Crew members continue to keep an eye on a Spacelab VCR which experienced a brief problem while recording Drop Physics Module data early this morning. The VCR is up and running, and the drop physics team believes all their data was captured on the experiment film magazine when the problem occurred. Sacco spent about two hours this afternoon photographing and filming the progress of experiments in the Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus, a facility which is used for a wide variety of life-science experiments. The development of the tiny brine shrimp living in the facility are of interest to investigators, as they could shed light on the importance of gravity in human development and aging. The different stages of the growing protein crystals within the facility were also recorded in today's photo session.
Proteins are molecules which serve biological functions.
Understanding the structure of these molecules gives scientists an idea what other molecules would interact with the protein and change the way it functions, for instance to help cure or treat an illness. The next 12 hours will see the USML-2 blue shift team members Mission Specialist Cady Coleman and Payload Specialist Fred Leslie on line. Coleman will continue work with the Drop Physics Module, while Leslie will begin work in the Glovebox facility on the Particle Dispersion Experiment , an investigation into the behavior of particles in clouds, such as those in volcanic eruptions.