The crew will perform one more test before they return at the end of the Expedition. H-Reflex measures how spinal cord reflexes are affected by space flight. Astronauts set up and activated the Bonner Ball Neutron Detector and the Dosimetric Mapping radiation-measuring experiments. Bonner Ball was activated March 23. The crew performs status checks daily to make sure the instruments are working correctly.
Radiation is one of the most significant hazards for human beings during long-term space missions.
These experiments will measure the different types of radiation that penetrate the station and help scientists more accurately predict the crew's radiation exposure and develop countermeasures to safely prolong human exposure to radiation during space travel. On March 28, Susan Helms set up and activated the Human Research Facility laptop computer. It will be used to operate and store data from several experiments. The HRF is managed by the Johnson Space Center and is operated from the Telescience Support Center at NASA's Mission Control Center in Houston. On Thursday, March 29, the crew successfully hooked up the Human Research Facility Rack.