Your Perspective

Before describing some of the actual experimental procedures that Dr. Blomqvist and his team carried out, and before we present to you the results of those experiments, it is important for you to experience directly (through a simulation) some of the physiological changes that astronauts experience in space. In this section, you will carry out three experiments related to the effect of fluid shift on cardiovascular function. These experiments will build your experience progressively, ultimately producing effects similar to those experienced by astronauts during space flight. You should imagine that you are a scientist with an experiment scheduled on an upcoming shuttle flight, and you are carrying out groundbased studies to obtain data similar to that expected from your space flight experiment. In general, such groundbased studies are an important aspect of any physiology experiment in space, because they help the scientist sort out details of his/her experiment before flight.

Many of the experiments carried out as a part of the space program are complex and require a lot of teamwork. In order to carry out the following studies properly, you will need a team of your own. Break into small groups to discuss the approach your team will use to carry out each phase of the three experiments, including the design phase, the measurement phase, and the analysis phase. Remember, these three experiments build on each other progressively, so it is important to discuss the approach to all three investigations before you begin the first one.

In what follows, you will be provided with adequate background information for each experiment, but it is important that you understand that you are expected to design the actual experiments. Designing an experiment is not difficult once you understand the general steps used. Here is one set of steps that will lead to an experiment design. You have probably been exposed to this set of steps before under another name: the scientific method.