A Day in the Life of a BioServe Operator

To successfully execute an experiment in space, you need more than just flight hardware and research objectives; you need to develop training protocols and procedures for the astronauts to follow. 

Members of BioServe's operations teams are responsible for developing these procedures, as well for directly communicating with astronauts during experiments to address questions as they arise.

It's 1:30am on Sunday, June 7 and Shannon Floyd, CU Boulder aerospace junior, is getting ready to start her day. She is the BioServe operator for the "Rodent Research" experiment being conducted that morning by Astronauts Terry Virts and Scott Kelly in the International Space Station. 

The objective of the Rodent Research study is to analyze the deterioration of hind limb muscle in microgravity. BioServe's role is to support the design of the mission hardware, science and operations. The samples from this study will be sent back to Novartis Pharmecuticals Corporation in Cambridge, MA, which will use the data to develop upcomng pharmecuticals.

The experiment is set to begin at 2am. In the makeshift BioServe "operation headquarters," a TV monitor shows a real-time stream of Astronaut Kelly working in the controlled-flow experiment hood (it is negatively pressurized so that spills are sucked into the hood, not ejected out). Another webcam aboard the ISS shows a stream of the corridor in which astronaut Kelly is working.

Shannon's job is to keep a log of the experiment proceedings, recording the timing of important experimental steps and comments from the astronauts. A thousand miles away at NASA Aimes, Shankini Doraisingam, a BioServe staff engineer, is communicating directly with Astronaut Kelly to answer his procedural questions and offer feedback.

The astronauts move forward with the experiment, using hardware that was developed by BioServe in-shop. For example, to preserve the tissue samples, Astronaut Kelly stores them in a multi-functional BioCell Habitat produced by BioServe.

Throughout the morning, Shannon notes improvements that can be made to future procedures to make astronaut-handling easier. At one point, Astronaut Kelly employs a clip to help open a stubborn ziplock bag. By putting the clip in the bag intially, BioServe can make the experiment more efficient in the future.

With occasional interruptions in transmissions, the operations last until around 10:30am. To Shannon, “these [animal studies] are by far the coolest operations... there is so much to see.”

She looks forward to participating in the next operations run, which will test the grip strength of mice that September.

-Written By: Ari Sandberg, Intern