Astronauts Are Surprised by Body Reactions

The astronauts toiling in space shuttle Columbia’s medical laboratory expressed surprise Monday at how their bodies were reacting after nearly a week of weightlessness.

“We’re going to have a lot of fun the next few months and years putting together a very different picture of what happens when people go into space,” astronaut F. Andrew Gaffney said during a television interview.

Gaffney, a cardiologist, said it takes longer than previously thought for blood to shift around inside the body and there is less pressure in the heart than he expected.

Astronauts frequently experience dizziness early in spaceflight and when they return to Earth. Scientists said that may be related to the transfer of fluids from the lower limbs to the upper body while in space.

Cell biologist Millie Hughes-Fulford, the shuttle’s prime blood collector, said the testing was going well.

The seven astronauts interrupted their sixth day of biomedical research 184 miles above Earth for the live television interview.

Just an hour before the interview, shuttle commander Bryan D. O’Connor told Mission Control his crew was working “awful hard” and could use a break.

“Day six is one of the worst days of all,” O’Connor said. “I hope you can influence the payload planning folks to . . . give us a chance to do some of the color TV stuff (Earth observations) that got deleted and look out the windows and see their hometowns and enjoy being in space a little bit.”

NASA flight director Randy Stone said the astronauts would be given some free time today. Monday’s work included more testing of the neuro-vestibular system--the brain, nerves, eyes and inner ear--which helps the body orient itself. Changes in this system are believed to cause space motion sickness.

The 2,478 tiny jellyfish aboard Columbia are being used for related research. The marine creatures, as they mature, develop gravity receptors to maintain direction and balance--somewhat like people’s inner ears.