experiments – Avian Development Facility
(ADF) and Commercial Biomedical Testing Module (CBTM) – were
completed during Endeavour’s mission to the Station and were returned
to waiting scientists when the Shuttle landed on Monday, Dec. 17. ADF
studied embryo development, and CBTM studied a potential treatment for
osteoporosis.
Crew Earth Observation locations for crew photography for Dec.
16-22 include, industrialized southeastern Africa, Congo-Zimbabwe and
Angolan biomass burning, the Nile River Delta, eastern Mediterranean
dust and smog, the Tigris-Euphrates river valley, Patagonian and Andean
glaciers, the eastern United States, Egypt’s Lake Nasser, Lahore, Pakistan,
the Parana River area of South America, and the Tuamotu-Austral Islands.
Looking ahead to next week, cell science research will continue on Monday,
Dec. 24. After the holiday, on Tuesday, Bursch and Walz are scheduled
to complete their Crew Interactions questionnaires. Onufrienko
will complete his questionnaire on Thursday, Dec. 27. Also planned that
day are the final sessions of the cell science experiment and Pulmonary
Function in Flight (PuFF) familiarization for the crew. Bursch and
Walz will collect PuFF data on Friday. PuFF focuses on lung function
inside the Space Station, as well as during spacewalks. Each PuFF session
includes five lung function tests to measure changes in the evenness of
gas exchange in the lungs, and on detecting changes in respiratory muscle
strength.
