Space Station Science Officer Don Pettit is researching fluids inside the
Microgravity Science Glovebox that could be used to develop the next line of
brake systems in automobiles or landing gear on airplanes. The experiment –
Investigating the Structure of Paramagnetic Aggregates from Colloidal
Emulsions (InSPACE) – is being conducted for the first time in the
microgravity environment of space. Read more about other science activities
on the Space Station.

It is research that could be used to develop the next line of brake systems
in automobiles or landing gear on airplanes. An experiment onboard the
International Space Station is researching a new class of smart materials or
controllable fluids that can be used to do just that. It’s called the
Investigating the Structure of Paramagnetic Aggregates from Colloidal
Emulsions or (InSPACE).

Over the past couple of weeks, Expedition 6 Space Station Science Officer
Don Pettit has been conducting runs of this experiment. The work is being
done inside the Microgravity Science Glovebox — a sealed container with
built-in gloves, designed to provide an enclosed workspace for
investigations, which use potentially hazardous particles, fluids, or flames
and fumes. InSPACE studies how particles and clumps of particles respond to
an external magnetic field. It is the first time this fluid physics
experiment has been conducted in the microgravity environment of space.

In addition to operating and being the subject of on board science
investigations, Pettit and Commander Ken Bowersox went for a 6-hour,
26-minute space walk on April 8th. While they reconfigured critical power
cables, they also completed a number of get-ahead tasks for future Space
Station assembly.

As is standard with Extravehicular Activity or space walks, both Pettit and
Bowersox conducted Pre and Post EVA sessions of PuFF or the Pulmonary
Function in Flight experiment. This physiological study supports the
continuing investigation of the effects of long-term microgravity exposure
and EVA’s on lung function.

Scientists on the ground are checking out another piece of hardware in the
Station’s U.S. Lab-the Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus
(CGBA) –to see if it is a viable candidate to support new payloads. CGBA
supports commercial life science investigations with applications in
biomaterials, biotechnology, medicine and agriculture.

Middle school students around the world took command of the Space Station’s
EarthKAM payload. EarthKAM (Earth Knowledge Acquired by Middle school
students) allowed students from 65 different schools to command a camera to
take hundreds of pictures of Earth from the Station. EarthKAM images are
posted on the Internet at http://datasystem.earthkam.ucsd.edu.

NASA’s payload operations team at Marshall Space Flight Center coordinates
all science activities. Planners continue to schedule activities for the
rest of Expedition Six as well as Expedition Seven. The two man Expedition
Seven crew is scheduled to arrive at the Station on a Soyuz spacecraft at
the end of April.