ESA UNCLASSIFIED - For Official Use
Human Research for Space Exploration
Leonardo Surdo European Space Agency Human Spaceflight and Robotic Exploration Department
Lunteren, 8th of December 2016
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Human Spaceflight
ESA’s Human Spaceflight Science programme
Life and Physical Sciences to:
• Explore nature:
• Fundamental research
• Investigations for preparation of space and
planetary exploration, evolution of life
• Improve the understanding and protection of health in space:
• Research into ageing, disabilities and diseases
• Testing of new diagnostics, countermeasures and drugs
• Enable long-duration human presence in space
• Research and develop innovating technologies and processes
• E.g. biotechnologies, material sciences etc.
• Improve environmental safety and protection
• E.g. waste treatment, closed-loop ecological systems etc.
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Human Spaceflight
ESA’s Life and Physical Sciences programme’s platforms
• Ground-based platforms
• Parabolic flights
• Drop tower
• Sounding rockets and stratospheric balloons
• Foton suborbital retrievable capsules
• International Space Station
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Human Spaceflight
ESA’s Human Research programme
NEUROSCIENCE
NUTRITION
RESPIRATORY
MUSCLE AND BONE
IMMUNOLOGY
CARDIOVASCULAR
THERMOREGULATION
AGEING
HUMAN RESEARCH includes:
SKIN PHYSIOLOGY
PSYCHOLOGY
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Human Spaceflight
Stressors in Space
Space Environment
e.g. Microgravity, Vacuum,
Radiation
Space Habitat
e.g. Noise, confinement, LSS,
limited resources
Mission
e.g. Workload, mission
duration, emergencies,
isolation for many months
Social Situation
e.g. Small crew, restricted
communication with Earth
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Human Spaceflight
ESA’s Life and Physical Sciences programme’s platforms
• Ground-based platforms:
Bed-rest studies
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Human Spaceflight
ESA’s Life and Physical Sciences programme’s platforms
• Ground-based platforms:
Isolation and confinement stations
CONCORDIA Halley VI
Mars500 study
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Human Spaceflight
ESA’s Life and Physical Sciences programme’s platforms
• Ground-based platforms:
Radiation facilities (particles accelerators)
Society for Heavy Ion Research (GSI) - Darmstadt
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Human Spaceflight
ESA’s Life and Physical Sciences programme’s platforms
• Parabolic flight
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Human Spaceflight
ESA’s Life and Physical Sciences programme’s platforms
• International Space Station (ISS)
ISS
Columbus module
ATV cargo
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Human Spaceflight
ESA’s Life and Physical Sciences programme’s platforms
• International Suite of Human Research Hardware in Columbus
European Physiology Module
Human Research Facility-1
Human Research Facility-2 with PFS
MARES
+ Stand-alone equipment and MedOps hardware
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Human Spaceflight
ESA’s Life and Physical Sciences programme’s platforms
• International Space Station
Need For Human Research:
Conditions in space, a unique burden
to the human body.
Beneficial for maintaining the health
of our astronauts
Contribute to understanding of
many medical conditions on Earth.
ESA research built on extensive
amount of
physiological/psychological
experiments in space.
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Human Spaceflight
International Space Station
• Space environment offers unique possibilities to study health problems related
to various diseases, ageing and immobility
Physiological changes observed in microgravity provide important clues for ageing process on Earth
Understanding osteoporosis,
early detection of osteoporosis on Earth and
researching new countermeasures
Fighting muscle atrophy due to weightlessness
Physiological changes
observed in microgravity
provide important clues
for ageing process on Earth
ISS plays a role in helping
people with asthma
condition
Monitoring of radiation risk
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EXAMPLES OF HUMAN RESEARCH
EXPERIMENTS ON ISS
Human Spaceflight
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Human Spaceflight
Core Temperature and Circadian Rhythms in Humans During Long-
Term Spaceflights (CIRCADIAN RHYTHMS)
• The CIRCADIAN RHYTHMS experiment aims at investigating the
impact of long-term spaceflight on circadian rhythm, pre-, in- and
post-flight.
Previous research suggests that crewmembers are prone to suffer from
disruptions of their circadian rhythm. A disrupted circadian rhythm can
cause multiple unwanted symptoms, such as sleep deprivation, mood
disorders, reduced alertness and fatigue, resulting in a decrease of
physical and mental performance.
Hardware used:
Thermolab control unit and sensors to non-invasively record
core body temperatures.
Actiwatch used to monitor crew activity and light exposure
during Circadian Rhythms (actigraphy principles to provide
sleep schedule variability, sleep quantity and quality statistics
and daytime).
THERMOREGULATION
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Human Spaceflight
Spaceflight induced neuroplasticity studied with advanced magnetic resonance
imaging methods (BRAIN-DTI)
• The BRAIN-DTI experiment aims at:
• elucidating brain neuroplasticity induced by microgravity
• gaining insight of which regions of the brain are involved in the processing and
integration of visual, vestibular and proprioceptive signals
All this to better understand common problems encountered in space flights such as spatial
disorientation and autonomic nervous system deconditioning to then develop proper
countermeasures. Advanced MRI techniques (such as the diffusion tensor imaging (DTI)
technique) allows to investigate brain microstructure and connectivity.
Hardware used: 3 Tesla MRI for DTI and resting-state fMRI.
NEUROPHYSIOLOGY
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Human Spaceflight
SKIN-B
• The Skin-B experiment will improve our understanding of skin aging which is
slow on Earth but very much accelerated in space. This will also provide insights
into the aging process in other (similar) bodily tissues in general. This could
help in determining impact on astronauts on future missions to the Moon and
Mars for example where environmental conditions are more challenging.
Hardware used:
• Corneometer probe (hydration measurement)
• Tewameter probe (transepidermal water loss)
• VisioScan UV illuminated camera (skin surface photo camera)
• Cutometer
• Microcirculation blood flow measurement device (O2C)
• Echograph with a 20 MHz probe: Ultrasound DermaScan
• Questionnaires
Corneometer
probe
Cutometer
probe
AGEING
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Human Spaceflight
Astronaut's Energy Requirements for Long-Term Space Flight (ENERGY)
• A loss in astronauts body mass is a common observation. The systematic
ongoing negative energy balance observed in flight contributes certainly to such
a loss, in addition to disuse. As such the knowledge of energy requirements for
space flight is needed to ensure health, performances and the overall success of
a mission, and also to ensure adequate cargo allotments for food.
Hardware used:
• Standardised meal
• PFS
• DLW
• Urine kit
• Water sampling
• Actimeter
Standardised
meal
NUTRITION
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Human Spaceflight
Muscles tone in Space (Myotones)
• The Myotones experiment is the first experiment that will monitor basic biomechanical
properties of skeletal muscles (i.e. tone, stiffness and elasticity) via a non-invasive,
portable device, the MyotonPRO, on-board the ISS to assess the microgravity-induced
changes of the human myofascial tension system (HRMT system) pre-, in- and post-
flight.
Research indicates that the MyotonPRO device is potentially valuable as a clinical tool for
diagnosis and detection of small myofascial changes and monitoring of rehabilitation
effectiveness (monitoring of astronaut’ fitness during their entire space mission).
Hardware used:
MyotonPRO device
Blood sampling kit
Ultrasound
MRI sEMG and dynamometry
MyotonPRO device
MUSCLE RESEARCH
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Human Spaceflight
European Crew Personal Active Dosimeter for Astronauts (EuCPAD)
• Radiation exposure in space remains one of the inevitable and dominating factors relevant
to crew- health, -safety and therefore mission success. The radiation environment that the
space crews are exposed to differs significantly as compared to earth. Exposure in flight
exceed doses that are usually received by terrestrial radiation workers on ground.
Hardware used:
• Several small portable Personal Active Dosimeters
(MU = Mobile Units) and a docking station “Personal Storage
Device” (PSD) to collect and store MUs data
• PSD also contains a Tissue Equivalent Proportional Counter
(TEPC) and an internal MU (iMU) to enable complex environmental
measurements and cross calibrations.
Wearable Active
dosimeters Mobile Units
RADIATION
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Human Spaceflight
Multidimensional Ballistocardiography in microgravity (CARDIOVECTOR-3)
• The CARDIOVECTOR-3 experiment aims at getting scientific data about the long-term
influence of microgravity on the spatial distribution of the heart’s contractions energy and
of the shift of the body’s center of mass (CoM), pre-, in- and post-flight.
The experiments uses a non-invasive technique (multidimensional ballistocardiography) for
assessing the cardiac function from the body accelerations consecutive to the mechanical
action of the heart.
Hardware used:
• CARDIOVECTOR-2 device for multidimensional ballistocardiography, seismocardiography,
electrocardiography, pneumography and impedance cardiography
Wearable CARDIOVECTOR-2
device
CARDIOVASCULAR RESEARCH
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Human Spaceflight
Airway Nitric Oxide in Space (AIRWAY MONITORING)
• The AIRWAY MONITORING experiment aims at understanding how the combined effects
of dust, microgravity and low gas density influence lung health.
• Monitoring of lung health via exhaled NO analysis during pre- and in-flight phases, both
at ambient and reduced pressure. For the inflight sessions, the airlock is used to provide
reduced ambient pressure.
• The Fraction of Exhaled NO (FENO) and the Lung Diffusing Capacity of NO (DLNO) are
measured.
Hardware used:
• Low NO analyzer (to measure FENO) and High NO analyzer (to measure DLNO)
• Portable Pulmonary Function System (PPFS): to perform complementary data
measurements.
RESPIRATORY
Astronaut T. Kopra in
the US airlock. PPFS configuration for
gas analysis
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Human Spaceflight
CONCLUSIONS:
The European Space Agency SciSpacE programme aims at:
• maximise the benefits for society from the utilisation of the ISS
• strengthen and further develop the European scientific and industrial user community in
Life and Physical sciences in Space
• vigorously pursue the principle of best science at a transnational and global level by
coordination with the ISS Partners and competition among scientists
• promote applications by teaming researchers from academia and industry and achieving
increased industrial engagement and benefits
• promote scientific research in space to the general public and in particular the younger
generations by education and outreach activities
• engage small- and medium-sized European companies, as developers of advanced
equipment and users of the ISS capabilities.
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Thank you for your attention
