Astronauts on long-duration missions are at an increased risk of developing adverse behavioral conditions due to prolonged periods in isolated, confined, and extreme (ICE) environments. Sleep loss, sensory deprivation monotony, loss social connectedness can further exacerbate their decrement performance, thus jeopardizing mission success. Future will require crews travel distances that make cur...

Three astronauts underwent preflight, inflight, and postflight testing of spontaneous ocular torsion and of ocular counterrolling (OCR), reflexes governed by the gravity-responsive otolith organs in the inner ear. One astronaut, A, had a 30-day space mission on Euromir '94 and was examined monocularly with SensoMotoric Instruments video-oculography (VOG). The other two astronauts, B and C, were...

This paper reviews the interventions to stabilize calcium balance and bone metabolism and prevent bone loss in astronauts during space flight. Weightlessness during space flight results in calcium, vitamin D, and vitamin K deficiency, increases urinary calcium excretion, decreases intestinal calcium absorption, and increases serum calcium level, with decreased levels of serum parathyroid hormon...

BACKGROUND This study introduces the contributions of occupational science (OS) to the preparation and support of astronauts during long duration space exploration. Given the hostile environment of space, it is not surprising that there is grave deterioration of both physical and mental health when off Earth. However, OS, through occupational therapy (OT), can identify strategies that maintain ...

BACKGROUND Principal Investigator-in-a-Box ([PI]) is an expert system designed to train and assist astronauts with the performance of an experiment outside their field of expertise, particularly when contact with the Principal Investigators on the ground is limited or impossible. In the current case, [PI] was designed to assist with the calibration and troubleshooting procedures of the Neurolab...

During the space flight, the high-energy radiation in the universe may cause a number of health-relative problems such as the increased risk of cancer induction in astronauts. Recent studies have shown that a diet rich in antioxidants can mitigate the harmful effects of the radiation with high energy and particle charge during long-term space flight. Therefore, planting the vegetables rich in a...

The Principal Investigator (PI) in-a-Box knowledge-based system (KBS) helps astronauts perform science experiments in space. These experiments are typically costly to devise and build, and often difficult to perform. Further, the space laboratory environment is unique, ever-changing, hectic, and therefore stressful. The environment requires quick, correct reactions to events over a wide range o...

RomanTutor is a tutoring system that uses sophisticated domain knowledge to monitor the progress of students and advise them while they are learning how to operate a space telerobotic system. It is intended to help train operators of the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) including astronauts, operators involved in ground-based control of SSRMS and technical support staff. Currentl...

Astronauts will face a host of challenges on long-duration space missions like a human expedition to Mars, including the difficulty of maintaining a balanced and healthy microbiome. The human microbiome is the collection of all microorganisms residing in and on a human host, and it plays an essential role in keeping humans healthy. However, imbalances in the microbiome have also been linked to ...

High-energy charged particles represent a severe radiation risk for astronauts and spacecrafts and could damage ground critical infrastructures related to space services. Different natural sources are the origin of these particles, among them galactic cosmic rays, solar energetic particles and particles trapped in radiation belts. Solar particle events (SPE) consist in the emission of high-ener...