Astronauts
aboard the space shuttle Discovery have got a case of stuffy heads, but NASA
doesn't think they're sick.
More
likely, the effects reported by the
astronauts have more to do with crowd control and the pockets of carbon
dioxide generated when they gather in groups, space station flight controller Heather
Rarick said.
"I don't
think they have any ill health whatsoever," Rarick told reporters in an early
morning briefing.
Discovery
commander Rick Sturckow radioed Mission Control early Wednesday to say his crew
was complaining of stuffiness and that it was a new experience when compared to
his three previous spaceflights.
He reported
it because Mission Control should know, but stressed that the discomfort was
relatively low and would have no impact "on our ability to function fully and
complete the mission successfully."
Rarick said
that the symptoms reported by the crew could be due to poor ventilation in
certain spots between Discovery and the International Space Station.
A similar
situation has
happened before. In 1999, higher than expected carbon dioxide levels in the
space station's Russian-built Zarya module were thought to have contributed to
ill effects reported by astronauts who complained of headaches and nausea. The symptoms
eased after the astronauts returned to their shuttle.
Rarick said
carbon dioxide levels on the space station and Discovery should be within the
normal range. But it is possible that pockets of carbon dioxide could develop
as the astronauts work in close quarters with one another, she added.
There are
13 people - a record-tying crowd - currently living on the linked space station
and Discovery - seven astronauts from the shuttle and six others on the
station. Rarick said that Mission Control and the astronauts have been vigilant
in their efforts to ensure good ventilation between the spacecraft.
Astronauts
have been truly
sick in space before, most recently last year when a European astronaut had
to pass on a spacewalk due to a bad bout of space sickness. But Sturckow and
his crew underwent NASA's regular quarantine procedures before launch to avoid developing
an illness in space and are not medically ill, Rarick said.
The
astronauts are also not affected to the point where their orbital work is suffering,
she added. Sturckow and his crew are in the middle of a 13-day mission to
deliver new science
gear and supplies to the space station and have been on or ahead of their
mission plan in terms of cargo transfer, mission managers said.
On
Wednesday, the astronauts plan to move a pair of sophisticated racks of science
equipment to study new materials and fluid physics in space aboard the station.
They delivered a treadmill named after TV
comedian Stephen Colbert on Tuesday.
"As long as
they feel like they can continue to do their job, we probably won't spend much
time working on that problem," Rarick said.
SPACE.com
is providing complete coverage of Discovery's STS-128 mission to the
International Space Station with Managing Editor Tariq Malik and Staff Writer
Clara Moskowitz in New York. Click
here for shuttle mission updates and a link to NASA TV.
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