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Experiment Overview


Information provided courtesy of the Erasmus Experiment Archive.
Brief Summary

The Long Term Microgravity: A Model for Investigating Mechanisms of Heart Disease with New Portable Equipment (Card) experiment studies blood pressure decreases in the human body exposed to microgravity on board the ISS.

Principal Investigator(s)

Peter Norsk, M.D., University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

Co-Investigator(s)/Collaborator(s)

Martina A. Heer, Ph.D., Institute of Aerospace Medicine German Aerospace Center, Cologne, Germany

Anders Gabrielsen, M.D., Danish Aerospace Medical Center of Research National University Hospital (Rigshospitalet), Copenhagen, Denmark

Mogens Tango, M.D., Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden

Morten Damgaard, M.D., Bispebjerg University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark

Niels Gadsboll, M.D., Bispebjerg University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark

Niels Juel Christensen, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

Developer(s)

Danish Aerospace Medical Centre of Research, Copenhagen, , Denmark

Sponsoring Space Agency

European Space Agency (ESA)

Sponsoring Organization

Information Pending

Research Benefits

Information Pending

ISS Expedition Duration:

September 2006 - March 2013

Expeditions Assigned

14,19/20,21/22,27/28,29/30,31/32,33/34

Previous ISS Missions

Card is an ongoing USOS integrated investigation which began on ISS Expedition 19/20.

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Experiment Description

Research Overview

• Blood pressure will be measured automatically using a portable device at various intervals.



• Cardiac output will be measured using the foreign gas rebreathing technique.



• Urine will be collected to measure renal sodium output.



• Blood will be collected to test for the determination of chronic sympathetic nervous activity.

Description

The Long Term Microgravity: A Model for Investigating Mechanisms of Heart Disease with New Portable Equipment (Card) experiment studies blood pressure decreases when the human body is exposed to microgravity. In order to increase the blood pressure to the level it was on Earth, salt is added to the crewmembers' diet. To monitor this, blood pressure readings and urine samples are performed at different intervals during the mission.

In microgravity, the cardiovascular system relaxes causing a drop in the blood volume and pressure. This also causes the fluid and sodium retaining systems to be activated. One theory of this occurrence is that the body's of sodium is decreased. This investigation will examine whether blood pressure and volume can be restored to the same levels that were measured during groundbased measurements by adding additional salt to the astronauts' food.

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Applications

Space Applications

Information Pending

Earth Applications

Information Pending

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Operations

Operational Requirements

Card requires the collection of urine and blood samples. Blood pressure will be measured by a portable equipment device called an oscillometry. The foreign gas rebreathing technique will be used to measure cardiac output.

Operational Protocols

Information Pending

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Results/More Information

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Related Websites

The information on this page is provided courtesy of the ESA Erasmus Experiment Archive.

The information provided is courtesy of the ESA Astrolab Mission web page.

Astrolab Newsletter

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Imagery

NASA Image: ISS019E018475 - Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Koichi Wakata, Expedition 19 flight engineer, prepares to blow into the Pulmonary Function Module/Photoacoustic Analyzer Module (PFM/PAM) rebreathing unit for the Pulmonary Function System (PFS) to begin Day 1 of the ESA cardiological experiment CARD (Long Term Microgravity: A Model for Investigating Mechanisms of Heart Disease. The hardware is located on the Human Research Facility Rack 2 (HRF-2) in the Columbus module.
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NASA Image: ISS020E046971 - View of Astronaut Michael Barratt,Expedition 19/20 flight engineer,working at the ESA cardiological experiment CARD (Long Term Microgravity: A Model for Investigating Mechanisms of Heart Disease) in the U.S. Laboratory.
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