Talking Space

Episode 540: ISS Science Update 6


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On this episode of Talking Space we talk with Liz Warren,

Ph.D. from NASA ISS Program Science Office Communications Integration at
Johnson Space Center.

We learn about the upcoming Orbital Sciences CRS cargo

launch and experiments (some from students) it will take to the ISS. We also
hear about some of the effects of microgravity on the human body.  Liz says we need to keep our people healthy
in space and learning how to do that has brought home some very valuable science
that applies to life here on earth too.

Some experiments have an educational component to them

like the NanoRacks-NCESSE-Falcon Student Spaceflight Experiment Program. With
17 experiments involving thousands of students on the ground. This is the 5th
opportunity the student spaceflight program has participated in. Some of their
experiments investigate fungal growth, antibiotic efficiency, seed germination,
bacterial growth and space radiation. Did you know that bacteria grow faster in
microgravity? Having a space station to fly to makes science experiments like
we’ve been talking about possible by students in grades 5-12. Pretty
incredible!

We learn that it is rather fun to train astronauts. Liz

describes them as overachievers, wanting not just to do their best but to do a
job better than the next guy. The astronauts want to get really good results
for the Principal Investigators. From research in space there have been changes
in Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for vitamins by the US Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) that affect bone loss. There are medications now on the
market from research in space that can help patients affected by bone loss due
to chemotherapy.

While we were talking about the ISS, gravity came up. The

Hollywood movie starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney named “Gravity” that
is. So do you think science fiction has a place in our discussion about ISS
science?

Please watch and share this video Liz spoke of. The

stories told will touch, inspire and change how you look at the ISS and
research done there. Please, please, please share this video. We’ve only begun
to see the International Space Station’s “Benefits For Humanity”.

Benefits For Humanity: In Their Own Words http://youtu.be/HhsaKTFz0TM


NASA ISS Program Science Office web page - www.nasa.gov/iss-science/

Phone (281) 244-6187 email [email protected]


Host this week: Mark Ratterman. Panel Members: Gene

Mikulka, Emily Carney.

Special Guest: Liz Warren, Ph.D. ISS Program Science

Office


Show Recorded 12/15/2013

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Talking SpaceBy Gene Mikulka ,Mark Ratterman, Dr. Kat Robison, Larry Herrin, Heather Smith, and Sawyer Rosenstein (emeritus),

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