As Soyuz Rolls ISS Crew Work On Science

Baikonur, Kazakhstan (SPX)
Dec 20, 2011

The Soyuz TMA-03M spacecraft that will carry new Expedition 30 Flight Engineers Oleg Kononenko, Don Pettit and Andre Kuipers into space rolled out to the launch pad Monday at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The launch is scheduled for Wednesday at 8:16 a.m. EST, with NASA TV coverage beginning at 7:30 a.m. The Soyuz will dock to the International Space Station Friday morning.

Aboard the station, Expedition 30 Commander Dan Burbank worked with the Biomechanical Analysis of Treadmill Exercise on the International Space Station, or Treadmill Kinematics, experiment.

Treadmill Kinematics studies the difference between exercising on a treadmill in space and on Earth. It is the first rigorous investigation to determine the most beneficial treadmill exercise conditions to maintain or improve crew health during long-duration spaceflight.

Burbank also continued his work with the Preliminary Advanced Colloids Experiment-2, or PACE-2. Housed in the Fluids Integrated Rack, PACE-2 studies the effects of vibration on particles suspended in fluid in the space environment.

This work aids in the development and optimization of crew procedures for the future Advanced Colloids Experiment, also known as ACE, which will fly samples that may have an important impact on our understanding of fundamental physics.

Additionally, he updated software for the SOdium LOading in Microgravity (SOLO) experiment. SOLO researches the ways in which the human body retains fluid and salt during bed rest and space flights. Subject crew members follow a diet of constant low or normal sodium intake and increased fluid consumption.

Shkaplerov and Flight Engineer Anatoly Ivanishin worked to replace several of the panels, fuses and batteries inside the complex's Russian segment.

All three crew members continued unpacking supplies from the ISS Progress 45 cargo craft, which arrived at the station on Nov. 2.

Source: Space-Travel.
Link: http://www.space-travel.com/reports/As_Soyuz_Rolls_ISS_Crew_Work_On_Science_999.html.