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commander Brian O'Connor leaving a crew

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out launch day for sts 40 the first

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mission dedicated to studying the human

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body and microgravity in Colombia's

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cargo bay a reusable research facility

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a tunnel led crew members from

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Columbia's main cabin into the lab here

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they conducted a series of life sciences

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experiments designed by a team of

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international investigators studying an

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unprecedented detail on the body adapts

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to weightlessness how it reacts upon

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return and the mechanisms regulating

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these changes crew members took turns

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wearing a neck chamber to measure the

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response of receptors that help govern

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blood pressure the work seems to confirm

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that this blood pressure regulating

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system is impaired in space which might

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help explain the lightheadedness

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astronauts experience when they stand up

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after landing data was also gathered on

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variations in blood flow and flexibility

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of vessels in the leg this is thought to

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contribute to the body's inability to

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maintain normal blood pressure

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immediately upon return to Earth samples

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collected over the course of the

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nine-day flight are being analyzed to

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determine whether changes in hormone

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levels may be part of the reason bone

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time spent peddling a stationary bike

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served a dual purpose providing

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information on exercise capacity in

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microgravity as well as heart and lung

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functions the distribution of blood and

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the lungs did not appear to change has

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predicted a surprise scientists are

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currently evaluating a number of other

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studies tested the theory that visual

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perception in conjunction with changes

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in the inner ear contribute to motion

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sickness symptoms most people experience

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when traveling in space but measuring

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changes and even determining their

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causes is just the beginning according

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to mission specialist dr. Rhea Seddon

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what we really have to do is decide

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whether or not we have to reverse some

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of these changes whether we have to

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develop countermeasures for instance for

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the loss of calcium that we see from the

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bones the loss of fluid from the body of

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course this mission was for only nine

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days and you can never say that what

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happens in nine days is all that will

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happen in three years and going to Mars

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there's no way that you can evaluate the

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countermeasures that you develop they

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require a space station and that's why

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we think space station is so important

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for life sciences research wherever

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possible the research aboard Spacelab

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was done with an eye towards earthly

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applications there are a lot of people

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who don't regulate their blood pressure

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properly and they have high blood

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pressure what can we learn about the

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changes that take place in

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weightlessness about regulation that we

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can put to use here on the ground people

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as they get older or as they're

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bedridden tend to lose calcium from the

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bones what regulates that and how is it

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the same and how is it different from

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weightlessness and if we can counteract

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it for astronauts going to Mars perhaps

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we can counteract it in in women as they

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get older and developing osteoporosis so

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their variety of things the

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we hope to gain from the mission such as

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this space lab life sciences one the

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most comprehensive study of human

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adaptation ever undertaken enhancing our

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future both in space and here on earth