[ Sound Effects ]
Hi, I'm Leigh and this is NASA Now.
The crew of Expedition 27th is well into their first month
on board the International Space Station.
We'll meet an expert to discuss some
of the research the crew will be conducting.
That's ahead.
First here's what's happening at NASA now.
[ Sound Effect ]
[ Music ]
More than 300 experiments have been conducted
on the International Space Station to date
and NASA says the orbiting lab is an anchor for the future
of human space exploration.
This video was taken recently by Expedition 27 Flight Engineer,
Cady Coleman, flying through the International Space Station
with a high-definition video camera.
And after 30 years of spaceflight and more
than 130 missions NASA's space shuttle fleet is retiring.
They all have new homes.
Shuttle Enterprise moves to the Intrepid Sea,
Air and Space Museum in New York.
Endeavour heads to the California Science Center.
Shuttle Discovery will be on display
at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Virginia.
And Shuttle Atlantis will move
to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor's Complex in Florida.
How lets take a look at the past
[ Sound Effect ]
Expedition 1 was the first long-duration stay
on the International Space Station.
The three-person crew stayed aboard the station for 136 days,
from November 2000 to March 2001.
This was the beginning
of an uninterrupted human presence on the station.
One of the areas of continuing research Expedition 27 will be
conducting is the effects of microgravity on the human body,
biology, physics and other materials.
Here to share some of the findings
to date is Assistant Program Scientist
for the International Space Station Camille Alleyne.
[ Music ]
The International Space Station is a unique
world-class laboratory.
It is orbiting the Earth as we speak.
It houses six astronauts at it full compliment.
To give you a sense of how big it is, it is as big
as a US football field, including the end zone.
[ Music ]
The International Space Station is so important
because it is the most engineering,
technologically advanced achievement of our time.
It has taken ten years to construct and we have been able
to demonstrate very complex operations and assembly
of huge structures in microgravity
and space environment.
[ Music ]
We know microgravity, or the absence of gravity,
has an adverse effect on the human physiology,
or the human body, in areas of bone density loss,
the atrophying of muscles.
It affects your balance it also decreases your immunity,
or your immune functions.
And so one of the experiments that have been conducted
on the International Space Station is looking at nutrition,
or the diet of the astronaut, and how that could be used
to a counter measure for those adverse effects.
[ Music ]
How boiling works, on Earth, is that the water molecules nearest
to the heat source or the fire expands
as it is getting hot it expands and we know hot air rises.
So it rises to the top and it exchanges space
with the cold-water molecules that fall to the bottom.
We call this process natural convection and that occurs
because there is buoyancy here on Earth.
Well in microgravity there's no buoyancy.
So when you are boiling water the bubbles,
or the water molecules nearest to the heat source, expands
and it keeps expanding but it doesn't rise.
And so, each of the bubbles are being absorbed
by the bigger bubbles and its trapping heat.
And so, you would think it is not an efficient way
for the transfer of heat but scientists are very,
very interested in this phenomena
because it can really help
in building more effective cooling systems here on Earth.
[ Music ]
The best part of my job is the fact that my job represents
who I am and what I am passionate about.
I am committed to communicating
to the global community the benefits of space
and the benefits of space exploration.
I am also very committed to educating
and inspiring young people to pursue careers in engineering,
math, science, and technology.
I would really like them to gain a love for science and math
and my job allows me to do that.
[ Sound Effect ]
Did you know that when the International Space Station is
completed it will weigh around 925,000 pounds,
or approximately 419,000 kilograms?
That's the approximate weight of 320 automobiles.
Well, now you know.
Now, it's time to check out what's up.
[ Sound Effect ]
This is a view from inside the cupola
of the International Space Station.
An Expedition 27 crew member snapped this image,
in which you can see a low-pressure system
in the Eastern part of the North Pacific.
[ Sound Effects ]
Teachers, now your students can get a sense of planning a trip
to the ultimate destination.
Your students can explore the moon and human presence
on the moon and future exploration
by using the Lunar Nautics Content Module.
Entitled Designing a Mission to Live and Work on the Moon.
Check out the NASA Explorer Schools' Virtual Campus
for these great activities.
Well that's it for NASA Now, be sure to tune in next week
when we explore the future excavation of Mars.
We'll see you then on NASA Now.
[ Sound Effects ]
NASA Now is brought to you from the Virtual Campus
at NASA Explorer schools.