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At least 73 records · Page 4
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2012

A Proposed Study Examining Individual Differences in Temporal Profiles of Cardiovascular Responses to Head Down Tilt During Fluid Loading

Susceptibility of healthy astronauts to orthostatic hypotension and presyncope is exacerbated upon return from spaceflight. The effect of altered gravity during space flight and planetary transition on human cardiovascular function is of critical importance to maintenance of astronaut health and safety. Hypovolemia, reduced plasma volume, is suspected to play an important role in cardiovascular deconditioning following exposure to spaceflight, which may lead to increased peripheral resistance, attenuated arterial baroreflex, and changes in cardiac function. A promising countermeasure for post-flight orthostatic intolerance is fluid loading used to restore lost plasma volume by giving crew salt tablets and water prior to re-entry. The main purpose of the proposed study is to define the temporal profile of cardiac responses to simulated 0-G conditions before and following a fluid loading countermeasure. 8 men and 8 women will be tested during 4 hour exposures at 6o head down tilt (HDT). Each subject will be given two exposures to HDT on separate days, one with and one without fluid loading (one liter of 0.9% saline solution). Stand tests (orthostatic stress) will be done before and after each HDT. Cardiac measures will be obtained with both impedance cardiography and echo ultrasound

Cowings, Patricia↗
NASA NTRS2013

Individual Differences in the Temporal Profile of Cardiovascular Responses to Head Down Tilt and Orthostatic Stress with and Without Fluid Loading

Susceptibility of healthy astronauts to orthostatic hypotension and presyncope is exacerbated upon return from spaceflight. Hypo-volemia is suspected to play an important role in cardiovascular deconditioning following exposure to spaceflight, which may lead to increased peripheral resistance, attenuated arterial baroreflex, and changes in cardiac function. The effect of altered gravity during space flight and planetary transition on human cardiovascular function is of critical importance to maintenance of astronaut health and safety. A promising countermeasure for post-flight orthostatic intolerance is fluid loading used to restore loss fluid volume by giving crew salt tablets and water prior to re-entry. Eight men and eight women will be tested during two, 6-hour exposures to 6o HDT: 1) fluid loading, 2) no fluid loading. Before and immediately after each HDT, subjects will perform a stand test to assess their orthostatic tolerance. Physiological measures (e.g., ECG, blood pressure, peripheral blood volume) will be continuously monitored while echocardiography measures are recorded at 30-minute intervals during HDT and stand tests. Preliminary results (N=4) clearly show individual differences in responses to this countermeasure and the time course of physiological changes induced by HDT.

Cowings, Patricia↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Moon to Mars Planetary Autonomous Construction Technology (MMPACT) Lunar Surface Construction Activity at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center

Introduction: The goal of the Moon to Mars Planetary Autonomous Construction Technology (MMPACT) Project at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) is to develop, deliver, and demonstrate on-demand capabilities to protect astronauts and create infrastructure elements on the lunar surface via construction of landing pads, habitats, shelters, roadways, berms, and blast shields using lunar regolith-based materials. MSFC has strong collaborations with industry, academia, and other NASA Centers to accomplish this goal. The MMPACT project consists of three elements. The first focuses on the development of an autonomous construction system. The second focuses on construction feedstock materials development. The third element focuses on the development of a microwave sintering construction capability. The team plans to demonstrate construction on a small Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) lander in the 2025 timeframe, with a future goal of constructing a subscale landing pad in 2028-2029.The MMPACT project is funded through the Lunar Surface Innovation Initiative, which is part of the Space Technology Mission Directorate. Technology Development: The MMPACT team will evaluate multiple autonomous construction and microwave construction technologies, materials, and construction element forms. Selected technologies will be matured; processes and operations will be defined for the two flight missions. Evaluations of materials, as well as the technology itself, will be demonstrated in simulated lunar environments as part of the technology maturation process. The team is keenly aware of the properties of the lunar environment. Its temperature swings, negligible exosphere, and unprepared site foundations factor into the materials for both construction and hardware, the concept of operations, and the technology’s interdependencies. Materials: The team is looking at materials that can be produced from in-situ resources in an effort to make lunar construction cost-effective. The particular focus of the materials team is cementitious materials, metals, and sintered and melted regolith. These materials will be studied for tensile, compressive, and flexural strength. They will also be tested for their ability to handle thermal swings and vacuum. They will be fully characterized using various microscopy techniques to examine micro-structures, chemistry, and crystal formation. Interdependencies: There are many interdependencies that MMPACT has already identified. These include: •Excavation interface •Regolith feedstock beneficiation •Regolith feedstock storage and provision •Requirements for structures •Site-to-site mobility systems •Availability of lunar simulant •Lander off-loading capabilities •Navigation systems •Power •Regolith composition and mineralogy •Lander specifications •Communication protocols Technology developments in these additional areas would be beneficial to MMPACT.

Moon to Mars Planetary Autonomous Construction Tec↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Recent Activities of the Marshall Space Flight Center Natural Environments Branch Terrestrial & Planetary Environments Team

- The Natural Environments (NE) Branch is within the MSFC Engineering Directorate’s Spacecraft and Vehicle System (S&VS) Department - S&VS plans, performs and directs the technical Design, Analysis, Test, Evaluation, Verification, Integration, and Applied Research and Development of future Spacecraft and Launch Vehicle Systems - Current programs we support - Space Launch System, Human Landing System, Mars Ascent Vehicle, Orion, Gateway - NE maintains expertise in terrestrial, space, and planetary natural environments definition, characterization, and analysis - Responsibility to disseminate this expertise to Agency programs and projects in support of environment definition, requirements development, vehicle development, operations, and sustaining engineering through program’s life cycle - Branch has two teams; Terrestrial and Planetary Environments (T&PE) and Space Environments (SE) - T&PE has extensive expertise characterizing terrestrial surface and atmospheric (aloft) environments - Winds, temperature, humidity, pressure, lightning, density, precipitation, radiant energy, aerosols, sea state, sea surface temperature - Maintains climatological databases for engineering analyses

Ryan K. Decker↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

The Lunar Regolith Terrain (LRT) Field: A New Lunar Surface Planetary Analog Facility at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)

Introduction: NASA is moving toward a new age of exploration and resource utilization of the lunar surface. Challenges related to exploration, resource utilization, and construction at the Lunar South Pole will require advanced technology and well-designed mission concepts and operations. NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) has added new capabilities to support surface mobility and construction activities to meet industry, academia, and NASA research and development goals for lunar applications. The Lunar Regolith Terrain (LRT) field is a new, large-area, lunar regolith simulant planetary analog testing ground for users interested in surface mobility and lunar construction activities. The LRT complements NASA MSFC’s other lunar environment testing facilities such as the Lunar Surface Simulator (V20 dirty vacuum chamber), the Lunar Environment Testing System (LETS), among many others. Lunar Regolith Terrain (LTR) Description: The Lunar Regolith Terrain field is an outdoor planetary analog environment facility located on base at MSFC. The lunar regolith simulant is JSC-1A feedstock material (volcanic cinder sand sourced from Meriam Crater, Flagstaff, AZ). The field contains more than 500 tons of lunar regolith simulant confined within a 125 ft x 125 ft (38 m x 38 m) area. The field is placed ~ 50% over paved parking lot and ~ 50% over a natural ground. Currently, the depth of regolith ranges between ~ 5 in - ~ 4 ft (~ 13cm – 1.2m) but can be modified to suit user needs. The lunar regolith simulant that makes up the field has representative geotechnical, geochemical, and optical properties of lunar mare basalt. An area within the LRT of lunar highlands terrain simulant is planned. Additional Features of the LRT: The LRT was designed to allow rapid modification of the terrain’s topography obstacles in the field. The terrain can be reshaped to suit specific testing requirements that may require flat expanses, steep hills, or heavily cratered and rocky landscapes. Large rocky obstacles in Fig. 1 are artificial landscape boulders (faux-rocks) that can be easily placed by users or removed entirely. Areas of the field also contain buried fiducials, large sheets, bar stock, and pipes of various composition and dimensions to allow for possible ground penetrating radar and shallow seismic studies. Rapid modification capabilities will also allow for burial of additional user-specific materials to enable in-situ resource utilization detection (e.g., burial of hydrogen sources for neutron detection or other materials). The field is also equipped with on-site office space with an air-conditioned and heated trailer with 120/240V power and lighting. The site has Wi-Fi and Cellular signal coverage. Direct radio frequency communication with the Huntsville Operations Support Center (HOSC) is in development. Additional on-site workspace and secure equipment storage is available in adjacent buildings. Accessibility to the field is straightforward with on-site parking and access for delivery of instruments, payloads, and additional equipment. Community Availability: The LRTF provides an accessible planetary analog surface environment for surface mobility testing, autonomous roving operations, developing advanced navigation techniques and operations development. Interested parties can contact the abstract authors for additional details, tours, and scheduling.

Lunar Regolith↗
NASA NTRS2017

Advantage of Animal Models with Metabolic Flexibility for Space Research Beyond Low Earth Orbit

As the world's space agencies and commercial entities continue to expand beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO), novel approaches to carry out biomedical experiments with animals are required to address the challenge of adaptation to space flight and new planetary environments. The extended time and distance of space travel along with reduced involvement of Earth-based mission support increases the cumulative impact of the risks encountered in space. To respond to these challenges, it becomes increasingly important to develop the capability to manage an organism's self-regulatory control system, which would enable survival in extraterrestrial environments. To significantly reduce the risk to animals on future long duration space missions, we propose the use of metabolically flexible animal models as "pathfinders," which are capable of tolerating the environmental extremes exhibited in spaceflight, including altered gravity, exposure to space radiation, chemically reactive planetary environments and temperature extremes. In this report we survey several of the pivotal metabolic flexibility studies and discuss the importance of utilizing animal models with metabolic flexibility with particular attention given to the ability to suppress the organism's metabolism in spaceflight experiments beyond LEO. The presented analysis demonstrates the adjuvant benefits of these factors to minimize damage caused by exposure to spaceflight and extreme planetary environments. Examples of microorganisms and animal models with dormancy capabilities suitable for space research are considered in the context of their survivability under hostile or deadly environments outside of Earth. Potential steps toward implementation of metabolic control technology in spaceflight architecture and its benefits for animal experiments and manned space exploration missions are discussed.

metabilic flexibility↗
NASA NTRS2017

Advantage of Animal Models with Metabolic Flexibility for Space Research Beyond Low Earth Orbit

As the worlds space agencies and commercial entities continue to expand beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO), novel approaches to carry out biomedical experiments with animals are required to address the challenge of adaptation to space flight and new planetary environments. The extended time and distance of space travel along with reduced involvement of Earth-based mission support increases the cumulative impact of the risks encountered in space. To respond to these challenges, it becomes increasingly important to develop the capability to manage an organisms self-regulatory control system, which would enable survival in extraterrestrial environments. To significantly reduce the risk to animals on future long duration space missions, we propose the use of metabolically flexible animal models as pathfinders, which are capable of tolerating the environmental extremes exhibited in spaceflight, including altered gravity, exposure to space radiation, chemically reactive planetary environments and temperature extremes.In this report we survey several of the pivotal metabolic flexibility studies and discuss the importance of utilizing animal models with metabolic flexibility with particular attention given to the ability to suppress the organism's metabolism in spaceflight experiments beyond LEO. The presented analysis demonstrates the adjuvant benefits of these factors to minimize damage caused by exposure to spaceflight and extreme planetary environments. Examples of microorganisms and animal models with dormancy capabilities suitable for space research are considered in the context of their survivability under hostile or deadly environments outside of Earth. Potential steps toward implementation of metabolic control technology in spaceflight architecture and its benefits for animal experiments and manned space exploration missions are discussed.

metabolic flexibility↗
NASA NTRS1988

Data catalog series for space science and applications flight missions. Volume 1A: Descriptions of planetary and heliocentric spacecraft and investigations, second edition

The main purpose of the data catalog series is to provide descriptive references to data generated by space science flight missions. The data sets described include all of the actual holdings of the Space Science Data Center (NSSDC), all data sets for which direct contact information is available, and some data collections held and serviced by foreign investigators, NASA and other U.S. government agencies. This volume contains narrative descriptions of planetary and heliocentric spacecraft and associated experiments. The following spacecraft series are included: Mariner, Pioneer, Pioneer Venus, Venera, Viking, Voyager, and Helios. Separate indexes to the planetary and interplanetary missions are also included.

Cameron, Winifred Sawtell↗