Chat with Angie Lee
May 20, 1998 - 7:00 a.m. PDT

[ Linda/NASAQuest - 6 - 06:54:40 ]
Good Morning! The chat room is now open. Thanks for joining us.

[ Linda/NASAQuest - 9 - 07:01:39 ]
RE: [Rachael/Home-rachael] Hey! Linda
Welcome Rachael. You can begin asking questions for Angie. I've not "seen" her yet, but I know she'll be joining us soon. Did you get a chance to see her bio?

[ Rachael/Home-rachael - 11 - 07:03:51 ]
Yes I Did :0)

[ Linda/NASAQuest - 13 - 07:05:04 ]
Hi Patti, Angie will be joining us soon to answer your great question!

[ AngieLee/JSC - 14 - 07:05:17 ]
Hi, this is Angie! Sorry I'm a little late this morning. I had an assignment I had to finish first thing this morning....sort of like finishing your homework before catching the bus to school.

[ AngieLee/JSC - 15 - 07:05:59 ]
RE: [Rachael/Home-rachael] Hello Angie,
Hi, Rachael!

[ Linda/NASAQuest - 16 - 07:06:09 ]
RE: [AngieLee/JSC] Hi, this is Angie! Sorry I'm a little late this morning. I had an assignment I had to finish first thing this morning....sort of like finishing your homework before catching the bus to school.
Good morning Angie, great to have you onboard!

[ AngieLee/JSC - 18 - 07:08:12 ]
RE: [Patti/CJHS] Can you tell us, what part of the nervous system is most affected when one go out in space?
Hi, Patti! Each part of the nervous system is affected in different ways by exposure to space, so it's hard to say which is the most affected. The experiments on Neurolab looked at everything from how the nervous system grows in baby rats to how the signals are transmitted in the nerves in the astronauts legs.

[ AngieLee/JSC - 21 - 07:10:33 ]
RE: [Patti/CJHS] Which experiments were you involved with in Neurolab? and are they over yet?
I was involved in most of the human experiments--the ones that the astronauts performed on themselves. The specific experiments I worked on studied how your sensory and motor skills are changed (things like how your eye-to-hand coordination works) and how the nervous system controls the heart and lungs.

[ AngieLee/JSC - 25 - 07:13:42 ]
RE: [Rachael/Home-rachael] Well How is it working at NASA?
Working at NASA is very exciting. I get to meet and work with people from all over the world. On Neurolab, I worked on projects from Germany, France, Canada, and The Netherlands. I also get to know that the work I'm doing is hopefully going to make a difference--some of the research that gets done on missions like Neurolab can change how we treat diseases. I think it's really cool!

[ Linda/NASAQuest - 26 - 07:13:49 ]
Hi Alex, can you tell us where you're located?

[ AngieLee/JSC - 28 - 07:17:34 ]
RE: [MaryJo-MaryJo/ParkwaySchoolDistrict] Hello, Angie! Can you tell me how you "defied the odds" of becoming a woman in your field? So many girls choose other areas, when they would be terrific in science!
Hi, Mary Jo! I guess I don't really think of it as defying the odds. Science was always one of my favorite topics in school, but I do admit that I was terrible in math. I was very lucky in that my parents took a real interest in helping me through those rough spots with math, and by the time I graduated high school, I was in an advanced placement calculus class.

[ AngieLee/JSC - 29 - 07:18:21 ]
RE: [Rachael/Home-rachael] So Have you been in space?
Nope. I've worked many missions here at NASA, but haven't had the honor of flying in space.

[ AngieLee/JSC - 30 - 07:18:41 ]
RE: [AlexSimoneVince-sandy/gregory] Good morning Angie
Morning!

[ Rachael/Home-rachael - 33 - 07:22:27 ]
Be Back Ok :0)

[ AngieLee/JSC - 34 - 07:25:41 ]
RE: [Patti/CJHS] Beyond the obvious possibility of preparing for life in space, can you tell us how the experiments you worked on will affect Earth medicine?
Probably the biggest benefit to science and medical research here on earth is that the astronauts are healthy subjects, not sick patients. Many of the changes that happen to the astronauts in space closely mimic many diseases on the ground. One easy example I can think of has to do with how calcium is used by the body and how that can lead to diseases like osteoporosis. One of the things we commonly measure in the astronauts, both on orbit and on the ground before and after a mission, is the level of calcium in their body and whether the calcium is being absorbed by the bones. The mechanisms that control calcium levels are sensitive to gravity--astronauts in space have a tendency to loose bone mass. If we can come up with a way to prevent astronauts from losing calcium and bone mass in space, those same drugs or treatments could also be used to help the elderly suffering from osteoporosis here on earth.

[ Linda/NASAQuest - 36 - 07:27:50 ]
RE: [AlexSimoneVince-sandy/gregory] We are a third grade class in Wimington, NC. We are a school that is sending our names in space in October.
That is very cool! How many students are participating in the chat?

[ AngieLee/JSC - 37 - 07:30:31 ]
RE: [AlexSimoneVince-sandy/gregory] Angie Do astronats get cramps when they exercise? Do your legs fall asleep in space like they do on earth?
I don't know about muscle cramps when the astronauts exercise....However, when your leg falls asleep, it's usually because you've cut off the blood flow to your leg by sitting on it funny or bending it the wrong way for too long. These pressure points that are created on your leg or on different parts of your body are also one of the main reasons why you roll over in bed while you sleep. One of the astronauts on Neurolab, Dave Williams, said that one of the funniest things he noticed in space was that even though there weren't any pressure points on his body (because if you're floating, nothing is pressing into your body and cutting off the blood flow), he still felt like he needed to turn over while he was sleeping.

[ AngieLee/JSC - 39 - 07:35:52 ]
RE: [Rachael/Home-rachael] What were you trying to learn by studying the baby rats.
Mainly how the lack of gravity affects how baby animals develop and grow. For example, one of the experiments studied how the baby rats learned to walk. Just like human babies, baby rats can't walk when they're born--the brain and nerves haven't developed enough, and the muscles in their legs aren't strong enough. As they get older, they become better at walking, so this one experiment used video cameras to record how well the baby rats learned to walk in zero-g.

[ AngieLee/JSC - 42 - 07:38:57 ]
RE: [Patti/CJHS] Did your work involve the whole crew? Like, did the commander have to participate?
Every member of the Neurolab crew, from the commander on down, participated in at least one of the experiments. Normally, the commander, pilot, and mission specialist #2 don't participate too much in the experiments---these three people are referred to as the "Orbiter Crew", and their main job is to fly the shuttle and make sure the orbiter systems are working during the mission. However, if things are going smoothly, they quite often have extra time, so they'll volunteer for some of the science experiments.

[ AngieLee/JSC - 43 - 07:39:48 ]
RE: [AlexSimoneVince-sandy/gregory] We are a third grade class in Wimington, NC. We are a school that is sending our names in space in October.
Cool! That must be exciting!

[ AngieLee/JSC - 44 - 07:40:27 ]
RE: [Patti/CJHS] I liked your story about Squealer!
Thanks! He's a real sweetie!

[ Linda/NASAQuest - 45 - 07:42:15 ]
I think Angie's caught up with you! Do you have anymore questions for her?

[ AngieLee/JSC - 47 - 07:46:15 ]
RE: [Linda/NASAQuest] What's next for you, Angie?
Hi, Linda! Next up for me is a mission that flies in October of this year. The mission number is STS-95, and it's the one that Senator John Glenn is flying on. Our group has two experiments flying on this mission--one is a modified version of the sleep experiment that flew on Neurolab, and the other is a new experiment that will study how the body process protein.

[ Linda/NASAQuest - 48 - 07:51:00 ]
We just have about 10 minutes before it's time to move on to the Women of NASA chat with Marguerite Syvertson. Are there anymore questions?

[ AngieLee/JSC - 51 - 07:53:52 ]
RE: [BradleyEricKarie-sandy/gregory] Hi Angie, We are a new group of third graders from Gregory on your chat.
Hi!

[ Linda/NASAQuest - 52 - 07:53:56 ]
RE: [BradleyEricKarie-sandy/gregory] Hi Angie, We are a new group of third graders from Gregory on your chat.
Hi Bradley, There's little time left. Do you have any questions for Angie?

[ AngieLee/JSC - 53 - 07:57:55 ]
RE: [Patti/CJHS] Do you expect that the results of the Neurolab experiment will be really different because of Glenn's age?
Well, that's one of the things the scientists want to find out. For example, the protein experiment that Sen. Glenn will be participating in on STS-95 is based on research with burn patients here on earth. One of the things the scientists think they might see is that an older person, like Sen. Glenn, will react more like a burn patient than a normal, young healthy person.

[ Linda/NASAQuest - 55 - 08:01:11 ]
We have no school bell that goes off here at Quest, but I can see that it's time to move on to the next Countdown to Space Day chat. I want to thank Angie for her time this morning. This has been a really informative chat! We wish you well on STS-95 and hope we can chat with you again (maybe on Space Team Online?).

[ Linda/NASAQuest - 56 - 08:02:50 ]
The schedule for the rest of today's QuestChats is at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/common/spacechat.html Thanks for joining us students and Angie!

[ BradleyEricKarie-sandy/gregory - 57 - 08:03:02 ]
Thank you Angie for the chat.

[ Rachael/Home-rachael - 58 - 08:03:46 ]
Hello I'm back

[ AngieLee/JSC - 59 - 08:04:20 ]
RE: [BradleyEricKarie-sandy/gregory] Angie, What would NASA do if an asternot has a heartattack in space?
All of the astronauts are studied by doctors very carefully before they go into space to make sure they're healthy and won't have any problems. There's also a doctor on the ground who monitors the astronaut's health during the mission. However, sometimes things happen. If a crewmember is injured or sick in any way that can't be taken care of on orbit with basic first aid techniques, then the Orbiter will land as soon as possible to get that astronaut to a doctor. Safety of the astronauts always comes first.

[ Rachael/Home-rachael - 60 - 08:04:28 ]
thanx Angie

[ AngieLee/JSC - 63 - 08:07:09 ]
RE: [Linda/NASAQuest] We have no school bell that goes off here at Quest, but I can see that it's time to move on to the next Countdown to Space Day chat. I want to thank Angie for her time this morning. This has been a really informative chat! We wish you sell on STS-95 and hope we can chat with you again (maybe on Space Team Online?).
Thanks for all your great questions--it's been really fun answering them! I'll hopefully talk to you again sometime soon! :- ) !!!!

[ Linda/NASAQuest - 64 - 08:07:16 ]
RE: [Rachael/Home-rachael] But the chat is till 10:00
Hi Rachael, that kind of has to do with what part of the world you're in! Check the schedule (address above). These chats will be going on all day!

[ Rachael/Home-rachael - 65 - 08:08:59 ]
oh ok :o)