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The crew of Endeavour exchanges greetings with the Expedition Three Space Station crew. (NASA/JSC)

Status Report: 01-370

INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION 
Expedition Four Science Operations

Weekly Science Status Report
Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2001

New experiments for Expedition Four were transferred to the International Space Station during the past week, and the first experiments are already underway.

Two “sortie” experiments that are part of the Station science program but will remain aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour have begun.

The Avian Development Facility was activated Wednesday, Dec. 5, incubating 36 Japanese quail eggs.  Their development will be stopped in flight and the embryos fixed for a post-flight, bio-specimen-sharing program.  The automated experiment will also validate the subsystems of the hardware itself and reduce the risk in developing a possible next-generation of avian development hardware.  Avian embryos can be used as a biological model for observing changes in cardiovascular, vestibular, musculoskeletal, immunological and neurological development in microgravity.  The experiment was developed by NASA’s Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., with principal investigators from Space Hardware Optimization Technology (SHOT) Inc. in Greenville, Ind., Central Institute for the Deaf, Washington University in St. Louis, MO, and Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, N.Y.

Also aboard the 11-day mission is the Commercial Biomedical Testing Module.  This experiment will allow researchers to examine how well a recently discovered protein reduces bone loss.  This potential treatment for osteoporosis is being tested by Amgen Inc., a biotechnology firm in Thousand Oaks, Calif., together with a NASA Commercial Space Center, BioServe Space Technologies at the University of Colorado, Boulder and Kansas State University, Manhattan.  Scientists are using microgravity to simulate accelerated bone loss on Earth.  Astronauts experience a loss of bone mass in space flight similar to osteoporosis.  Amgen treated 12 lab mice with the protein, called osteoprotegerin, a potent regulator of bone metabolism, and treated 12 other mice with a placebo.  They were placed in three Animal Enclosure Modules designed by NASA’s Ames Center and stowed aboard the Shuttle.  Similarly treated mice will remain on Earth for post-flight comparison.  The habitat provides food and water.  After the Shuttle lands, the mice will be returned to Amgen and BioServe scientists, who will examine the animals for the effects of space flight and the ability of the protein to mitigate bone loss.

Expedition Four Flight Engineers Dan Bursch and Carl Walz completed their first sessions with the Hoffman Reflex experiment on the Shuttle middeck on Dec. 6, just one day after launch.  They repeated H-Reflex on Monday, Dec. 10 and will perform the test again in a few weeks and near the end of the Expedition to track changes in the human neurovestibular system.  H-Reflex research was also conducted by the Expedition Two and Three crews.  The experiment, which involves applying a small electrical stimulus to the back of the knee and measuring the response, measures spinal cord excitability.  A goal of the H-Reflex experiment is to help researchers determine if exercise could be made more effective on long space flights.

Shortly before the Shuttle docked on Friday, Dec. 7, EXPRESS Rack 2 in the Destiny lab module was powered down as part of an energy conservation measure.  It will be powered up after undocking.  The Space Acceleration Measurement System and Microgravity Acceleration Measurement System recorded the docking before EXPRESS Rack 1 powerdown on Saturday, Dec. 8.  Together with Rack 1, the experiments will be reactivated before undocking to record the event.  Scientists conducting or planning microgravity research aboard the station use this data to understand how crew movements, spacecraft dockings and other activities affect the low gravity environment.

The Active Rack Isolation System ISS Characterization Experiment and the Experiment on Physics of Colloids in Space continued to collect and downlink data last week before being powered down shortly before docking.  Both experiments, which began on Expedition Two, will resume after undocking.  ARIS-ICE is testing an experimental vibration-dampening device in Rack 2.  Colloids, systems of fine particles suspended in fluid, are commonly used in products and manufacturing processes on Earth.  By gathering data on their basic physical properties beyond normal Earth gravity, scientists hope to better understand how colloid structures grow and behave with the long-term goal of learning how to control their growth to create new materials.

The Rafaello Multi Purpose Logistics Module was moved from the Shuttle cargo bay to the Station on Saturday night, Dec. 8, and the process of transferring payloads and supplies began immediately. 

The Advanced Protein Crystallization Facility and Dynamcially Controlled Protein Crystal Growth experiments were transferred Saturday, from EXPRESS Rack 1 to Endeavour for the return to Earth.  Using different processing techniques, these experiments are aimed at better understanding the structure and function proteins involved in the chemical reactions essential to life.  Protein crystals grown in microgravity are often significantly larger and of better quality than those grown on Earth.

A similar experiment last flown on Expedition Two is back on Expedition Four.  The Protein Crystal Growth Single Thermal Enclosure (PCG-STES) Units 7 and 10 were transferred Saturday from the Shuttle to Express Rack 4 in the Destiny lab.  Unit 10’s six growth chambers were also activated.  Unit 7 growth chambers will be activated later in the mission.

New samples for the Cellular Biotechnology Operations Support System were transferred to the Station on Saturday, while samples processed during Expedition Three were moved to the Shuttle.  The first CBOSS sample processing is timelined to begin on Sunday, Dec. 16.  These new biotechnology experiments will attempt to grow human kidney cells, blood cells, and tonsillar cells.  In microgravity, cells can grow more like they grow in the body, offering insights into diseases such as heart disease, cancer and AIDS.

The Advanced Astroculture (ADVASC) and Zeolite Crystal Growth experiments were transferred from the logistics module to Destiny on Saturday, with activation planned for later in the Expedition.   ADVASC is a follow-up to an Expedition Two experiment.  It will allow the growth of a second generation of Arabidopsis thaliana plants, using seeds harvested from plants grown during Expedition Two, and also from new seeds.  It is also the basis for a commercial Internet-based education program.  Zeolites are crystals that can absorb and hold liquids or gasses.  They are used in petroleum production.  Better understanding of their structure and how they work could lead to improved production efficiencies.

The Microencapsulation Electrostatic Processing System, stowed in the logistics module, was not transferred to the Station.  The sample containers failed a vacuum test shortly before launch, and the decision was made to not load them aboard the shuttle.  The experiment hardware will be returned for evaluation.

Editor’s Note: The Payload Operations Center at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., manages all science research experiment operations aboard the International Space Station.  The center is also home for coordination of the mission-planning work of a variety of international sources, all science payload deliveries and retrieval, and payload training and payload safety programs for the Station crew and all ground personnel.