NEW YORK: Monday’s scheduled launch will act as an errand runner for the International Space Station and the Dragon resupply spacecraft is loaded up with research equipment.
This delivery will bring an array of supplies to help assist astronauts perform experiments while in space. Let’s take a look at some of the research happening at the world’s laboratory in orbit.
NASA Astronaut and Russian Cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko are human health study subjects as part of their one-year mission living in space. Scientists hope to better understand how humans handle long-duration spaceflight from them. The Fluid Shifts Study will use Kelly and Kornienko to watch the shifting position of bodily fluids, think blood and water. Fluid creates pressure in the brain and at the back of the eye, causing the eye to change shape, which could explain the change in vision some astronauts have a experienced.
Astronauts now bring adjustable eyeglasses to ISS, even if they don’t need them on Earth, because some astronauts slowly get farsighted after long periods in orbit, according to a recent Atlantic story.
Scientists hope to find a way to avoid change in vision for astronauts with the help of the Fluid Shifts Study. The results may help develop treatments for people on Earth confined to bed rest or with brain swelling.
Also headed up to the Space Station are supplies for ISSpresso, an espresso maker for the crew members to make coffee and other hot beverages, but it’s also an experiment. The crew will try out new cups as part of the Capillary Beverage study. They are designed to mimic the role of gravity, which would be an improvement to drinking out of a pouch with a straw all the time.
