Ongoing Operational Support

October 27, 2003 - Spanish Soyuz Mission Cervantes

This is the last day in the International Space Station (ISS) for Pedro Duque. After finalising the planned European experiments, Pedro Duque starts packing and stowing specimens and equipment to be returned to earth. At 20h10 GMT the hatch to the ISS is closed!

For the Belgian experiments, the Soyuz brings back the following:

• all the samples for studying the effects of space conditions on bacteria with Message,
• the cells for studying protein crystal growth processes with the Promiss experiment,
• a container with the samples of Nanoslab, which studies the kynetics of zeolite formation. Zeolites are porous minerals on nanometer scale used for industrial processes,
• the video tapes with the recordings of Cadiocog and Neurocog. Cardiocog evaluates changes in cardiovascular function induced by long-term periods in microgravity and Neurocog studies the effect of space flight conditions on the perception and the process of astronauts memorizing the orientation and location when performing investigations in a virtual environment.