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Bring Our Children To Work Day 2006

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center SPACE CENTER ROUNDUP Volume 45 · Number 7 JULY 2006

Roundup
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ohnson Space Center welcomed hundreds of kids on its annual Bring Our Children To Work Day in June. This year's theme, "Where We've Been, Where We're Going," focused on NASA's plans to explore the moon, Mars and beyond. Kids got to see where their parents work, learn what they do every day and see exciting presentations about space exploration.
Above, Richard Watson, of JSC's Crew and Thermal Systems Division talks about spacesuit technolog y. At right, the children take in a spaceflight presentation.
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Space Cen ter Roun d up
The Roundup is an official publication of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, and is published by the Public Affairs Office for all Space Center employees. The Roundup office is in Bldg. 2, Rm. 166A. The mail code is AP411. Visit our Web site at: http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/roundup/online/ For distribution questions or to suggest a story idea, please call 281/244-6397 or send an e-mail to jsc-roundup@mail.nasa.gov. Joanne Hale Editor Kendra Phipps Assistant Editor Catherine BorschИ and Brad Thomas Staff Writers Marshall Mellard Graphic Designer

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Constellation program
NASA's Constellation Program is getting to work on the new spacecraft that will return humans to the moon and blaze a trail to Mars and beyond. This artist's rendering represents a concept of rendezvous and docking operations between an unmanned crew vehicle and a manned lunar lander.

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director
A MESSAGE FROM CENTER DIRECTOR MICHAEL L. COA TS

FROM THE

BED-REST PROJECT STUDIES ARTIFICIAL GRAVITY

Lying down for science
by Bill Jeffs

Keeping things in perspective
I write this column a month in advance, so my expectation is that Discovery is safely in orbit, we are enjoying the success of the STS-121 mission and recognizing the hard work of the thousands of folks on our Team NASA. We read a lot about how old the shuttle is, but it will be many decades before we see another spaceship with similar capabilities. Getting back into the business of flying the shuttle on a regular basis is important to each and every one of us, but it is also a symbol of national pride and technological strength. We have just celebrated America's independence, and I hope everyone has had a terrific Fourth of July holiday! While we are accustomed to thinking of ourselves as a "young" nation, our 230 years of history make us one of the oldest systems of government on Earth. We often get so busy in our daily lives that we forget we live in an amazing time in an amazing country. The media concentrate on the negative, but the fact is that by almost any measure we live in the best of times. Despite the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, fewer people were killed in worldwide conflicts last year than at any time in recorded history. We complain about the cost of health care and prescription medicines, but we have the best medical care in the world by far. It is available to more and more people, and our medicines have to be considered "miracle drugs" by any reasonable definition. After years of slow progress, we are now making significant headway in the fight against cancer and may well see cures in our lifetimes. Life expectancy has increased dramatically over the last century. (Our associate director, Randy Gish, not only has grandchildren, but his grandparents are still healthy! Good genes, I'm sure, but in general we can all expect to live longer and healthier lives.) As engineers we tend to want to fix and "improve" everything, but the challenges we face today are no more serious than at any other time in history, and the quality of life is dramatically better. It's natural to complain, and as Americans we have a First Amendment right and responsibility to do so, but we also need to keep things in perspective. Our nation has much to be proud of, and the space program, which is visible evidence of our passion, spirit and belief in the future, is one of our proudest achievements. I would once again encourage everyone to get more involved with our local community. Despite the heat, humidity and hurricanes, this is a terrific place to live and work because of the people who make up the community. We need to support the local governments, schools, clubs and activities to continue to provide our children with all the amenities we enjoy.

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t's an admirable thing to stand up for one's beliefs. But recently, some brave individuals went a step further by lying down in the name of science. They were participating in an artificial gravity study led by Johnson Space Center and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Weightlessness can have negative effects on the human body--for instance, muscle and bone loss--and artificial gravity may help mitigate those effects. The study was designed to test that theory. "Artificial gravity has long been limited to the province of fiction writers and artists," said Dr. Bill Paloski, NASA principal scientist in JSC's Human Adaptation and Countermeasures Office. Paloski is the principal investigator for A view of part of a NASA-provided short-radius centrifuge at UTMB in Galveston. the project, which is conducted at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and is scheduled to run "What I did find difficult was going from an independent, throughout this year. "This study is our first attempt to do-it-yourself mentality to a full dependency on others," he said. scientifically evaluate a practical prescription for its use in space as a For example, Judd said he had to adjust to asking for his multisystem countermeasure," he said. toothbrush and having someone else put his socks on. Volunteers for the study spend three weeks lying down in a The spinning centrifuge did not bother him, he said. bed that is tilted by six degrees so that their heads are lower than "Oddly enough, it is not like spinning at all," said Judd. their feet. This position simulates the effects of weightlessness on "The centrifuge operator turns down all the lights, so you lose the body, and can result in some of the same health effects after all points of reference in the room. It feels as if you were standing a long period of time. stationary with a heavy backpack--maybe 50 pounds or so--on Some of the volunteers, the "treatment" subjects, take a spin your shoulders." each day on a short-radius centrifuge (SRC) to determine how After the study, Judd said his first steps were a little unsteady. much protection it provides from bed-rest deconditioning. These "I felt that I had awakened from hibernation," he said. "My subjects are positioned on the centrifuge in the head-down bedback was a little stiff, and I just felt groggy in the same way you rest position and spun up to a force equal to 2.5 times Earth's feel when awakening from a deep sleep. When they allowed me to gravity--2.5 Gs--for an hour. Then they return to their beds. take a couple steps toward the wheelchair, the biggest thing I felt The "control" subjects also spend an hour each day on the was a loss of confidence in movement." centrifuge, but they are not spun. Paloski said that scientists still have a lot of work to do in The SRC has two "arms," each about 10 feet long. Subjects lie studying artificial gravity and its role in future space exploration. on narrow, bed-like sections. The faster the arms spin about the "Because gravity affects many of the body's systems, we may SRC's pivot point, the higher the Gs created by centrifugal force. need to look at a number of possible prescriptions before we can An instrumented foot plate measures G-forces at the subject's feet. settle on one that would be best for future long-duration space The platform that subjects lie on slides back and forth--or up travelers," said Paloski, adding that there may be a need for future and down, from the subjects' perspective. They can pump their legs, volunteers for the study. keeping the blood flowing to their head. Test subject Timothy Judd To find out more about the JSC Human Test Subject Facility, said that the movement was "like a leg press in a weight room." visit http://www.bedreststudy.com/default.aspx. Judd, the second subject to complete the study, wrapped up his 41-day test run in May. For him, a good part about spending a lot of time in bed was the chance to catch up on watching movies. However, he said he had trouble relying on others for constant assistance.

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