Tag Archives: science

André’s PromISSe mission continues on Earth

Post-flight testing as well as rehabilitation & debriefings for André Kuipers in the coming weeks

ESA astronaut André Kuipers is spending the next couple of weeks at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, USA, where his PromISSe mission continues with post-flight tests, revalidation and debriefings.

After arriving in Houston early on 2 July he said: "The return journey went perfectly. It was quite tough, I felt sick when I was back on Earth, and wasn't able to walk straightaway. But the care we were given was great and I soon felt better. I was able to take a long sleep in the plane on the way to America. I sat in the grass for a while during one of the stopovers. It smelt so good! I saw the sunset and thought: yes, I am home again."

Wrapping up six months of work

André works with the ALTEA SHIELD experiment

ESA astronaut André Kuipers is scheduled to leave the International Space Station and land on 1 July. André is finishing experiments and packing his bags ready for departure. One of the last experiments is looking at how a human body stays warm.

We take it for granted that our bodies stay at around 37ºC. Go jogging, spend time in a sauna, forget your coat on a cold day and your body will adapt and regulate its temperature. Blood vessels expand or contract and we sweat to keep heat or let excess warmth evaporate.

On Earth, our bodies rely on convection to cool down: as liquids and gases heat up they become less dense and rise, moving heat away from our skin.

There is no convection in weightlessness so it is surprising that astronauts’ bodies adapt and do not overheat in space.

André exercises on the treadmill (Credit: ESA/NASA)

The Thermolab project is looking at an astronaut’s temperature during long missions to help understand how our bodies adapt to weightlessness.

As temperature control is particularly important during exercise, scientists on Earth are observing André and his colleagues at rest and during exercise.

The experiment is run in conjunction with NASA research on maximum oxygen intake as astronauts on the Station use an exercise bicycle.

Using traditional thermometers in space is time-consuming and impractical. Instead, André has two sensors on his forehead and chest that measure his temperature continuously.

Thermolab sensor for Mars500 (Credit: ZWMB, Charité Berlin)

The sensor was first used by ESA astronaut Frank De Winne in 2009 and then extensively during the Mars500 mission to measure how body temperature depends on the night and day cycle.

Hospitals are showing an interest in the Thermolab equipment. Being able to monitor body temperature can provide an early warning to a change in a patient’s condition. As the system is non-invasive, it is more hygienic and easier to use.

André and his two crewmates will land at 10:15 GMT (12:15 CEST) on Sunday 1 July. Watch the landing via ESA and read his blog as he enters the last weeks of his PromISSe mission.

Read the original article on the ESA Portal

New blog post from André: ‘ICV: measuring blood flow and heart rhythm for 48 hours’

In his latest blog entry from on board the International Space Station, André Kuipers writes about taking part in a NASA experiment that measures astronaut’s blood pressure and heart rhythm during long stays in space.

André writes: The ISS repeatedly flew across the “terminator” over the last weeks. The terminator is the border between day and night on Earth. Flying in this orbit is a weird feeling as we see the Sun continuously on the horizon. It came in handy to take pictures of the Venus transit but night-time photography was out of the question unfortunately. I focussed on the golden-yellow reflection of the Sun on Earth instead. This makes beautiful pictures as well. I don’t have much time to take pictures at the moment. It seems like my mission has gone into overdrive.

Read more in André's blog: ICV: measuring blood flow and heart rhythm for 48 hours

Science on the ISS: Exploring the limits of life

Expose-E (Credit: ESA)

You can freeze it, thaw it, vacuum dry it and expose it to radiation but still life survives. ESA’s research on the International Space Station is giving credibility to theories that life came from outer space – as well as helping to create better suncreams.

In 2008 scientists sent the suitcase-sized Expose-E experiment package to the Space Station filled with organic compounds and living organisms to test their reaction to outer space. The experiment was installed on the outside of the ISS where the space samples endured the full power of the Sun’s rays. The samples were insulated somewhat by the Space Station but still had to cope with temperatures changing from –12ºC to +40ºC over 200 times as they orbited Earth.

The samples returned to Earth in 2009 and the results have now been published in a special issue of the Astrobiology journal.

Read more on the ESA Portal: 'The toughest life on Earth'

André counting down to return – interview with Euronews

ESA astronaut André Kuipers recently discussed the highlights of his six-month PromISSe mission on the International Space Station during an in-flight interview with Euronews. André, who launched to the station in December, will return to Earth 1 July in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft for a landing in Kazakhstan along with crewmates Don Pettit and Oleg Kononenko.

Radiation on the ISS: mapping in 3D & testing materials for future exploration

DOSIS 3D: mapping the radiation environment inside Columbus & other ISS modules

In recent weeks, ESA astronaut André Kuipers has been involved in two ESA experiments involving radiation levels on the International Space Station; the Dose Distribution Inside the International Space Station - 3D (DOSIS 3D) experiment and ALTEA-SHIELD.

For DOSIS 3D a number of active and passive radiation detectors are used to conduct a three-dimensional survey of the radiation environment in all segments of the ISS, mapping the nature and levels of the radiation field within the Station. Space radiation exposure is always a concern for the crew, and must be protected against.

The radiation dose inside the European Columbus laboratory is monitored in 11 different positions by passive dosimeters. The passive dosimeters are about the size of a pack of playing cards and are attached to the side walls of Columbus with velcro. They are distributed all around so that the readings can reveal radiation gradients in X, Y and Z directions; together they provide a three-dimensional map of the radiation environment within Columbus.

The passive detectors contain two different detector types: thermo-luminescence detectors (TLDs) to record soft cosmic particles, and plastic track detectors to record hard cosmic particles.

Passive detectors cannot be switched on or off, they record all the time. On Earth they don't measure much because our terrestrial radiation levels are modest. Simply put: real recording starts immediately after the detectors reach Low Earth Orbit (LEO), and stops once the detectors are returned to Earth. The passive detectors tell you how much radiation has been seen ('absorbed') in total during the exposure period - i.e. throughout the period that they are in space.

The passive detectors on the ISS are replaced for each increment. André's recent task was to remove the old set from the Columbus walls, pack them for return to Earth, and to then stick a new set onto the walls. This allows a comparison of possible changes in radiation between different increments.

The passive recordings are accompanied by active recordings. Active recording demands a sophisticated instrument with power, telecommanding and telemetry. In DOSIS-3D two active detectors, together in one location, support the passive dosimetry. Using active dosimetry the fluctuations of radiation levels are measured over time.

ALTEA-SHIELD

André prepares the ALTEA-SHIELD experiment

The radiation environment inside the ISS is much milder than outside the ISS. That is because of the shielding effects from the complete structure of the ISS. The ISS was never built to provide radiation shielding as such, it was built as a mechanical structure that, almost as a side-effect, offered shielding to the crew.

In LEO the shielding provided by the ISS is deemed to be enough to provide protection for the crew, but in the future, on long-duration missions into deep space, further precautions must be taken. The difficulty here is that superior shielding almost automatically means a higher mass. Therefore research is being done to find the best compromise between mass and shielding efficiency.

In ALTEA-SHIELD three active radiation detectors are used. One is for reference. The other two are covered with 'tiles' made of shielding materials in two different thicknesses (thick or thin). By comparing how much radiation is seen by the reference detector, by the 'thin tile' detector and by the 'thick tile' detector, the scientists hope to quantify the effectiveness of the thickness of the shielding tiles.

Last week André installed the first set of tiles. When this part of the experiment is finished (will be after André has returned to Earth on 1 July, so will be performed by another ISS crewmember), the tiles will be replaced by a fresh set made of a different material. Overall the results will tell the scientists which of the two materials works best, and what the effect is of different thicknesses (thick or thin).

Delving inside Earth from space

Geoflow data from the International Space Station showing how a liquid between two revolving concentric spheres moves as the temperature between the outer and inner sphere changes.

ESA astronaut André Kuipers is running experiments on the International Space Station that are shedding light on conditions deep inside Earth. Orbiting some 400 km above us, Geoflow is offering insights into the inner workings of our planet.

ESA sponsored the development of an experiment that mimics the geometry of a planet. Called Geoflow, it contains two revolving concentric spheres with a liquid between them.

The inner sphere represents Earth’s core, with the outer sphere acting as the crust. The liquid, of course, is the mantle.

Read more about Geoflow on the ESA Portal

New blog entry from André: ’23 new radiation sensors for the Space Station’

André works with one of the experiment racks in the Kibo laboratory (Credit: ESA/NASA)

With just over three weeks to go until he returns to Earth, ESA astronaut André Kuipers is still busy with science on the International Space Station, as well as maintenance and routine operations.

André writes: In the past weeks I have been doing many ‘life science’ experiments investigating human behaviour in weightlessness. I worked with the Fluid Science Laboratory examining liquids in space. I also conducted maintenance work and small repairs. Just like a laboratory on Earth, maintenance and repair is important to keep everything running smoothly. Some experiments on the Station run autonomously.

Read more in André's logbook: '23 new radiation sensors for the Space Station'

Thrilling repair needed to complete all on-board CARD experiment activities

Broken connector of the Pulmonary Functioning System needed for the CARD experiment

André agreed to participate in the ESA sponsored human life sciences experiment ‘CARD’, and inflight testing was planned to be conducted at the end of March. The CARD experiment studies how the cardiovascular system adapts to prolonged weightlessness, and in particular the underlying mechanisms of blood circulation in the peripheral parts of the human body (arm and legs) while a crewmember is in space.

The protocol consists of five testing sessions, scheduled over a 24-hour time period. Cardiac output is measured on the ISS using the ‘Pulmonary Function System’. Over the 24-hour period, blood pressure is monitored hourly by an automatic portable device worn on the upper arm, and all urine voids are collected. A blood draw is conducted towards the end of the measurement period to assess hormonal changes.

When André was in the middle of his first cardiac output measurement with the Pulmonary Function System, the hose connector for the breathing gas broke – a big problem, because the gas supply is crucial for the measurements.

The ground teams at DAMEC User Support and Operations Centre (USOC) in Denmark and in Mission Control reported that they had good data for the first of the five measurements, but they might not get repairs completed on orbit in time for the second of the five measurements some four hours later. Hence the teams had to make the difficult decision to abort all the CARD measurements for that day. That way they could make sure that consumables – such as mouth pieces, electrodes and wipes - could be saved for a possible repetition later, providing they could find a way to carry out repairs on-orbit…..

Pulmonary Functioning System set-up for the CARD experiment

No spare connector of this type was available on-board, but André came across some connectors which were not exactly the same, but somehow similar. With his suggestion, the ground teams went off and tried to prepare a repair for him to transform the connector André found and to make it work for the connection needed for the CARD experiment. The clock was ticking, as André’s samples were planned to return to Earth at the end of April and the repair and all CARD measurements would need replanning.

Some days later, the ground teams were ready and had a video prepared to show André how to do this repair. The video message was sent up to him and André succeeded in repairing the connector. Execution of the science protocol was re-planned for mid of April, where this time all five measurements sessions with the Pulmonary Function System were successfully completed by André.

In the meantime, the CARD science team received the in-flight data and collected the frozen urine and blood samples, which were returned to ground with the Soyuz vehicle at the end of April. The science team confirmed the in-flight data and samples look good. Since André was the very last subject for this experiment, this thrilling story now successfully concludes all in-flight measurements and operations for the eight CARD experiment subjects. All’s well that ends well, right?

New blog from André: ‘A small step towards Mars’

Tins of food for the ENERGY experiment (Credit: ESA/NASA)

In his latest update from on board the International Space Station, ESA astronaut André Kuipers explains how his latest diet for the ESA ENERGY experiment will one day help astronauts on their way to Mars.

André writes: "I went on a diet again in the name of science. My previous diets for SOLO and Pro K experiments compared astronaut bone loss with osteoporosis on Earth. This diet for the ENERGY experiment looks at the energy expenditure of astronauts during a long spaceflight. ENERGY is a complicated experiment. Just as with all physiology experiments, measurements are conducted before, during and after flight. This is the only way to record the differences between Earth and microgravity."

Read more in André's blog: 'A small step towards Mars'