The EVA Physiology Laboratory's major activity is the development
of prebreathe reduction protocols designed to investigate
and reduce or alleviate the risk of decompression sickness
(DCS). Laboratory personnel participate in the design and
execution of experiments to evaluate potential protocols.
The objectives of these activities are to develop and test
DCS countermeasures, to develop prebreathe prescription standards,
to support crew training, and to validate prebreathe protocols.
Other laboratory support includes investigating the consequences of a break in
prebreathe and the effects of ambulation before and after
an exercise prebreathe. Personnel participate in the design
and execution of experiments to evaluate these new protocols.
The results of these studies will add to the DCS risk mitigation
knowledge base and be applied to current prebreathe procedures.
 Support is provided for operational extravehicular activities (EVA) for the International
Space Station (ISS) and the Space Shuttle. Activities include
the development of individualized exercise prescriptions
and the training of Shuttle and ISS crewmembers in performing
the exercise prebreathe reduction protocol. Another is taking
metabolic cost measurements during crewmember EVA training
in the Sonny Carter Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory. These activities
support medical operations through reports to the flight
surgeons, development of the required documentation, maintenance
of relevant databases, and attendance at required meetings.
Image right: JSC2002-E-27793 (2002) - Astronaut Barbara R. Morgan, wearing
a training version of the Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU)
spacesuit, participates in an underwater simulation of extravehicular
activity (EVA) at the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL) near
Johnson Space Center (JSC).
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