Jacques van Oene
April 21st 05, 10:31 PM
Mission Information Report No. 3
Flight Day 5 (19 April 2005, GMT Day 109):
Biology
AES: For the "Agrospace Experiment Suite" experiment, the ESA astronaut,
Robert Vittori, checked the germination state as planned for the day.
CRI: Following the plan of Flight Day 5 for the "Crickets in Space"
experiment, the ESA astronaut opened the KUBIK incubator cover to provide
some fresh air to the crickets inside.
Human Physiology
ETD: Today was the first day planned for the execution of a session of R.
Vittori with the Eye Tracking Device experiment (ETD). The main scientific
objectives of the Eye Tracking Device experiment are to measure the
orientation of "Listings plane" in a weightless environment and to
determine if this plane is linked or not to a coordinate frame of reference
of the vestibulo-oculomotor response. Our eyes can rotate around three axes
whereas normally only two are used. The coordinate framework, which
describes this movement of the eyes in the head, is called the "Listings
plane". This plane normally holds an upright position, but there are
indications that it changes its orientation on the stimulus of a persons
balance.
On Earth itappears to be dependent on inputs from the bodys vestibular
system, which controls the bodys balance, orientation and posture. The
vestibulo-oculomotor response is what happens when we move our head and the
eyes then move in a reflex (controlled by the vestibular system) in the
opposite direction in order to make sure that the eyes stay visually fixed
on that object. This is because the working of our balance system and our
eyes are strongly interconnected.
It is fundamental to understand how the vestibular system adapts to
weightlessness and how this relates to the occurrence of space sickness in
human space flights. This type of research can further provide an insight
into vestibular disorders on Earth and related vestibular symptoms such as
vertigo and nausea.
The experiment, which involves scientists from Germany, Switzerland and the
USA is carried out by Roberto Vittori during the Eneide mission using the
same Eye Tracking Device, which has already been used during the Dutch Delta
Soyuz mission with ESA astronaut André Kuipers in April 2004. This consists
of a headset that includes two digital camera modules for binocular
recording of horizontal, vertical and rotational eye movements and sensors
to measure head movement. The second ETD component is a laptop computer,
which permits digital storage of all image sequences and data for subsequent
laboratory analysis.
After some delay in starting the experiment resulting from the difficulty
and the time needed to find some ETD-related items stored on the ISS. the
planned experiment session for Flight Day 5 was performed successfully.
MOP: Roberto Vittori completed the daily questionnaire for the "Motion
Perception" experiment as planned.
Technology
ENE: The ENEIDE experiment (where ENEIDE does not stand for the mission
name, but for "Esperimento di Navigazione per Evento Italiano Dimonstrativo
di EGNOS") measures and verifies GPS and EGNOS signals in low Earth orbit.
After two experiment runs of ENEIDE performed during the ascent flight in
the Soyuz TMA-6, the first run onboard the ISS was successfully performed by
the ESA astronaut. This included the switching on of the laptop and
receiver, monitoring of the receiver, and consecutive operation for a
minimum of 6 hours, followed by switching off of both receiver and laptop.
HBM: The second session of the Heart Beat Monitoring experiment took
successfully place. The experiment is useful for the development of
intelligent clothing for astronauts, capable of monitoring their vital
functions using both wireless and non-wireless devices to allow free
movement in a closed orbiting environment without having to attach suction
pads, sticking plaster or gel to the skin.
EST: The required daily activation of the Electronics Space Test experiment
was performed as planned by the ESA astronaut. The EST experiment shall
demonstrate that industrial electronic components can be implemented in
space, if they are adequately protected and used correctly.
LAZ: Further information was gathered today to assist in solving the problem
with the LAZIO experiment that occurred on Flight Day 3, and the ESA Eneide
Operations Team and the Principal Investigator for the experiment, together
with his team, continued their efforts to bring the experiment set-up back
to nominal operations. A procedure has been developed to verify whether a
short circuit occurred inside the Main Electronic Box of the LAZIO
experiment hardware. This procedure is planned for execution on Flight Day
6. The LAZIO experiment (LAZ) is meant to take a measurements of the
magnetic environment inside the ISS and its relationship with the particle
flux variations due to solar and geophysical phenomena. The experiment had
switched off unexpectedly on Flight Day 3 after some hours of operations.
Education
BOP: Flight Day 5 was a busy and successful day for the Bone Proteomics
experiment (BOP) which was completed today. The activities performed by the
ESA astronaut on the experiment included the stimulation of the medium in
culture chamber 2, which had to be carried out within a specific time from
the medium exchange which took place on Flight Day 3, the stimulation of the
medium in culture chamber 1, and the washing of the cells of both chambers.
Video was taken during the close-out of the experiment, when the items to be
transported back to Earth by Roberto Vittori were placed inside a return
pouch and stored inside the Soyuz TMA-5 for return to the ground at the
completion of the Eneide mission. BOP is a student's experiment which
investigates the molecular mechanisms that regulate the physiology of human
osteoblasts (bone forming cells) under weightless conditions.
--
--------------
Jacques :-)
www.spacepatches.info
Flight Day 5 (19 April 2005, GMT Day 109):
Biology
AES: For the "Agrospace Experiment Suite" experiment, the ESA astronaut,
Robert Vittori, checked the germination state as planned for the day.
CRI: Following the plan of Flight Day 5 for the "Crickets in Space"
experiment, the ESA astronaut opened the KUBIK incubator cover to provide
some fresh air to the crickets inside.
Human Physiology
ETD: Today was the first day planned for the execution of a session of R.
Vittori with the Eye Tracking Device experiment (ETD). The main scientific
objectives of the Eye Tracking Device experiment are to measure the
orientation of "Listings plane" in a weightless environment and to
determine if this plane is linked or not to a coordinate frame of reference
of the vestibulo-oculomotor response. Our eyes can rotate around three axes
whereas normally only two are used. The coordinate framework, which
describes this movement of the eyes in the head, is called the "Listings
plane". This plane normally holds an upright position, but there are
indications that it changes its orientation on the stimulus of a persons
balance.
On Earth itappears to be dependent on inputs from the bodys vestibular
system, which controls the bodys balance, orientation and posture. The
vestibulo-oculomotor response is what happens when we move our head and the
eyes then move in a reflex (controlled by the vestibular system) in the
opposite direction in order to make sure that the eyes stay visually fixed
on that object. This is because the working of our balance system and our
eyes are strongly interconnected.
It is fundamental to understand how the vestibular system adapts to
weightlessness and how this relates to the occurrence of space sickness in
human space flights. This type of research can further provide an insight
into vestibular disorders on Earth and related vestibular symptoms such as
vertigo and nausea.
The experiment, which involves scientists from Germany, Switzerland and the
USA is carried out by Roberto Vittori during the Eneide mission using the
same Eye Tracking Device, which has already been used during the Dutch Delta
Soyuz mission with ESA astronaut André Kuipers in April 2004. This consists
of a headset that includes two digital camera modules for binocular
recording of horizontal, vertical and rotational eye movements and sensors
to measure head movement. The second ETD component is a laptop computer,
which permits digital storage of all image sequences and data for subsequent
laboratory analysis.
After some delay in starting the experiment resulting from the difficulty
and the time needed to find some ETD-related items stored on the ISS. the
planned experiment session for Flight Day 5 was performed successfully.
MOP: Roberto Vittori completed the daily questionnaire for the "Motion
Perception" experiment as planned.
Technology
ENE: The ENEIDE experiment (where ENEIDE does not stand for the mission
name, but for "Esperimento di Navigazione per Evento Italiano Dimonstrativo
di EGNOS") measures and verifies GPS and EGNOS signals in low Earth orbit.
After two experiment runs of ENEIDE performed during the ascent flight in
the Soyuz TMA-6, the first run onboard the ISS was successfully performed by
the ESA astronaut. This included the switching on of the laptop and
receiver, monitoring of the receiver, and consecutive operation for a
minimum of 6 hours, followed by switching off of both receiver and laptop.
HBM: The second session of the Heart Beat Monitoring experiment took
successfully place. The experiment is useful for the development of
intelligent clothing for astronauts, capable of monitoring their vital
functions using both wireless and non-wireless devices to allow free
movement in a closed orbiting environment without having to attach suction
pads, sticking plaster or gel to the skin.
EST: The required daily activation of the Electronics Space Test experiment
was performed as planned by the ESA astronaut. The EST experiment shall
demonstrate that industrial electronic components can be implemented in
space, if they are adequately protected and used correctly.
LAZ: Further information was gathered today to assist in solving the problem
with the LAZIO experiment that occurred on Flight Day 3, and the ESA Eneide
Operations Team and the Principal Investigator for the experiment, together
with his team, continued their efforts to bring the experiment set-up back
to nominal operations. A procedure has been developed to verify whether a
short circuit occurred inside the Main Electronic Box of the LAZIO
experiment hardware. This procedure is planned for execution on Flight Day
6. The LAZIO experiment (LAZ) is meant to take a measurements of the
magnetic environment inside the ISS and its relationship with the particle
flux variations due to solar and geophysical phenomena. The experiment had
switched off unexpectedly on Flight Day 3 after some hours of operations.
Education
BOP: Flight Day 5 was a busy and successful day for the Bone Proteomics
experiment (BOP) which was completed today. The activities performed by the
ESA astronaut on the experiment included the stimulation of the medium in
culture chamber 2, which had to be carried out within a specific time from
the medium exchange which took place on Flight Day 3, the stimulation of the
medium in culture chamber 1, and the washing of the cells of both chambers.
Video was taken during the close-out of the experiment, when the items to be
transported back to Earth by Roberto Vittori were placed inside a return
pouch and stored inside the Soyuz TMA-5 for return to the ground at the
completion of the Eneide mission. BOP is a student's experiment which
investigates the molecular mechanisms that regulate the physiology of human
osteoblasts (bone forming cells) under weightless conditions.
--
--------------
Jacques :-)
www.spacepatches.info