Tracking Astronaut Health, Important on ISS

Since I last wrote, we have been busy preparing for our next round of calcium kinetics experiments that will fly on STS-107. These experiments will track the effects of space flight on bone metabolism and the movement of calcium throughout the body. We will be looking at different hormonal markers of bone health in blood and urine. STS-107 will be a 16-day shuttle flight, and our calcium kinetics study is part of a complement of four life science experiments called the PhAB-4 (Physiology and Biochemistry - 4). This is very exciting for us, as we've flown this protocol (experiment) on long duration missions (months) like the Mir program, but never on short duration (weeks) Shuttle flights.

Getting this experiment ready, to fly on the Shuttle, takes a lot of preparation and planning. Everyone in my group has attended their share of meetings to make this happen. There are many meetings, forms, and documents required, and it is a long process to integrate an experiment/payload to fly on-board the shuttle. We must be able to meet the space and power constraints (among other things), and we must have willing subjects. To me, it is an amazing process what must be accomplished to fly a payload on the Space Shuttle. We have also been working on our Nutritional Status Assessment protocol, which is a group of tests that look at astronaut health before, during and after space flight. This has been made a medical requirement for all long duration crews. Every astronaut who lives on the International Space Station will take part in this protocol. One of the requirements is the Food Frequency Questionnaire, which we have revised. The questionnaire is computerized, and will be filled out weekly by each crewmember. We have completed pre-flight assessments for the prime and back up U.S. crews for Expedition I. The next assessments will be performed during the L-45 to L-30 timeframe (30 - 45 days before launch). We are looking forward to being an integral part of crew health on ISS.

I was involved in a few activities during National Engineers Week. I visited Fleming Middle School, in Houston's Fifth Ward area. It was such a wonderful experience for me. The kids were so hungry to learn about the space program, and asked some of the best questions I have ever been asked. I think these students were definitely a compliment to their science teachers. I spoke to about 150 students and teachers about bone and the bone loss attributed to human space flight. I learned a lot from these very enthusiastic young people, and I think they did, too. I also did a Space Team Online Chat for Black History Month. I always enjoy these chats.

The rest of my time has been spent working on manuscripts for publication of our findings, and helping with proposal writing. We have a lot of data collected, which we need to summarize and interpret in response to our research questions.

Besides work, I have been busy as the Chair of Community Outreach for the Wyle National Management Association. We just had our American Enterprise Speech Contest, a contest open for high school students. I always enjoy working with young people. Our chapter also works with Habitat for Humanity - and I have enjoyed painting during our workdays in Dickinson. We are also helping to raise funds for the March of Dimes WalkAmerica, and the St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital. Last, but not least, I have been very busy with my boys and their baseball.