 |  | | | | International Space Station Expedition 12 Science Operations Status Report for the Week Ending October 21, 2005
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10.25.05
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Steve Roy
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
(Phone: 256.544.0034)
Status Report: 05-170
Expedition 12 Commander and NASA Science Officer Bill McArthur and flight engineer Valery Tokarev completed the first of three sessions with the Renal Stone experiment by collecting urine samples for later return to Earth. During this time, they also recorded all of their food and drinks consumed.
This experiment looks at whether potassium citrate can be used to reduce the risk of kidney stone formation for crewmembers in space. Potassium citrate has been proven to minimize kidney stone development on Earth.
Astronauts have an increased risk of developing kidney stones because urine calcium levels are typically much higher in space. An understanding of the crew’s diet during the urine collection timeframes will help researchers determine if the excess calcium in the urine is due to diet or a response to the microgravity environment.
NASA’s payload operations team at the Marshall Center coordinates U.S. science activities on Space Station.
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