NASA International Space Station Lead Increment Scientist’s Weekly Highlights: First Week of February 2011

(Highlights: First Week of February 2011) — Cady Coleman completed her second session with the Evaluation of Maximal Oxygen Uptake and Submaximal estimates of VO2max before, during and after long-duration space station missions (VO2max). The experiment documents changes in maximum oxygen uptake over long-duration missions. By understanding the changes in VO2max that occur within spaceflight, necessary adjustments can be made to extravehicular activity exercise countermeasures. Future sessions are planned every 30 days.

In conjunction with VO2max, Coleman performed her second session of ESA-sponsored Thermoregulation in Humans During Long-Term Spaceflight (Thermolab). This investigation evaluates the thermoregulatory and cardiovascular adaptations during rest and exercise in the course of a long-duration microgravity exposure.

Coleman and Paolo Nespoli made successful contacts with schools in Canada, France, Germany and California as part of the International Space Station HAM Radio experiment (ISS HAM Radio). Fifteen passes have been completed this year and 580 have been completed for the program. By utilizing ham radios, this experiment gets students interested in space exploration by allowing them to talk directly with the crews living and working aboard the space station.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency-sponsored Chaos, Turbulence and its Transition Process in Marangoni Convection (Marangoni) UVP experiment performed its first run on Feb 1. This is one of two physics experiments analyzing the behavior of a surface-tension-driven flow in microgravity.

Jorge Sotomayor, Lead Increment Scientist Expedition 25/26