20.05.12
FE-5 Kuipers started his workday with the 5th and final day of his first (FD15) suite of sessions with the medical protocol Pro K (Dietary Intake Can Predict and Protect against Changes in Bone Metabolism during Spaceflight and Recovery), ending his 24-hr urine collections after the urine pH spot test. Afterwards, Andre underwent the associated
generic blood draw with self-phlebotomy. FE-5 then set up the RC (Refrigerated Centrifuge) for spinning the samples prior to stowing them in the MELFI. [For Pro K, there are five in-flight sessions (FD15, FD30, FD60, FD120, FD180) of samplings, to be shared with the NUTRITION w/Repository protocol, each one with five days of diet & urine pH logging and photography on the last day (science sessions are often referred to by Flight Day 15, 30, 60, etc. However, there are plus-minus windows associated with these time points so a "Flight Day 15" science session may not actually fall on the crewmember's 15th day on-orbit). The crewmember prepares a diet log and then annotates quantities of food packets consumed and supplements taken. Urine collections are spread over 24 hrs; samples go into the MELFI (Minus Eighty Laboratory
Freezer for ISS) within 30 min after collection. Blood samples, on the last day, are centrifuged in the RC (Refrigerated Centrifuge) and placed in MELFI at -80 degC. There is an 8-hr fasting requirement prior to the blood draw (i.e., no food or drink, but water ingestion is encouraged). MELFI constraints: Maximum MELFI Dewar open time: 60 sec; at least 45 min between MELFI Dewar door openings.] Pettit also concluded his first (FD15) ICV (Integrated Cardiovascular) Ambulatory Monitoring session, doffing the two Actiwatches and HM2 (Holter Monitor 2) about 24 hrs after the end of yesterday's "midpoint" activity (~11:50am EST). The laptop was then
powered off. The downloading of the two Actiwatch Spectrums and copying of data from the 2 HM2 HiFi CF Cards to the HRF PC was deferred to later. [For the ICV Ambulatory Monitoring session, during the first 24 hrs (while all devices are worn), ten minutes of quiet, resting breathing are timelined to collect data for a specific analysis.
Source: Space Ref (press release)