Pawelczyk, who is the first Penn State faculty member chosen for Shuttle duty, will be conducting some of the space-based experiments on himself. But his youth won't mean the results are only applicable to young people.

"Many of the changes we see in space flight are similar to those associated with the aging process," says Pawelczyk, a faculty member in the College of Health and Human Development. "These include a loss of blood volume and less precise control of the cardiovascular system, changes in the vestibular system which controls balance and, on longer flights, loss of muscle mass and bone mineral. Mechanisms responsible for these adaptations may help us to identify the causes of similar problems often seen in the elderly."

As a payload specialist, Pawelczyk's chief duty aboard the 17-day Shuttle Neurolab mission is to serve as both operator and subject for the 26 studies scheduled for the mission. The studies were proposed by teams of scientists from Japan, France, Germany, Italy, and Canada, as well as the United States. Pawelczyk and the other crew members will carry out their experiments for them.

The experiments are designed to determine how the brain and nervous system adapt to the stresses of life in space. In a recent visit to campus, Pawelczyk described one experiment that will be duplicated on Earth by elementary school children who follow the in-school WPSX-TV program, "What's In The News." The experiment involves catching a ball.

Pawelczyk explained that when we catch a ball on Earth, we are drawing on our understanding of how objects accelerate in gravity. Based on this understanding, we can successfully anticipate where the ball will be and catch it.

"In space flight," Pawelczyk said, "the ball isn't going to accelerate. It's going to be at a constant velocity. So, we're going to have to relearn that simple motor task to successfully catch the ball. This same learning process applies very much to people who have to re-learn motor tasks as the result of stroke."

Another of his focuses on the Shuttle will be four experiments on blood pressure regulation and orthostatic intolerance, an inability to maintain consciousness that results from an inadequate blood supply to the brain. A specialist in autonomic neurophysiology, Pawelczyk is one of a team of co-investigators with Dr. C. Gunnar Blomquist, University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center, on this study.

Researchers estimate that over a half million, mostly older, Americans suffer from disorders involving orthostatic intolerance. But young people can be affected as well.

"It happens after space flight in about two-thirds of astronaut personnel and it then resolves itself," Pawelczyk says. "But during that period of time, we have a window where, basically, we have a relatively young healthy person looking like a much older person in terms of orthostatic tolerance."

The Shuttle orthostatic intolerance experiments will investigate the autonomic nervous system, which controls blood pressure moment-to-moment. Pawelczyk will measure blood pressure, blood flow to the brain and other cardiovascular parameters. In addition, he will place a thin electrode, the size of an acupuncture needle, in a nerve just below the knee of three crew members to record the signals going from the brain to the blood vessels. These signals cause blood vessels to constrict which increases blood pressure just as stepping on a garden hose increases water pressure, says Pawelczyk. Dr. Jay Buckey, the other payload specialist on board the Neurolab mission, will perform the procedure on Pawelczyk.

During his recent campus visit, Pawelczyk was asked whether his experience aboard the Shuttle will be useful in his teaching when he returns to University Park after the mission. Pawelczyk replied, "I don't see any way around it."

In fact, while he's still aboard the Shuttle, Pawelczyk and Dr. Peter Farrell, professor of physiology, will discuss the experiments with Penn State students in a live question-and-answer, distance education experience. Students at three other universities will also talk to the other payload crew members during the mission.

"Space flight is a good way to excite students about science and research," Pawelczyk says. "It is still a new frontier."

Pawelczyk is scheduled to leap that frontier's boundaries on April 16 at 2:19 p.m. As the first Penn State faculty member to do so, he promises to return a full measure of teaching, research and service as did the original Land Grant university pioneers.

NeuroLab

Community
Email This Article
Comment On This Article

Related Links
Space

Memory Foam Mattress Review

SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS Solar Energy Solutions Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ... Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News

SPACEDAILY

Satellite Launch To Boost DTH In India
Calcutta, India (SPX) Dec 28, 2005
The successful launch Thursday of India's heaviest satellite from spaceport of Kourou in French Guyana may have boosted the country's space research efforts to yet another level, but it has also lifted the spirits of at least three Direct-To-Home televisions broadcasters, one of which has been waiting for years to launch its services in India.