ISS Crew Works With Radiation Experiment
Expedition Six Commander Ken Bowersox, Flight Engineer Nikolai Budarin
and NASA ISS Science Officer Don Pettit began their 15th week Monday
aboard the International Space Station. 

Bowersox took a background measurement for the Extravehicular Activity
Radiation Monitoring, or EVARM, experiment. Pettit began the day
continuing troubleshooting efforts on the Destiny Laboratory's
Microgravity Science Glovebox.

Routine activities on Monday included Budarin taking air samples in the
Russian segment and performing a daily status check on Russian plant
experiment. All three crewmembers performed their daily exercise.

Significance 
The purpose of EVARM is to carry out flight experiments to characterize
the radiation doses experienced by astronauts during extravehicular
activity (EVA). These measurements will include doses to skin, eye, and
blood-forming organs and will be carried out using a relatively new type
of electronic radiation dosimeter, the Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field
Effect Transistor (MOSFET). This information will be important to the
overall field of space radiation dosimetry by helping to determine which
parts of the human body are exposed to the highest radiation levels, so
that routine dosimetry monitoring in the future (e.g., during Space
Station missions) will be done on the appropriate parts of the human
body. In addition, the study will benefit future shielding designs, since
it will characterize the radiation field inside the astronaut's suit. 

Previous Missions 
None. The MOSFET dosimeter flew on Mir. 

Outreach Web Sites 
SPORTs Page: A Study of Radiation Doses Experienced by Astronauts in EVA 
NSBRI Radiation and Long-term Space Flight 
NASA Fact Sheet: Astronauts in EVA Radiation Study (EVARM)
Critical Path Roadmap (Human Exploration and Development of Space)
Space Radiation Health Project
Space Environment Center (National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration)
Space Weather: A Research Perspective (tutorial from the National
Research Council) 

Other Radiation Experiments on Station 
Bonner Ball Neutron Detector (BBND)
Chromosomal Aberrations in Blood Lymphocytes of Astronauts (Chromosome)
Dosimetric Mapping (DOSMAP)
Phantom Torso (Torso)