Keep the shuttle flying: Fwd: 5 Human Body Questions the 1-Year Space Station Mission May Answer

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From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: March 26, 2015 at 7:04:05 PM CDT
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: 5 Human Body Questions the 1-Year Space Station Mission May Answer

The Surprising Story Behind 1-Year-Mission Astronaut Scott Kelly's Space Patches
by Robert Z. Pearlman, collectSPACE.com Editor | March 25, 2015 04:22pm ET

NASA astronaut Scott Kelly points to his one year mission patch, one of many representing his yearlong International Space Station expedition.
Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls View full size image
Scott Kelly's astronaut name tags were supposed to be aboard the International Space Station by now.
The two blue and gold embroidered badges, each adorned with U.S. Navy astronaut wings and Kelly's name in either English or Russian, were originally among the items that NASA had arranged to send to the orbiting outpost ahead of Kelly beginning his yearlong mission this Friday (March 27).
In fact, the pair of name tags had been packed aboard a U.S. commercial cargo freighter that was on its way to the space station last October. [Photo: Scott Kelly's Rocket Debris-Recovered Name Tags]
That is, until seconds into the flight, when the unmanned rocket exploded in a giant fireball over Virginia.
In the wake of the accident, as investigators searched the debris field for clues as to what happened, someone found Kelly's name tags. Seemingly no worse for the wear, the cloth patches were returned to the astronaut.
"And now I'm taking them with me," Kelly revealed, noting to collectSPACE.com that they had to be something of a lucky charm.
"After all," he joked, "what are the chances they would be in two rocket explosions?"
The name tags, talismans or not, are set to fly with Kelly, adding to the record number of mission-related patches he will wear as part of this expedition.
Together with cosmonauts Gennady Padalka and Mikhail Kornienko, Kelly will launch onboard Russia's Soyuz TMA-16M spacecraft on a four-orbit, six-hour flight to the space station beginning from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 3:42 p.m. EST (1942 GMT) on Friday.
Kelly and Kornienko are the International Space Station's first yearlong crew members. Their extended mission will collect medical data to better understand how the human body reacts to the space environment, helping NASA and Roscosmos prepare for even longer journeys into space, such as sending astronauts to an asteroid or to Mars.
Because of their extended stay and the logistics of flying astronauts and cosmonauts to and from the space station, Kelly and Kornienko will join four expedition crews while in orbit. They are also members of the TMA-16M crew, and, of course, members of the two-person one year mission.
That means that during their trip around the Sun, Kelly and Kornienko will each see their names stitched onto no less than six different mission patches — all in the course of one mission. But that's just the start.
Name tags aside, Kornienko also has three patches from his prior 176 day stay on the space station in 2010. Kelly, who similarly spent 180 days in space before this yearlong expedition, flew on three previous missions, accumulating five patches (two space shuttle emblems, a Soyuz patch and two expedition insignias). [The Most Extreme Human Spaceflight Records]
That brings Kelly's total to 11, which turns out to be more mission patches than the two astronauts who are tied for the most missions into space at only seven.
For collectors, Kelly's patchwork extends even further. In the lead up to Kelly's launch, two of his four space station expedition patches for this yearlong mission had changes made after they had entered production. A crew member change on Expedition 43 required a name swap and the art for the Expedition 46 patch was altered after concerns were raised about inadvertent symbolism.
(Kelly's second shuttle flight, STS-118 in 2007, also had two versions of its patch after a crew member change.)
And, as if all that were not enough, Kelly also has official NASA honorary patches to mark the speed he achieved in flight, "Mach 25," and when he logged his first "100 Days in Space." An emblem was also created to symbolize the study he will undergo on this mission with his twin brother Mark, comparing how the two fare while Scott is in space and Mark is on Earth.
If that seems like a whole lot of space patches to wear, it is. In the months prior to his launch this week, Kelly was seen at first wearing a flight jacket decorated with at least 11 patches, including the NASA logo and U.S. flag. Even he thought it was a bit much.
"I am getting a new one with less patches on it, because this looks kind of ridiculous," Kelly told collectSPACE in January. "It makes me feel guilty when I see some of the ascans (astronaut candidates) walking around with no patches with their names on it."
Astronaut Scott Kelly wearing a NASA blue flight suit with patches for his four International Space Station expeditions and yearlong mission.
Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
View full size image
Kelly should take some solace though, in the knowledge that another of his crew members has even more patches. Gennady Padalka, who will only stay only six months with Kelly and Kornienko in space but who will set a record for cumulative time over the total course of his five flights, has had 13 different mission patches bare his name, two more than Kelly.
Click through to collectSPACE.com to see astronaut Scott Kelly's many mission patches.

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5 Human Body Questions the 1-Year Space Station Mission May Answer
by Miriam Kramer, Space.com Staff Writer | March 26, 2015 08:01am ET

NASA has a lot of questions about what happens to people who live in space for long periods of time, and it's almost time to get some answers.
When NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and Russia's Mikhail Kornienko fly up to the International Space Station Friday (March 27) for a yearlong stay on the orbiting outpost, space agency scientists will get to work on experiments that could help get people to Mars one day.
Officials have a lot of information about what happens to a body in weightlessness for six months, but the 12-month space mission will mark the first time researchers can gather data about what happens to people in space for longer periods of time. It takes more than one year to get to Mars using currently understood propulsion methods, so learning more about the ways long spaceflight affects humans is key to one of NASA's main future goals: getting people to the Red Planet. [1-Year Space Station Mission Explained (Infographic)]
Here are five of the major questions NASA scientists are trying to answer with Kelly and Kornienko's yearlong space mission:
NASA astronaut Mark Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko are taking the ultimate space trip: one year in space on the International Space Station. See how their epic yearlong space station mission works in this infographic.
Credit: By Karl Tate, Infographics Artist
View full size image
What happens to an astronaut's eyes after a year in space?
NASA scientists have long known that the shape of an astronaut's eye can change when in orbit for six months, but researchers aren't sure what will happen to a crewmember's eyes after a full year on the space station. Fluid in the body shifts when in microgravity for extended periods of time, sometimes affecting eyesight due to intracranial pressure. NASA hopes to use specialized experiments to learn more about what a long-term spaceflight can do to an astronaut's eyes.
Does an astronaut's immune system change?
NASA will monitor Kelly's immune system to see how a one year in space taxes his body. Scientists worry that long-term spaceflight could put astronauts at higher risk for atherosclerosis, a disease where plaque builds up in arteries.
"Spaceflight results in many negative health effects, and the causes may include microgravity, radiation, or isolation and stress," NASA immunologist Brian Crucian said in a video. "The immune system can be negatively affected by many of the factors associated with flight. Microgravity itself may directly inhibit immune cell function."
How does an astronaut's stomach bacteria change?
Kelly's twin brother and fellow astronaut, Mark Kelly, will help scientists on the ground with experiments involving Scott's year in space. Scientists will monitor the stomach bacteria in both brothers to see how it might change while on the space station.
"Identical twins provide unique advantages," Northwestern University's Martha Vitaterna, a scientist involved with the research, said in a statement. "We can directly compare the space twin with the Earth twin because they are a genetic match."
How does a long spaceflight affect someone's mental health?
Some of the experiments Kelly and Kornienko will conduct won't have anything to do with needles or invasive experiments. Kelly is planning on keeping a journal of his time in space that he will share with officials on the ground, to give scientists some insight into his mental health during the long spaceflight. Researchers will also monitor how the crewmembers perform their tasks while fatigued.
What kind of exercise does an astronaut need?
NASA has designed a specific workout program geared toward keeping people fit in space. Microgravity can cause muscles to atrophy and contributes to bone loss, according to NASA. The space agency will be trying out a new workout plan during the one-year mission. The new plan could cut workout time down from the two hours astronauts currently spend doing physical activity on the station during their six-month trips.
"Two studies will evaluate a new exercise regimen and monitoring technology geared to protect our bones and muscles and measure changes in the hip region — this area is more susceptible to bone loss," John Charles of NASA's Human Research Program said in a video. "Preflight and postflight muscle performance will be measured using various technologies such as MRI scans and ultrasounds."
Read more about these experiments directly through NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/content/one-year-mission/

How the Epic One-Year Space Station Mission Works (Infographic)
By Karl Tate, Infographics Artist | March 26, 2015 08:00am ET

Astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko are spending a year living aboard the International Space Station to help NASA learn more about the effects of long-term space travel on the human body.

Meanwhile, Scott's brother and fellow astronaut, Mark Kelly, will be monitored on Earth, in a first-ever twins study of health effects comparing space flight to living on Earth.

YEAR IN SPACE STUDY KEY QUESTIONS:

How will astronauts perform mentally and physically after a year in space?

What changes are there to brain structure and sensory/motor abilities?

How do bodily fluids shift?

How are visual acuity and eye health affected?

How do the blood vessels change?

What is the risk of osteoporosis (brittleness of bones) and bone fracture?

How do microorganisms within the body change?

TWINS STUDY KEY QUESTIONS:

Does space travel accelerate atherosclerosis?

How do an individual's genes affect fluid shifts and vision degradation?

How does space travel affect the genes, chromosomes, DNA and RNA?

How does space travel affect the immune system?
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