ISS - Expedition 65 Mission patch.
Oct 15, 2021
Crew members aboard the International Space Station conducted scientific investigations during the week of Oct. 11 that included studying cool flames, examining the aging effects of spaceflight, and understanding how microgravity impacts time perception.
The space station has been continuously inhabited by humans for 20 years, supporting many scientific breakthroughs. The orbiting lab provides a platform for long-duration research in microgravity and for learning to live and work in space, experience that supports Artemis, NASA’s program to go forward to the Moon and on to Mars.
Image above: Satellites are prepared for deployment this past week within the Nanoracks CubeSat Deployer aboard the space station. Image Credit: NASA.
Here are details on some of the microgravity investigations currently taking place:
Coolest flames in space
The Advanced Combustion via Microgravity Experiments (ACME) project is a set of six independent studies of gaseous flames conducted in the Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR). The researchers’ goals are to gain information that can lead to improved fuel efficiency, reduced pollutant production in practical combustion on Earth, and improved spacecraft fire prevention. One of the ACME studies currently being conducted is known as the Cool Flames Investigation with Gases. A cool flame is one that burns at about 600 degrees Celsius. A candle is about two times hotter, burning at around 1,400 degrees Celsius. The results of this investigation could lead to cleaner, more efficient internal combustion engines. This past week, a crew member was tasked with replacing a butane bottle in preparation for the experiment.
Image above: Expedition 65 Flight Engineer Akihiko Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) inspects network connections, swaps cables, and replaces components inside the U.S. Destiny laboratory module. Image Credit: NASA.
Aging in space
Emerging data point towards linkages among cardiovascular health risk, carotid artery aging, bone metabolism and blood biomarkers, insulin resistance, and radiation. Data indicate that aging-like changes are accelerated in many International Space Station crew members, particularly with respect to their arteries. As part of the Vascular Aging investigation, ultrasounds of the arteries, blood samples, oral glucose tolerance, and wearable sensors from space station crew members are analyzed.
A crew member performed a blood pressure measurement lasting 13 hours this week and gathered data with a Bio-Monitor garment while sleeping. Results could point to mechanisms for reducing this risk and may also identify and detect blood biomarkers that predict early signs of cardiovascular aging.
What time is it?
Time Perception in Microgravity, an ESA (European Space Agency) experiment, investigates crew members’ perception of time aboard the space station. Judgments of durations in seconds, minutes, hours, and days are recorded by crew members throughout their stay aboard the orbiting lab and compared with pre- and postflight baselines. It is hypothesized that time duration is underestimated by astronauts in orbit. If the hypothesis is correct, the crew members’ duration estimate should be shorter than real time. The speed at which crew members’ move may affect time perception. Crew members’ motions are slow at the beginning of the flight, and then increase in speed as the flight progresses. When in orbit, it takes about 50% more time to perform the same experimental procedures as it would on Earth. This week, a crewmember replaced the headband and garment for the Bio-Monitor Data Unit. The instrument performs on-orbit monitoring of crew member physiological parameters, with wearable sensors that only minimally interfere with crew member daily activities.
International Space Station (ISS). Animation Credit: NASA
Other investigations on which the crew performed work:
- Ring Sheared Drop uses a device to create shear flow, or a difference in velocity between adjacent liquid layers. Previous research shows shear flow plays a role in the formation of protein aggregations in the brain called amyloid fibrils, which may be involved in the development of diseases such as Alzheimer’s.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7383
- RFID Recon tests using radio frequency identification tags to identify and locate cargo on the space station using the space station’s free-flying Astrobee robots. The technology could help crew members find items more quickly and efficiently and enable more efficient packing, reducing launch mass and stowage volume.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7722
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Facility.html?#id=1891
- NICER is mounted on the exterior of the space station to study the physics of neutron stars, the glowing cinders left behind when massive stars explode as supernovas.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=1705
- Food Physiology examines the effects of an enhanced spaceflight diet on immune function, the gut microbiome, and nutritional status indicators, with the aim of documenting how dietary improvements may enhance adaptation to spaceflight.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7870
Image above: Principal Investigator Eve Teyssier assembles the pot of the Eklosion capsule under sterile condition. The Eklosion investigation consists of a vase that is used by a crew member to grow a Marigold flower (Tagetes patula) aboard the space station. The investigation aims to study the process of plant growth in space. Image Credit: Eklo Association.
- For Eklosion, a crew member grows a Marigold plant in a specially designed vase and takes photographs to document the flower’s growth each week. This ESA investigation gathers data on plant growth and the psychological benefits of tending the plant for the crew member.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=8358
- The ESA GRASP investigation examines how the central nervous system integrates information from the senses to coordinate hand movement and visual input, in part to determine whether gravity is a frame of reference for control of this movement.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=2038
- Food Acceptability looks at how the appeal of food changes during long-duration missions. Whether crew members like and actually eat foods has a direct effect on caloric intake and associated nutritional benefits.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7562
Space to Ground: Arrivals and Departures: 10/15/2021
Related links:
Expedition 65: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition65/index.html
Advanced Combustion via Microgravity Experiments (ACME): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=1651
Cool Flames Investigation with Gases: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html#id=8270
Vascular Aging: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7644
Time Perception in Microgravity: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7504
ISS National Lab: https://www.issnationallab.org/
Spot the Station: https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/
Space Station Research and Technology: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/overview.html
International Space Station (ISS): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html
Images (mentioned), Animation (mentioned), Video (NASA), Text, Credits: NASA/Ana Guzman/John Love, ISS Research Planning Integration Scientist Expedition 65.
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