Galveston researcher revels in famous subject

Published: Tuesday, October 13, 1998

GALVESTON (AP) - When researcher Arny Ferrando learned his experiment studying muscle loss in weightlessness might be conducted aboard this month's space shuttle flight, he was pleased.

When he was asked, "What if you had a 77-year-old man flying?" he was downright intrigued.

"It didn't take a genius to figure out who that 77-year-old man was," Ferrando, associate professor of surgery at Galveston's Shriners Burns Hospital, said Monday. "I'm very honored. I'm honored to even shake John Glenn's hand."

Ferrando's study is just one for which Glenn will play guinea pig when he returns to space Oct. 29 aboard the shuttle Discovery. More than 80 experiments are planned for the nineday mission, including a plant-growth experiment and cancer-pill test.

Glenn, making his first trip into space since becoming the first American to orbit the Earth in 1962, will participate in several tests comparing the effects of aging to the effects of weightlessness.

Ferrando found out he'd be poking and prodding the Ohio senator when a colleague called and told him to turn on his television. There was Glenn - along with NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin - discussing his experiment.

"I was like, 'Well, I guess it's flying for sure now and I guess John Glenn's going to be one of the subjects,"' the 41-year-old researcher said.

Ferrando's experiment seeks to uncover one of the mysteries of weightlessness - why muscle mass deteriorates more quickly in space than on Earth.

Astronauts often return from orbit weak and wobbly and must undergo rehabilitation to regain their strength. Part of the problem is the lack of muscular activity in a weightless environment. Additionally proteins, the components of lean body mass, break down faster in space than on Earth.

Using blood and urine samples drawn from Glenn and crewmate Pedro Duque before and during the flight, Ferrando will calculate how quickly proteins are built up and broken down. He also will use blood samples to determine if increased levels of the hormones cortisol and insulin correspond to increased muscle loss.

Finding a way to retain muscle strength during spaceflight will be a key to long-duration flights aboard the International Space Station and any future trips to Mars.

"If you lose lean body mass and strength, when you get to Mars you might be too weak to do anything," Ferrando said. "We're going to add a good bit to existing science. Hopefully this will point us toward a solution."

Ferrando, who worked as a research associate at NASA's Johnson Space Center from 1991 to 1994 and now studies muscle loss in burn patients and the elderly, first submitted his proposal to the space agency in 1996.

He admitted the experiment wasn't initially designed for an astronaut as mature as Glenn, but said the senator's participation would add an interesting dimension to the study.

"I expect the stress of spaceflight to be more pronounced on him and for him to take longer to recover when he comes back," he said. "He probably has the physiology of a 60-year-old, but he's still different than a 40-year-old."

Ferrando's already drawn some blood from Glenn and calls him "a great subject."

"He's very sharp, very keen," he said. "There aren't too many 77-year-olds who look that good and are in that good of shape. The guy's a stud."