(C) NASA
This story was originally published by NASA and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .



Head to Toe Blood Flow Studies on Station are Protecting Space Crews [1]

['Mark A. Garcia']

Date: 2025-08-14

Head to Toe Blood Flow Studies on Station are Protecting Space Crews

The city lights of Sub-Saharan Africa streak below the space station as it orbited above the Tanzania-Zambia border in this long-duration photograph. At top right, lightning storms illuminate the cloud tops with the Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft docked to the Prichal module in the foreground. NASA

Expedition 73 continued exploring how microgravity affects blood flow to help doctors protect crews staying longer in space and traveling farther away from Earth. The International Space Station residents also kept up preparations for an upcoming U.S. cargo mission while maintaining orbital lab systems.

Weightlessness affects a crew member’s blood flow from the head, heart, hands, all the way to the feet resulting in variety of space-caused conditions doctors seek to understand and treat. One long-running space station study, Cerebral Autoregulation, is looking at how the brain regulates its blood supply as the cardiovascular system tries to maintain arterial blood pressure. Flight Engineer Kimiya Yui of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) wrapped up a session of the brain study on Thursday and downloaded his blood pressure and other biomedical data collected from electrodes he wore while he slept overnight. Results may provide insights into space-related lightheadedness and fainting issues on Earth.

Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky, station commander and flight engineer respectively, also explored blood flow in space and examined their microcirculatory system, or the tiny blood vessels, in their hands and feet. The data collected from electrodes attached to their head, fingers, and toes, as well as blood pressure checks, may inform ways to protect heart health in space and prepare them for the return to Earth’s gravity.

NASA Flight Engineers Jonny Kim and Mike Fincke began their day together swapping out orbital plumbing components inside the Tranquility module. Kim then joined NASA astronaut Zena Cardman and checked thermal control system hoses on the Destiny laboratory module’s Materials Science Research Rack-1, a research facility to help discover new applications for existing materials and new or improved materials.

Fincke continued his preparations for the next SpaceX Dragon cargo mission targeted to resupply the crew at the end of August. The four-time station astronaut studied procedures that he will use to monitor Dragon’s automated approach, rendezvous, and docking to the Harmony module’s forward port. Fincke then joined fellow crewmates Cardman, Kim, Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov to review and train on emergency procedures for the SpaceX Dragon crew spacecraft docked to Harmony’s space-facing port.

NASA and SpaceX are targeting 2:45 a.m. EDT, Sunday, Aug. 24, for the next launch to deliver science investigations, supplies, and equipment to the International Space Station. This is the 33rd SpaceX commercial resupply services mission to the orbital laboratory for NASA. Filled with more than 5,000 pounds of supplies, a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft on a Falcon 9 rocket will lift off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The date adjustment provides additional time for mission readiness as teams work to complete final prelaunch preparations.

Platonov processed microbe samples stowed in an incubator and collected from modules throughout the station’s Roscosmos segment. The samples will be analyzed to characterize the microbial environment of the orbital outpost for the protection of the crew and its hardware. The first-time space-flyer also spent a portion of his shift on standard life support and plumbing duties.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station on X, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

Get the latest from NASA delivered every week. Subscribe here.

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/spacestation/2025/08/14/head-to-toe-blood-flow-studies-on-station-are-protecting-space-crews/

Published and (C) by NASA
Content appears here under this condition or license: Public Domain.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/nasa/

You are viewing proxied material from magical.fish. The copyright of proxied material belongs to its original authors. Any comments or complaints in relation to proxied material should be directed to the original authors of the content concerned. Please see the disclaimer for more details.