A spectrum of neuro-ocular changes has been observed in astronauts during and after prolonged exposure to microgravity on long-duration spaceflights. These changes, collectively referred to as “spaceflight associated neuro-ocular syndrome&rdquo...
As the development of science and technology has reached the point where the desire to travel to Mars has become a tangible reality, the physical limits of human movement are also part of the systematic research based on the space environment. The cr...
Mixed reality (MR) registers virtual information and real objects and is an effective way to supplement astronaut training. Spatial anchors are generally used to perform virtual–real fusion in static scenes but cannot handle movable objects. To...
This paper, based mainly on astronauts’ first-person writings, historical documents, and my own ethnographic interviews with nine astronauts conducted between 2004 and 2020, explores how encountering the earth and other celestial objects in way...
Outer space is an extremely hostile environment for human life, with ionizing radiation from galactic cosmic rays and microgravity posing the most significant hazards to the health of astronauts. Spaceflight has also been shown to have an impact on e...
The application of intravehicular robotic assistants (IRA) can save valuable working hours for astronauts in space stations. There are various types of IRA, such as an accompanying drone working in microgravity and a dexterous humanoid robot for coll...
Current scientific developments have reached the stage where human aspirations of space exploration are not science fiction but a reality involving travelling to the Earth’s orbit, the Moon and Mars. In the second half of the twentieth century,...
In order to meet the assist requirements of extravehicular activity (EVA) for astronauts, such as moving outside the international space station (ISS) or performing on-orbit tasks by a single astronaut, this paper proposes an astronaut robotic limbs...
Maintaining an astronaut’s health during space travel is crucial. Multiple studies have observed various changes in the gut microbiome and physiological health. Astronauts on board the International Space Station (ISS) had changes in the microb...
Manned spaceflight has already become an important approach to space science exploration, while long-term exposure to the microgravity environment will lead to severe health problems for astronauts, including bone loss, muscle atrophy, and cardiovasc...
Space exploration missions involve significant participation from astronauts. Therefore, it is of great practical importance to assess the astronauts’ performance via various parameters in the cramped and weightless space station. In this paper...
This paper proposes a full-size and free-flying humanoid robot named Taikobot that aims to assist astronauts in a space station and maintain spacecrafts between human visits. Taikobot adopts a compact and lightweight (∼25 kg) design to work in mi...
TORVEastro robot design is presented with a built prototype in LARM2 (Laboratory of Robot Mechatronics) for testing and characterizing its functionality for service in space stations. Several robot astronauts are designed with bulky human-like struct...
Long-term human space missions such as a future journey to Mars could be characterized by several hazards, among which radiation is one the highest-priority problems for astronaut health. In this work, exploiting a pre-existing interface between the...
Astronauts often face orientation challenges while on orbit, which can lead to operator errors in demanding spatial tasks. In this study, we investigated the impact of long-duration spaceflight on the neural processes supporting astronauts’ spa...
In recent years, virtual microgravity training technology for astronauts based on cable-driven designs has emerged, and it solves the following problems: high costs, short training times, and low safety of existing equipment. However, this technology...
After completing a spaceflight, astronauts display a salient upward shift in the position of the brain within the skull, accompanied by a redistribution of cerebrospinal fluid. Magnetic resonance imaging studies have also reported local changes in br...
During space missions, astronauts are faced with a variety of challenges that are unique to spaceflight and that have been known to cause physiological changes in humans over a period of time. Several of these changes occur at the microbiome level, a...
The lunar dust problem was first formulated in 1969 with NASA’s first successful mission to land a human being on the surface of the Moon. Subsequent Apollo missions failed to keep the dust at bay, so exposure to the dust was unavoidable. In 19...
Space exploration and extraterrestrial civilization have fascinated humankind since the earliest days of human history. It was only in the last century that humankind finally began taking significant steps towards these goals by sending astronauts in...
(1) Background: Evidence from non-human animal and spaceflight analog studies have suggested that traveling to outer space could have a significant impact on the structural properties of the hippocampus, a brain region within the medial temporal lobe...
A method was previously developed to identify participant-specific parameters in a model of trabecular bone adaptation from longitudinal computed tomography (CT) imaging. In this study, we use these numerical methods to estimate changes in astronaut...
Changes in the structure of bone can occur in space as an adaptive response to microgravity and on Earth due to the adaptive effects to exercise, to the aging of bone cells, or to prolonged disuse. Knowledge of cell-mediated bone remodeling on Earth...
Spaceflight imposes unique physiological stressors that profoundly disrupt immune regulation, including impaired lymphocyte activation, latent viral reactivation, and chronic low-grade inflammation. While structured exercise is the cornerstone counte...
Low-gravity and microgravity simulation devices for training astronauts to manipulate objects under terrestrial conditions are critical for improving operational performance and efficiency in extraterrestrial environments while minimizing risk. To th...
Few-shot segmentation (FSS) is a cutting-edge technology that can meet requirements using a small workload. With the development of China Aerospace Engineering, FSS plays a fundamental role in astronaut working scene (AWS) intelligent parsing. Althou...
The use of a UWB system for sensing breathing activity of astronauts must account for many critical issues specific to the space environment. The aim of this paper is twofold. The first concerns the definition of design constraints about the pulse am...
Exposure to microgravity during spaceflight is known to elicit orientation illusions, errors in sensory localization, postural imbalance, changes in vestibulo-spinal and vestibulo-ocular reflexes, and space motion sickness. The objective of this expe...
Introduction: Since Gagarin became the first human to travel into space and complete one orbit around the Earth, on 12 April 1961, the number of manned spaceflights has increased significantly. Spaceflight is still complex and has potential risk for...
Space missions with humans expose the crews to ionizing radiation, mainly due to the galactic cosmic radiation (GCR). All radiation protection programs in space aim to minimize crews’ exposure to radiation. The radiation protection of astronaut...
NASA’s human spaceflight efforts are moving towards long-duration exploration missions requiring asynchronous communication between onboard crew and an increasingly remote ground support. In current missions aboard the International Space Station, th...
Lunar dust remains one of the most critical unresolved challenges to long-duration lunar missions. Its sharp, abrasive, and electrostatically charged particles are easily inhaled and can penetrate deep into the lungs, reaching the bloodstream and the...
As humanity continues to strive for extraplanetary exploration, which is quickly gaining marked governmental and industrial support and recognition, there are still substantial detriments to astronaut health during long-duration spaceflight (i.e., mu...
As humanity advances into deep space exploration, astronauts on long-duration missions face significant challenges posed by circadian rhythm disruptions and sleep disorders, which arise from extreme environmental stressors such as microgravity, ioniz...
4 June 2022
The evaluation of manual Trigger Point Therapy (TrPt) on mandible abduction range of Analog Astronauts (AA) surviving isolation conditions during consecutive missions at the LunAres Habitat was performed. This physiotherapy method was applied to decr...
Musculoskeletal pathologies associated with decreased bone mass, including osteoporosis and disuse-induced bone loss, affect millions of Americans annually. Microgravity-induced bone loss presents a similar concern for astronauts during space mission...
This article considers the prospects of using heat-resistant polyimide boron-containing composites to protect astronauts of manned orbital stations from secondary neutron radiation. Variant calculations are performed regarding neutron and gamma-quant...
Escalating government and commercial efforts to plan and deploy viable manned near-to-deep solar system exploration and habitation over the coming decades now drives next-generation space medicine innovations. The application of cutting-edge precisio...
Galactic cosmic rays (GCR) pose a serious threat to astronauts’ health during deep space missions. The possible functional alterations of the central nervous system (CNS) under GCR exposure can be critical for mission success. Despite the obvio...
A systematic review was conducted to assess the effects of microgravity and space radiation on astronauts’ oral health. This review aimed to determine if these conditions increase the risk of dental and periodontal diseases, identify pre-missio...
The number of female astronauts participating in space missions is increasing, and concerns about the impact of spaceflight on reproductive health have emerged. Space radiation and microgravity pose potential threats to ovarian reserve and uterine fu...
The human organism is affected by multiple stressors every single day, especially during extremely demanding activities. It needs a method to regulate itself better. One of the stressors that is affecting humans is social isolation. The state of prol...
It is necessary to conduct virtual training for astronauts on the ground to improve the efficiency and safety of astronauts carrying objects in space. Cooperation between the two astronauts is required when handling massive objects. During this proce...
Pharmaceutical drugs are available to astronauts to help them overcome the deleterious effects of weightlessness, sickness and injuries. Unfortunately, recent studies have shown that some of the drugs currently used may degrade more rapidly in space,...
This paper proposes a novel chameleon-like astronaut robot that is designed to assist, or even substitute, a human astronauts in a space station to complete dangerous and prolonged work, such as maintenance of solar panels, and so on. The robot can m...
Biomarkers, ranging from molecules to behavior, can be used to identify thresholds beyond which performance of mission tasks may be compromised and could potentially trigger the activation of countermeasures. Identification of homologous brain region...
The article is devoted to the preliminary concept of the Future Planetary Defense System (FPDS) emphasizing astroballistics. This paper is intended to support international efforts to improve the planetary security of Earth. The work covers three are...
Long-duration mission (LDM) astronauts from the International Space Station (ISS) (>180 ISS days) revealed a close-to-normal sarcolemmal nitric oxide synthase type-1 (NOS1) immunoexpression in myofibers together with biochemical and quantitative q...
In light of the potential effects of spaceflight on the anterior segment of the eye, there is a pressing need for anterior segment imaging to be available and accessible to monitor astronauts’ ocular health, including alterations to the cornea...
This review summarizes the current literature available on joint cartilage alterations in long-duration spaceflight. Evidence from spaceflight participants is currently limited to serum biomarker data in only a few astronauts. Findings from analogue...
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