One of the classes from last week I haven’t talked much about is the introduction to the Periodic Fitness Assessment (PFE).
PFEs are scheduled periodically on orbit: the first one about 14 days after arrival to Station and then monthly thereafter. The exercise device of choice is the CEVIS (Cycle Ergometer with Vibration Isolation System), which is installed in the US Lab. Crewmembers are very familiar with CEVIS because they perform on it about half of their daily cardiovascular training sessions – the other half is on the treadmill T2.
The class I had last week was about setting up the equipment necessary for the PFE data collection: attaching the electrodes for the electrocardiogram, positioning the blood pressure cuff and the heart rate microphone, configuring all the cables and interfacing with the software to record the data.
For their PFE crewmembers perform an ad-hoc protocol based on their pre-flight VO2max. Data lands on the desk of their flight surgeon, who can track the evolution of the cardiovascular condition throughout the flight and possibly recommend adjustments of the training protocols.
In the picture you can see Chris Hadfield performing a PFE on orbit. And yes, the CEVIS we train with on the ground does have a seat and handlebars. On orbit, the shoes that can be attached rigidly to the pedals are all you need!
12/08/2013