ISS Operations Update – January 21, 2016
Experiments:
Airway Monitoring – Nitric Oxide (NO) measurements at ambient pressure [This study looks at the occurrence and indicators of airway inflammation in ISS crew members as the result of dust particles present aboard the Space Station. The experiment uses ultra-sensitive gas analyzers to study exhaled air to assess the health impacts related to dust, especially for longer duration missions for which crew members have to be self-sufficient in atmospheric maintenance and the treatment of potential health conditions. Airway inflammation will be assessed by measuring exhaled nitric oxide. This type of diagnostic may also find application on Earth for the monitoring of asthma or other inflammatory airway diseases.]
Ocular Health – Optical Coherence Tomography, Eye Ultrasounds, Tonometry Measurement [OH is a human physiology study. Its full name is Prospective Observational Study of Ocular Health in ISS Crews. “The Prospective Observational Study of Ocular Health in ISS Crews (Ocular Health) protocol aims to systematically gather physiological data to characterize the Risk of Microgravity-Induced Visual Impairment/Intracranial Pressure on crewmembers assigned to a 6 month ISS increment,” the NASA experiment overview said. It is known that some (not all) astronauts in orbit experience changes in visual acuity (visual clarity) and intraocular pressure as a result of fluid shifts within the body as it is subjected to microgravity. About 20% is astronauts flying to ISS have reported these kinds of changes. Test subjects will undergo pre-flight, flight and post-flight testing of their eyes using a variety of techniques.]
Habitability Experiment Ops [Assessment of International Space Station Vehicle Habitability will see teams on the ground study video of the behavior of crew members within the habitable environment of ISS while the crew fills out questionnaires and collects video of areas of interest in order to provide an assessment of the habitability of ISS in its current state for a one-year mission. Results will be used to develop spacecraft with improved habitability properties to allow crew members to optimally utilize the onboard space.]
Journals [Electronic journals will be kept by the crew members to allow psychologists to study behavioral issues that are associated with the isolation and confinement over long-duration space missions. Journals from 6-month ISS mission have amounted to a total of 1,100 written pages, but no data beyond those six months is available making this an interesting opportunity to study the impact of isolation in the confinements of ISS over a longer period.]
Sleep ISS-12 [The ISS-12 experiment monitors the ambient light exposure and crew member activity and collects data on the subjective evaluation of sleep and alertness. Ambient light and activity are monitored via a wrist-worn actiwatch that delivers actiwatch spectrums that are put through bio-mathematical models of sleep and light to predict circadian phase. Sleep logs will be kept by crew members as a subjective assessment of sleep quality and duration. It is hoped that this investigation can deliver requirements for lighting, sleep-shifting protocols and workloads for future space exploration missions.]
Pilot-T [This experiment puts crew members through complex tasks, such as piloting a space vehicle, at various stages of a long-duration mission to assess crew member performance reliability over long mission durations.]
Maintenance/Systems:
Nominal Inspections/Servicing Tasks (Morning Inspection, Caution & Warning Panel Check, Sozh System Maintenance) (Russian Crew)
Commercial off the Shelf (COTS) Ultra High Frequency (UHF) Communications Unit (CUCU) Loop Back Test
Other Activities:
Preparation of USOS Equipment for Handover to Russian Crew
ISS Emergency Training