When humans return to the moon, Astronauts will be accompanied by robotic helpers. Enabling robots to safely operate near astronauts on the lunar surface has the potential to significantly improve the efficiency of crew surface operations. Safely operating robots in close proximity to astronauts on the lunar surface requires reactive obstacle avoidance capabilities not available on existing pla...

During Summer 2013, the Intelligent Robotics Group at NASA Ames Research Center conducted a series of tests to examine how astronauts in the International Space Station (ISS) can remotely operate a planetary rover. The tests simulated portions of a proposed lunar mission, in which an astronaut in lunar orbit would remotely operate a planetary rover to deploy a radio telescope on the lunar far s...

Loredana Bessone instructs astronauts on living in space, walking the Moon’s surface and choosing rock samples for analysis.

The objective of this study was to investigate depth perception in astronauts during and after spaceflight by studying their sensitivity to reversible perspective figures in which two-dimensional images could elicit two possible depth representations. Other ambiguous figures that did not give rise to a perception of illusory depth were used as controls. Six astronauts and 14 subjects were teste...

OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to determine the effects of stress and spaceflight on levels of neuroendocrine hormones and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-specific antibodies in astronauts. METHODS Antiviral antibody titers and stress hormones were measured in plasma samples collected from 28 astronauts at their annual medical exam (baseline), 10 days before launch (L-10), landing day (R+...

Microgravity causes multiple changes in physical and mental levels in humans, which can induce performance deficiency among astronauts. Studying the variations in brain activity that occur during microgravity would help astronauts to deal with these changes. In the current study, resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) was used to observe the variations in brain activity d...

Mars and beyond is no longer science fiction. Through shuttle research we know how the body changes, what we need to do to fix some of the problems or—better yet—prevent them, the importance of monitoring health, and how to determine the human body's performance through the various sequences of launch, spaceflight, and landing. Basically, we understand how astronauts keep their performance high...

INTRODUCTION It has been nearly 20 yr since the first published astronaut mortality analysis. Using astronaut vital data and general population mortality rates, we calculate Standardized Mortality Ratios (SMR) for both total and specific causes of death among astronauts between January 1980 and June 2009 to look for changes in mortality patterns over time. METHODS Astronaut vital data were de...

11 With the construction of the international space station Freedom and ongoing preparations for the mission to Mars, man’s presence in space is rapidly increasing. The role of astronauts will become even more important owing to longer and more complex space missions. Since man still remains a central element in the conquest of space despite the outstanding technological achievements, protectio...

Exploration class human spaceflight missions will require astronauts with robust immune systems. Innate immunity will be an essential element for the healthcare maintenance of astronauts during these lengthy expeditions. This study investigated neutrophil phagocytosis, oxidative burst, and degranulation of 25 astronauts after four space shuttle missions and in nine healthy control subjects. Spa...