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OdISSea mission: One year later
Spaceflight brings along some problems for the human body. One of these remarkable phenomena is that fluids shift towards the thorax. This causes for example a reduction in circulating blood volume. After return to gravity 2/3rd of astronauts suffer from orthostatic intolerance, this is the inability to stand upright without feeling dizzy or loss of consciousness. Studying this can help patients with related problems on Earth. Just think about unexplained loss of consciousness (syncope) caused by dysfunction of cardiovascular control mechanisms. Cardiocog Rhythm therefore studies the evolution of autonomic cardiovascular control in space. The team of professor Aubert also followed the recovery of autonomic cardiovascular control after return to earth. One of their important conclusions is that space environment causes heart rate to slow down! Blood pressure during spaceflight is lower compared to sitting position, but similar to the blood pressure in standing position. And the recovery of autonomic heart rate control after spaceflight is very slow. Even after 25 days, the autonomic modulation of the heart is not yet at the level of 45 days before the flight. Entire presentation available in .pdf format (3,7Mb) Cardiocog Respi : P.-F. Migeotte, M. Paiva The aim of this experiment was to study the effect of microgravity on the interaction between the cardio respiratory system and the regulation of the cardiac rythm. Cardiocog Respi was proposed in the follow-up of previous experiments performed during the Euro Mir 95 and the Neurolab (STS-90) missions. The first results of this experiment, based on only one astronaut, show that 19 days after the return to earth, the heart rate had returned to its pre-flight value. The variability that is present in normal heart rate is strongly increased in microgravity. After the return to earth, the variability practicaly disapeared and became almost normal only after 19 days back on Earth. Entire presentation available in .pdf format (1,38Mb) Visit the Web site of the ULB Laboratory Cardiocog Text : M. Zizi, N. Pattyn The subject of this experiment was: stress, performance and physiological correlates during spaceflight. The cognitive performance is significant. It's important to find an answer to the question: how do we function during space missions? The first results show that:
Entire presentation available in .pdf format (284Kb) Rho Signaling : B. Nusgens, Ch. Lapière Thanks to previous missions, we know that cells sense and react to mechanical stress and stress relaxation. The research team studies the fact that microgravity is interpreted by cells as mechanical stress relaxation. During the Odissea mission, the cells were WI26 human fibroblasts. With this mission, the researchers hope was:
Due to a faillure in the fixation step (premature termination of the experiment) the cells couldn't have been analyzed after their return on Earth. This experiment will be reflown in the Foton M3. Entire presentation available in .pdf format (2,82Mb) Analyses of the cerebral activity associated with a perception and a navigation task in a virtual environment (tunnel) in microgravity. The preliminary results show for the first time that:
Entire presentation available in .pdf format (892Kb) The K.U.Leuven research team studied the formation of zeolites in microgravity. Zeolites are crystalline microporous aluminosilicates, mostly used in the petrochemical industry. Zeolites have interesting catalyc and molecular sieving properties. The result of the Odissea mission is that the researchers discovered a formerly unknown step in the formation process of zeolites. On Earth this intermediary phase was never visible, in microgravity it becomes visible. The idea behind this type of space research is not to start mass production of zeolites in space, but to learn in space how to do it on Earth. Entire presentation available in .pdf format (8,8Kb) Studying the skeletal system showed us that bed rest and space flight induce bone loss. The researchers of the Vitamin D experiment are investigating the different possible causes of this phenomenon. More precisely they are looking for cellular effects of microgravity on the bone mass. The concrete result of this mission is that a number of suggested causes can now be excluded. ..... Entire presentation available in .pdf format (2,19Kb) The DCCO experiment belonged to a wide research program aiming to investigate mass transport processes in multicomponents mixtures representatives of crude oil. Goal was to improve our understanding of the mass transport phenomena and validation of theoretical models. Validated techniques:
Lessons learned:
Entire presentation available in .pdf format (2,8Mb) Promiss/GCF : F. Dubois, I. Zegers Protein Crystal growth monitoring by digital holographic microscope for the International Space Station. PromISS 1 was globally successful:
Film growing cristal (.avi file 2,9 Mb) Entire presentation available in .pdf format (7,4Mb) Cosmic : L. Froyen, J. De Wilde The Cosmic experiment can be explained in short as “materials from fire”. A mix of powder (Ti, Al, B) is compressed into a bar. The following phase, combustion synthesis of this bar, happens under microgravity conditions. The final result is a compound called TiAl-TiAl3-TiB2. Following this method lots af advanced materials can be produced, with applications as durable materials, abrasive materials, cutting tools, high temperature materials, materials for space, biomaterials,.... Entire presentation available in .pdf format (1,2Mb) Ramiros : Ph. Baert, G. Meesen In space, astronauts are exposed to dangerous cosmic radiations (HZE particles). This is why researchers from the Gent university studied the effect of these HZE particles and microgravity on oxidative stress like for example damage to DNA (mutations, ageing). They concluded after analysing the cells that the damage to DNA is higher in microgravity than on the ground. Entire presentation available in .pdf format (1,94Mb) Microbial Experiment in Space Station About Gene Expression It's important to understand the behavior of the bacteria under space conditions for long term missions. There are two main reasons why we study bacteria:
The first results show that particular genes of the studied bacteria are overexpressed in microgravity. However, one should attend confirmation of this observation with the "Message2" experiment results. Entire presentation available in .pdf format (1,13Mb)
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