 Horn rims and funny stockings on the space station, presented by Science at NASA. If your favorite astronaut returns from space wearing horn rim glasses and funny stockings, don't be too disappointed. It's all part of the job, and there's a logical explanation. Among the challenges astronauts face during their stints on the International Space Station, far-sightedness is fairly common. Hence, the horn rims. But it may be those funny stockings can reduce the need for them. About three-quarters of ISS astronauts experience changes in the structure and function of their eyes during and or after their mission, says Michael Stanger, of Wiley Science Technology and Engineering Group. And some of these changes and some of the astronauts do not correct themselves after the mission. Stanger is one of the principal investigators of an International Space Station experiment with a very long name that we'll call Fluid Shifts Study for short. It's investigating vision problems in space. During space travel, the fluids of the body shift toward the head and even move across blood vessel and cell membranes differently than they do on Earth. Scientists hypothesize that this headward shift of blood and other fluids causes increased pressure in the brain, pushing on the back of the eye and causing it to change shape. The retina swells and the entire eye slightly flattens, resulting in far-sightedness, and maybe those glasses. Stanger and his colleagues seek to fully characterize these changes and investigate ways to prevent them. We want to know exactly how much fluid shifts and how it redistributes in the body. How does it move in or out of cells and blood vessels? How do the fluid shifts affect fluid pressure in the head, changes in vision, and eye structures? Those are the kinds of questions we'll answer. We expect to find individualized responses to the headward fluid shift that correlate to vision changes. To find the answers, they'll take measurements of 10 astronauts saliva, urine, and blood at different points in their missions. Other details collected will be their intercranial pressure, intraocular pressure, ocular structure, blood pressure and heart rate, in addition to ultrasound measurements of their fluid shifts. Another aim of this study is to find out whether the Russian chibisuit, also known as the lower body negative pressure suit, or funny stockings, can help keep the body's fluids where they need to be. The Russian cosmonauts use the chibisuit during the last three weeks of their missions as part of their preparation for re-entry. It's really just a pair of semi-rigid leggings that seal at the waist. A vacuum can be applied to reduce the pressure in the device, which acts to trap fluid in the lower body. The researchers will take cardio, cerebrovascular, and ocular measurements on the test subjects before endearing 25 millimeters of mercury a vacuum in the chibis. If it turns out that lower body negative pressure helps reverse fluid shifts and prevent the visual symptoms, it may indicate that crew members should use the chibis earlier and more often on long missions. We've seen some promising results in our first subjects. Staggering company will also be looking at other things that might exacerbate vision problems on the space station. For example, we may find that an exercise that's good for bone or muscle is bad for elevated intercranial pressure. Space travel veterans Scott Kelly from NASA and Mikhail Kornenko from Roscosmos are the first test subjects for this study. They will spend nearly a year aboard the station twice as long as a typical crew member. They're having measurements taken for the fluid shift study early in their flight at its midpoint and about 45 days before they return. Here's hoping they come back in style. No horn rims and hosiery required. For more from the International Space Station, go to www.nasa.gov. For news from the always fluid world of science, visit science.nasa.gov.