Crew Week Starts With Biomedical Studies and Human Research

ISS – Expedition 56 Mission patch.

August 27, 2018

The Expedition 56 crew members started off the work week with biomedical studies and human research to understand how living in space impacts their bodies. The crew conducted eye and vision tests, tried on a specialized exercise t-shirt and researched gene expression and protein crystals.

Five of the six International Space Station residents participated in a series of regularly scheduled eye exams and vision checks today. Each crew member covered an eye and read a standard eye chart to test their visual acuity. Next, Flight Engineer Serena Auñón-Chancellor and Commander Drew Feustel scanned their eyes with an ultrasound device to look at the optical nerve and retina. Finally, Flight Engineers Ricky Arnold and Alexander Gerst used a Tonometer to measure eye pressure.

Image above: Flying over North Pacific Ocean, seen by EarthCam on ISS, speed: 27’618 Km/h, altitude: 403,73 Km, image captured by Roland Berga (on Earth in Switzerland) from International Space Station (ISS) using ISS-HD Live application with EarthCam’s from ISS on August 27, 2018 at 22:25 UTC. Image Credits: Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.

Arnold started his morning extracting RNA to help researchers decipher the changes in gene expression that take place in microgravity. Feustel photographed protein crystal samples with a microscope to help doctors develop more effective disease-treating drugs on Earth.

Gerst of ESA (European Space Agency) worked out today in a custom SpaceTex-2 t-shirt for an exercise study testing its comfort and thermal relief while working out in space. He then moved on to the GRIP study exploring how an astronaut’s cognitive ability adapts when gripping and manipulating objects in space.

Related links:

Expedition 56: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition56/index.html

Gene expression: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7688

Protein crystal samples: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7729

SpaceTex-2: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7571

GRIP: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=1188

Space Station Research and Technology: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/index.html

International Space Station (ISS): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

Image (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Mark Garcia/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.

Best regards, Orbiter.chArchive link