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Bolivia’s hypergravity blood cell test for astronaut health


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Bolivian research team with Large Diameter Centrifuge

The latest international group to employ ESA’s hypergravity-generating Large Diameter Centrifuge is an all-female team from Bolivia, with access sponsored by the United Nations and ESA. The researchers are investigating whether the high gravity levels experienced during rocket launches might contribute to the anemia afflicting many astronauts in space.

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    • By NASA
      The Soyuz rocket launches to the International Space Station with Expedition 72 crew members: NASA astronaut Don Pettit, Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin, and Ivan Vagner, onboard, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls NASA astronaut Don Pettit, accompanied by Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, arrived at the International Space Station Wednesday, bringing its number of residents to 12 for the 13-day handover period.

      After a two-orbit, three-hour journey to the station, the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft automatically docked to the orbiting laboratory’s Rassvet module at 3:32 p.m. EDT. The spacecraft launched at 12:23 p.m. EDT (9:23 p.m. Baikonur time) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
      NASA’s coverage of hatch opening will stream at 5:30 p.m. on NASA+, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website. Hatch opening is scheduled to begin at 5:50 p.m. Learn how to stream NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.

      Once aboard, the trio will join Expedition 71 crew members, including NASA astronauts Tracy C. Dyson, Mike Barratt, Matthew Dominick, Jeanette Epps, Butch Wilmore, and Suni Williams, as well as Roscosmos cosmonauts Nikolai Chub, Alexander Grebenkin, and Oleg Kononenko. Expedition 72 will begin Monday, Sept. 23, upon the departure of Dyson, Chub, and off-going station commander Kononenko, completing a six-month stay for Dyson and a year-long expedition for Chub and Kononenko.

      Pettit, Ovchinin, and Vagner will spend approximately six months aboard the orbital outpost advancing scientific research as Expedition 71/72 crew members before returning to Earth in the spring of 2025. This is Pettit and Ovchinin’s fourth spaceflight and Vagner’s second.

      During Expedition 72, two new crews will arrive aboard the space station, including NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 launching in September, followed by Crew-10, scheduled for launch in February 2025.  

      Follow Pettit on X throughout his mission and get the latest space station crew news on Instagram, Facebook, and X.

      Learn more about International Space Station research and operations at:
      https://www.nasa.gov/station
      -end-
      Joshua Finch / Claire O’Shea
      Headquarters, Washington
      202-358-1100
      joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / claire.a.o’shea@nasa.gov

      Leah Cheshier
      Johnson Space Center, Houston
      281-483-5111
      leah.d.cheshier@nasa.gov
      View the full article
    • By NASA
      ISS003-E-5388 (11 September 2001) — One of a series of pictures taken of metropolitan New York City (and other parts of New York as well as New Jersey) by one of the Expedition Three crew members onboard the International Space Station (ISS) at various times during the day of September 11, 2001. The image shows a smoke plume rising from the Manhattan area. The orbital outpost was flying at an altitude of approximately 250 miles. The image was recorded with a digital still camera. Please note: The date identifiers on some frames (other than those that indicate Sept. 11, 2001) are not accurate due to a technical problem with one of the Expedition Three cameras.NASA Editor’s Note:The following is the text of a letter from Expedition Three Commander Frank L. Culbertson (Captain, USN Retired), reflecting on the events of September 11.
      September 12, 2001; 7:34 p.m.
      I haven’t written very much about specifics of this mission during the month I’ve been here, mainly for two reasons: the first being that there has been very little time to do that kind of writing, and secondly because I’m not sure how comfortable I am sharing thoughts I share with family and friends with the rest of the world.
      Well, obviously the world changed today. What I say or do is very minor compared to the significance of what happened to our country today when it was attacked by …. by whom? Terrorists is all we know, I guess. Hard to know at whom to direct our anger and fear…
      I had just finished a number of tasks this morning, the most time-consuming being the physical exams of all crew members. In a private conversation following that, the flight surgeon told me they were having a very bad day on the ground. I had no idea…
      He described the situation to me as best he knew it at ~0900 CDT. I was flabbergasted, then horrified. My first thought was that this wasn’t a real conversation, that I was still listening to one of my Tom Clancy tapes. It just didn’t seem possible on this scale in our country. I couldn’t even imagine the particulars, even before the news of further destruction began coming in.
      Vladimir came over pretty quickly, sensing that something very serious was being discussed. I waved Michael into the module as well. They were also amazed and stunned. After we signed off, I tried to explain to Vladimir and Michael as best I could the potential magnitude of this act of terror in downtown Manhattan and at the Pentagon. They clearly understood and were very sympathetic.
      I glanced at the World Map on the computer to see where over the world we were and noticed that we were coming southeast out of Canada and would be passing over New England in a few minutes. I zipped around the station until I found a window that would give me a view of NYC and grabbed the nearest camera. It happened to be a video camera, and I was looking south from the window of Michael’s cabin.
      The smoke seemed to have an odd bloom to it at the base of the column that was streaming south of the city. After reading one of the news articles we just received, I believe we were looking at NY around the time of, or shortly after, the collapse of the second tower. How horrible…
      I panned the camera all along the East Coast to the south to see if I could see any other smoke around Washington, or anywhere else, but nothing was visible.
      It was pretty difficult to think about work after that, though we had some to do, but on the next orbit we crossed the US further south. All three of us were working one or two cameras to try to get views of New York or Washington. There was haze over Washington, but no specific source could be seen. It all looked incredible from two to three hundred miles away. I can’t imagine the tragic scenes on the ground.
      Other than the emotional impact of our country being attacked and thousands of our citizens and maybe some friends being killed, the most overwhelming feeling being where I am is one of isolation.
      Next day….
      I guess the fatigue and emotional strain got the best of me. I couldn’t stay awake and continue to write. Today was still difficult, but we started getting more information, plus we had the honor of talking directly with the Center Director, Roy Estess, who assured us that the ground teams would continue to work and ensure our safety, as well as the safe operation of the Station. We also heard from our Administrator, Mr. Goldin, who added that the partners in the Program are all totally committed to continuing safe operations and support. These were never questions for me. I know all these people! The ground teams have been incredibly supportive, very understanding of the impact of the news, and have tried to be as helpful as possible. They have all been very professional and focused though I can’t imagine the distraction of this type of news coming in and the thought that government buildings might be at risk. They never skipped a beat, even when relocating control centers. And a group of senior personnel and friends gave us a pretty thorough briefing on what was known and what was being done in the government and at NASA on Tuesday afternoon, which was very helpful and kind of them to do in the midst of all the turmoil. The Russian TsUP has also been supportive and helpful, trying to uplink news articles when our own assets were inoperable, and saying kind words…
      My crewmates have been great, too. They know it’s been a tough day for me and the folks on the ground, and they’ve tried to be as even keeled and helpful as possible. Michael even fixed me my favorite Borscht soup for dinner. And they give me plenty of room to think when I needed it. They are very sympathetic and of course outraged at whoever would do this.
      I know so many people in Washington, so many people who travel to DC and NYC, so many who are pilots, that I felt sure I would receive at least a few pieces of bad news over the next few days. I got the first one today when I learned that the Captain of the American Airlines jet that hit the Pentagon was Chic Burlingame, a classmate of mine. I met Chic during plebe summer when we were in the D&B together, and we had lots of classes together. I can’t imagine what he must of gone through, and now I hear that he may have risen further than we can even think of by possibly preventing his plane from being the one to attack the White House. What a terrible loss, but I’m sure Chic was fighting bravely to the end. And tears don’t flow the same in space…
      It’s difficult to describe how it feels to be the only American completely off the planet at a time such as this. The feeling that I should be there with all of you, dealing with this, helping in some way, is overwhelming. I know that we are on the threshold (or beyond) of a terrible shift in the history of the world. Many things will never be the same again after September 11, 2001. Not just for the thousands and thousands of people directly affected by these horrendous acts of terrorism, but probably for all of us. We will find ourselves feeling differently about dozens of things, including probably space exploration, unfortunately.
      It’s horrible to see smoke pouring from wounds in your own country from such a fantastic vantage point. The dichotomy of being on a spacecraft dedicated to improving life on the earth and watching life being destroyed by such willful, terrible acts is jolting to the psyche, no matter who you are. And the knowledge that everything will be different than when we launched by the time we land is a little disconcerting. I have confidence in our country and in our leadership that we will do everything possible to better defend her and our families, and to bring justice for what has been done. I have confidence that the good people at NASA will do everything necessary to continue our mission safely and return us safely at the right time. And I miss all of you very much. I can’t be there with you in person, and we have a long way to go to complete our mission, but be certain that my heart is with you, and know you are in my prayers.
      Humbly,
      Frank
      September 14, 2001; 10:49 p.m.
      An update to the last letter… Fortunately, it’s been a busy week up here. And to prove that, like our country, we are continuing on our intended path with business as usual (as much as possible). Tonight the latest addition to the station, the Russian Docking Compartment will be launched from Baikonur, Kazakhstan. On Saturday night (US time), it will dock with us, at a port never used before on the nadir side of the Service Module. This new module will give us another place to dock a Progress or Soyuz and will provide a large airlock with two useable hatches for conducting EVA’s in Russian Orlan suits, which we will do a few of before we come home.
      The problem before in dealing with this week was too little news. The problem now is too much. It came all at once when email was restored, and there’s not enough time to read it all! Plus it’s too hard to deal with all of it at once. But I appreciate getting it, and I really appreciate the great letters of support and friendship I am receiving.
      We are doing well on board, getting our work done, and talking about things. Last night we had a long discussion over dinner about the significance of these events, the possible actions to follow, and what should be done. After dinner, Michael made a point of telling me that every email he received from friends in Russia said specifically to tell me how sorry they were that this happened, extending their condolences, and asking how I was doing. Vladimir taught me the Russian word for “condolences” after talking to the previous CDR, Yuri Usachev, on the phone in Star City. (Both the Russian and the English words are much too long to pronounce easily.) Very kind people.
      For the last two days, the Russian MCC has been good enough to transmit live broadcasts of radio news about the event and associated stories, to make sure I was well informed. Every specialist who has come on the line to discuss a procedure or a problem has at some point extended greetings to me with kind words. Tonight the Russian capcom told us that because of the special day of remembrance in the US, all day people had been bringing flowers and lining all the walls of the US embassy in Moscow, and this evening they were lighting candles in the street outside the embassy. How the world has changed.
      People everywhere seem to recognize the senselessness and horror in this attack. And the tremendous loss. Moscow has dealt with these kind of problems in the last few years with apartment and subway bombings, so they are as anxious to get rid of this threat as we are. But the bottom line is that there are good people everywhere who want to live in peace. I read that a child asked, “America is so good to other countries, we always help everyone, how can they hate us so much?”
      I hope the example of cooperation and trust that this spacecraft and all the people in the program demonstrate daily will someday inspire the rest of the world to work the same way. They must!
      Unfortunately, we won’t be flying over the US during the time people are lighting candles. Don’t know if we could see that anyway. We did, however, see a very unusual and beautiful sight a few minutes ago: the launch of our Docking Compartment on a Soyuz booster. We were overtaking it and it came into view about three minutes after its launch from Baikonur as the sun hit our station, so it was still in the dark. It looked like a large comet with a straight, wide tail silhouetted against the dark planet beneath. Despite some bad lighting for a while as the sun hit our window at a low angle, I managed some video of it as first we passed the rocket, and then watched it begin to catch up as it gained altitude and speed. I filmed until main engine cutoff and booster separation occurred just as we approached sunrise on the Himalayas. An unforgettable sight in an unforgettable week…
      Life goes on, even in space. We’re here to stay…
      Frank
      View the full article
    • By NASA
      On Sept. 9, 1994, space shuttle Discovery took to the skies on its 19th trip into space. During their 11-day mission, the STS-64 crew of Commander Richard “Dick” N. Richards, Pilot L. Blaine Hammond, and Mission Specialists Jerry M. Linenger, Susan J. Helms, Carl J. Meade, and Mark C. Lee demonstrated many of the space shuttle’s capabilities. They used a laser instrument to observe the Earth’s atmosphere, deployed and retrieved a science satellite, and used the shuttle’s robotic arm for a variety of tasks, including studying the orbiter itself. During a spacewalk, Lee and Meade tested a new device to rescue astronauts who found themselves detached from the vehicle. Astronauts today use the device routinely for spacewalks from the International Space Station.

      Left: The STS-64 crew patch. Middle: Official photo of the STS-64 crew of L. Blaine Hammond, front row left, Richard “Dick” N. Richards, and Susan J. Helms; Mark C. Lee, back row left, Jerry M. Linenger, and Carl J. Meade. Right: The patch for the Lidar In-space Technology Experiment.
      In November 1993, NASA announced the five-person all-veteran STS-64 crew. Richards, selected as an astronaut in 1980, had made three previous spaceflights, STS-28, STS-41, and STS-50. Lee, a member of the astronaut class of 1984, had two flights to his credit, STS-30 and STS-47, as did Meade, selected in 1985 and a veteran of STS-38 and STS-50. Each making their second trip into space, Hammond, selected in 1984 had flown on STS-39, and Helms, from the class of 1990 had flown on STS-54. In February 1994, NASA added first time space flyer Linenger to the crew, partly to make him eligible for a flight to Mir. He holds the distinction as the first member of his astronaut class of 1992 to fly in space.

      Left: Workers tow Discovery from the Orbiter Processing Facility to the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. Middle: Space shuttle Discovery arrives at Launch Pad 39B, left, with space shuttle Endeavour still on Launch Pad 39A. Right: The STS-64 crew exits crew quarters at KSC on their way to the launch.
      Discovery returned to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida following its previous flight, the STS-60 mission, in February 1994. Workers in KSC’s Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) removed the previous payload and began to service the orbiter. On May 26, workers moved Discovery into the Vehicle Assembly Building for temporary storage to make room in the OPF for Atlantis, just returned from Palmdale, California, where it underwent modifications to enable extended duration flights and dockings with space stations. Discovery returned to the OPF for payload installation in July, and rolled back to the VAB on Aug. 11 for mating with its external tank and solid rocket boosters. Discovery rolled out to Launch Pad 39B on Aug. 19, with its sister ship Endeavour still on Launch Pad 39A following the previous day’s launch abort. The six-person crew traveled to KSC to participate in the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test, essentially a dress rehearsal for the launch countdown, on Aug. 24.

      Liftoff of Discovery on the STS-64 mission.
      On Sept. 9, 1994, after a more than two-hour delay caused by inclement weather, Discovery thundered into the sky to begin the STS-64 mission. Eight and a half minutes later, the orbiter and its crew reached space, and with a firing of the shuttle’s Orbiter Maneuvering System (OMS) engines they entered a 160-mile orbit inclined 57 degrees to the equator, ideal for Earth and atmospheric observations. The crew opened the payload bay doors, deploying the shuttle’s radiators, and removed their bulky launch and entry suits, stowing them for the remainder of the flight. They began to convert their vehicle into a science platform.

      Left: LIDAR (light detection and ranging) In-space Technology Experiment (LITE) telescope in Discovery’s payload bay. Middle: Schematic of LITE data acquisition. Right: Image created from LITE data of clouds over southeast Asia.
      One of the primary payloads on STS-64, the LIDAR (light detection and ranging) In-space Technology Experiment (LITE), mounted in Discovery’s forward payload bay, made the first use of a laser to study Earth’s atmosphere, cloud cover, and airborne dust from space. Lee, with help from Richards and Meade, activated LITE, built at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, on the flight’s first day. The experiment operated for 53 hours during the mission, gathering 43 hours of high-rate data shared with 65 groups in 20 countries.

      Left: View of the shuttle’s Remote Manipulator System, or robotic arm, holding the 33-foot long Shuttle Plume Impingement Flight Experiment (SPIFEX). Middle: Closeup view of SPIFEX. Right: A video camera view of Discovery from SPIFEX.
      The Shuttle Plume Impingement Flight Experiment (SPIFEX), built at NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, consisted of a package of instruments positioned on the end of a 33-foot boom, to characterize the behavior of the shuttle’s Reaction Control System (RCS) thrusters. On the flight’s second day, Helms used the shuttle’s Remote Manipulator System (RMS), or robotic arm, to pick up SPIFEX. Over the course of the mission, she, Lee, and Hammond took turns operating the arm to obtain 100 test points during various thruster firings. A video camera on SPIFEX returned images of Discovery from several unusual angles.

      Left: Astronaut Susan J. Helms lifts the Shuttle Pointed Autonomous Research Tool for Astronomy-201 (SPARTAN-201) out of Discovery’s payload bay prior to its release. Middle: Discovery approaches SPARTAN during the rendezvous. Right: Astronaut Susan J. Helms operating the Shuttle’s Remote Manipulator System prepares to grapple SPARTAN.
      On the mission’s fifth day, Helms used the RMS to lift the Shuttle Pointed Autonomous Research Tool for Astronomy-201 (SPARTAN-201) satellite out of the payload bay and released it. Two and a half minutes later, SPARTAN activated itself, and Richards maneuvered Discovery away from the satellite so it could begin its science mission. On flight day seven, Discovery began its rendezvous with SPARTAN, and Hammond flew the shuttle close enough for Helms to grapple it with the arm and place it back in the payload bay. During its two-day free flight, SPARTAN’s two telescopes studied the acceleration and velocity of the solar wind and measured aspects of the Sun’s corona or outer atmosphere.

      Left: Patch for the Simplified Aid for EVA (Extravehicular Activity) Rescue (SAFER). Middle: Astronauts Mark C. Lee, left, and Carl J. Meade during the 15-minute prebreathe prior to their spacewalk. Right: Lee, left, tests the SAFER while Meade works on other tasks in the payload bay.
      On flight day seven, in preparation for the following day’s spacewalk, the astronauts lowered the pressure in the shuttle from 14.7 pounds per square inch (psi) to 10.2 psi to reduce the likelihood of the spacewalkers, Lee and Meade, from developing decompression sickness, also known as the bends. As an added measure, the two spent 15 minutes breathing pure oxygen before donning their spacesuits and exiting the shuttle’s airlock.

      Left: Astronaut Mark C. Lee tests the Simplified Aid for EVA (Extravehicular Activity) Rescue (SAFER) during an untethered spacewalk. Middle: Astronaut Carl J. Meade tests the SAFER during an untethered spacewalk. Right: Meade, left, tests the ability of the SAFER to stop his spinning as Lee looks on.
      The main tasks of the spacewalk involved testing the Simplified Aid for EVA (Extravehicular Activity) Rescue (SAFER), a device designed at JSC that attaches to the spacesuit’s Portable Life Support System backpack. The SAFER contains nitrogen jets that an astronaut can use, should he or she become untethered, to fly back to the vehicle, either the space shuttle or the space station. The two put the SAFER through a series of tests, including a familiarization, a system engineering evaluation, a crew rescue evaluation, and a precision flight evaluation. During the tests, Lee and Meade remained untethered from the shuttle, the first untethered spacewalk since STS-51A in November 1984. Lee and Meade successfully completed all the tests and gave the SAFER high marks. Astronauts conducting spacewalks from the space station use the SAFER as a standard safety device. Following the 6-hour 51-minute spacewalk, the astronauts raised the shuttle’s atmosphere back to 14.7 psi.

      A selection of STS-64 crew Earth observation photographs. Left: Mt. St. Helens in Washington State. Middle left: Cleveland, Ohio. Middle right: Rabaul Volcano, Papua New Guinea. Right: Banks Peninsula, New Zealand.
      Like on all space missions, the STS-64 astronauts spent their spare time looking out the window. They took numerous photographs of the Earth, their high inclination orbit allowing them views of parts of the planet not seen during typical shuttle missions.

      Left: The Solid Surface Combustion Experiment middeck payload. Middle: Jerry M. Linenger gets in a workout while also evaluating the treadmill. Right: Inflight photograph of the STS-64 crew.
      In addition to their primary tasks, the STS-64 crew also conducted a series of middeck experiments and tested hardware for future use on the space shuttle and space station.

      Left: Commander Richard “Dick” Richards suited up for reentry. Middle: Pilot L. Blaine Hammond, left, and Mission Specialists Carl J. Meade and Susan J. Helms prepare for reentry. Right: Hammond fully suited for entry and landing.
      Mission managers had extended the original flight duration by one day for additional data collection for the various payloads. On the planned reentry day, Sept. 19, bad weather at KSC forced the crew to spend an additional day in space. The next day, continuing inclement weather caused them to wave off the first two landing attempts at KSC and diverted to Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) in California.

      Left: Richard Richards brings Discovery home at California’s Edwards Air Force Base. Middle: Workers at Edwards safe Discovery after its return from STS-64. Right: Discovery takes off from Edwards atop a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft for the ferry flight to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
      On Sept. 20, they closed Discovery’s payload bay doors, donned their launch and entry suits, and strapped themselves into their seats for entry and landing. They fired Discover’s OMS engines to drop them out of orbit. Richards piloted Discovery to a smooth landing at Edwards, ending the 10-day 22-hour 50-minute flight. The crew had orbited the Earth 176 times. Workers at Edwards safed the vehicle and placed it atop a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft for the ferry flight back to KSC. The duo left Edwards on Sept. 26, and after an overnight stop at Kelly AFB in San Antonio, arrived at KSC the next day. Workers there began preparing Discovery for its next flight, the STS-63 Mir rendezvous mission, in February 1995.
      Enjoy the crew narrate a video about the STS-64 mission. Read Richards’ recollections of the mission in his oral history with the JSC History Office.
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    • By NASA
      The four-person crew of the Polaris Dawn mission pictured wearing their SpaceX extravehicular activity suits.Credit: SpaceX NASA researchers will soon benefit from a suite of experiments flying aboard a new fully-commercial human spaceflight mission, strengthening future agency science as we venture to the Moon, Mars and beyond.
      The experiments are flying as part of the Polaris Dawn mission which launched aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket earlier today.
      The four-person Polaris Dawn crew of Jared Isaacman, Scott “Kidd” Poteet, Sarah Gillis, and Anna Menon will conduct science during the mission including essential health and human performance research for NASA’s Human Research Program. The research will help NASA scientists better understand how exposure to space conditions affects the human body. The crew will test new medical approaches and technology on telemedicine capabilities, gather data on space motion sickness, and better characterize flight-associated injury risks.
      “Each mission, whether the crew is comprised of commercial or NASA astronauts, provides a key opportunity to expand our knowledge about how spaceflight affects human health,” said Jancy McPhee, associate chief scientist for human research at NASA. “Information gathered from Polaris Dawn will give us critical insights to help NASA plan for deeper space travel to the Moon and Mars.”
      The crew will test drive, a commercial device that can collect and integrate measurements of health, including blood pressure, heart rate, respiration rate, and temperature. The technology also provides ultrasound imaging and larynx and throat-focused video camera capabilities, and includes an experimental telemedicine feature that could help diagnose crew members in near-real time.
      To test this technology during the mission, crew members will compare vital sign collection from the device with data gathered from standard periodic health status exams. The technology’s telemedicine feature, which relies on SpaceX’s Starlink communications system to connect with doctors and specialists on Earth, will also be tested during a simulation. During the test, the device will attempt to offer an appropriate diagnosis based on crew inputs and available documentation.
      “Crew members will need to be more self-reliant during lengthy missions, and we hope that telemedicine can provide crews with assistance,” said McPhee.
      Another research project aims to better understand and prevent the motion sickness symptoms that many astronauts experience in space. Participating crew members will describe their motion sickness symptoms, what interventions they tried to alleviate their symptoms, and whether any approaches helped.
      A separate NASA-based research project will survey crew members after their mission to see whether they experienced any injuries or discomfort during re-entry to Earth.
      “Our team will take the crew’s survey data and combine it with information gathered from sensors on the spacecraft. This will allow us to link crews’ reported experiences and health outcomes with the spacecraft’s dynamics and landing loads,” said Preston Greenhalgh, an injury biomechanist at NASA who is leading this work.
      Crew members also will participate in a variety of other health studies on behalf of the NASA-funded TRISH (Translational Research Institute for Health), a consortium with various academic institutions. As part of that work, the Polaris Dawn mission will set a new baseline for collecting standard health data on commercial spaceflights, creating a complement to the datasets  routinely collected from NASA astronauts and missions.
      Polaris Dawn crew members participating in these TRISH studies will provide data about how spaceflight affects mental and physical health through a rigorous set of medical tests and scans completed before, after, and during the mission. The work will include assessments of behavior, sleep, bone density, eye health, cognitive function, and other factors, as well as analysis of blood, urine, and respiration.
      “We’re so grateful to the crew members who volunteer to be part of NASA’s work. The insights that we gain from each study may trigger breakthroughs that will help ensure future mission success,” said McPhee.
      ____
      NASA’s Human Research Program pursues the best methods and technologies to support safe, productive human space travel. Through science conducted in laboratories, ground-based analogs, commercial missions, and the International Space Station, the program scrutinizes how spaceflight affects human bodies and behaviors. Such research continues to drive NASA’s mission to innovate ways that keep astronauts healthy and mission-ready as space exploration expands to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
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