Long-duration Manned Missions Research Articles

Migration of surface-associated microbial communities in spaceflight habitats

Astronauts are spending longer periods locked up in ships or stations for scientific and exploration spatial missions. The International Space Station (ISS) has been inhabited continuously for more than 20 years and the duration of space stays by crews could lengthen with the objectives of human presence on the moon and Mars. If the environment of these space habitats is designed for the comfort of astronauts, it is also conducive to other forms of life such as embarked microorganisms. The latter, most often associated with surfaces in the form of biofilm, have been implicated in significant degradation of the functionality of pieces of equipment in space habitats. The most recent research suggests that microgravity could increase the persistence, resistance and virulence of pathogenic microorganisms detected in these communities, endangering the health of astronauts and potentially jeopardizing long-duration manned missions. In this review, we describe the mechanisms and dynamics of installation and propagation of these microbial communities associated with surfaces (spatial migration), as well as long-term processes of adaptation and evolution in these extreme environments (phenotypic and genetic migration), with special reference to human health. We also discuss the means of control envisaged to allow a lasting cohabitation between these vibrant microscopic passengers and the astronauts.

Wide Range Applications of Spirulina: From Earth to Space Missions

Spirulina is the most studied cyanobacterium species for both pharmacological applications and the food industry. The aim of the present review is to summarize the potential benefits of the use of Spirulina for improving healthcare both in space and on Earth. Regarding the first field of application, Spirulina could represent a new technology for the sustainment of long-duration manned missions to planets beyond the Lower Earth Orbit (e.g., Mars); furthermore, it could help astronauts stay healthy while exposed to a variety of stress factors that can have negative consequences even after years. As far as the second field of application, Spirulina could have an active role in various aspects of medicine, such as metabolism, oncology, ophthalmology, central and peripheral nervous systems, and nephrology. The recent findings of the capacity of Spirulina to improve stem cells mobility and to increase immune response have opened new intriguing scenarios in oncological and infectious diseases, respectively.

Developments and Scope of Space Food

: Humans have conducted numerous space missions in past decades and its success depends upon many factors, including astronaut health as the major factor. Health and nutrition are two vital components of life derived from food which helps in keeping one’s body alive, nourished as well as energetic, including the astronauts during their long-duration manned missions. With the advancement in research and technology, it became possible to include a wide variety of dishes in the space menu, with most of them being similar to those eaten on the earth. This review highlights the evolution of space food starting from mission Mercury to the current International Space Station. Furthermore, it also enlightens and focuses on types of space food, its packaging considerations, and vitamin A-rich energy balls as potential space food. Many deleterious effects of outer space explorations have been observed on the human body, such as loss of body mass, visionrelated changes, loss in bone density, and even anemia. To overcome these issues, various considerations must be followed while designing space food. The nutritional requirement plays an important role in a space mission. Various foods have the potential to overcome the limitations caused by a space mission. Thus, while developing space food, various parameters should be taken into consideration, such as deficiencies and illness. The food should be compact, bite-sized, easily digestible, and shelf-stable. Further research is required to better gain insight into the technological advancements while considering the nutritional status and requirements of astronauts in a space mission.

The Limits of Space Radiation Magnetic Shielding: An Updated Analysis

A major problem of long-duration manned missions in the deep space is the flow of high energy charged particles of solar (SPE) and galactic (GCR) origin. SPE has short duration but can be extremely intense and can lead to acute, even lethal, effects. GCR flow is much less intense but is continuous, isotropic, and more energetic; it increases the risk of carcinogenesis and can affect the nervous and cardiovascular systems, restricting the endurance of missions to few months. It is commonly believed that the problem of space radiation can be solved by surrounding the spacecraft habitats with large superconducting magnets, even though a considerable technological effort would be required. However, magnetic shielding has several basic limitations, which restrict the reduction of the radiation dose: they range from the biological effect of the particles in the high region of the GCR spectrum, higher than the shield cutoff energy, to the generation of secondary particles due to the interaction of cosmic rays with magnet and spacecraft materials. The physical and technological constraints of space radiation magnetic shields are discussed in this paper. Despite such limitations, a superconducting magnet could completely eliminate the risk due to SPE. Moreover, it could reduce the GCR adsorbed dose enough to make acceptable the risk of developing long term diseases after a return trip to Mars.

Exploring innovative radiation shielding approaches in space: A material and design study for a wearable radiation protection spacesuit

We present a design study for a wearable radiation-shielding spacesuit, designed to protect astronauts’ most radiosensitive organs. The suit could be used in an emergency, to perform necessary interventions outside a radiation shelter in the space habitat in case of a Solar Proton Event (SPE). A wearable shielding system of the kind we propose has the potential to prevent the onset of acute radiation effects in this scenario. In this work, selection of materials for the spacesuit elements is performed based on the results of dedicated GRAS/Geant4 1-dimensional Monte Carlo simulations, and after a trade-off analysis between shielding performance and availability of resources in the space habitat. Water is the first choice material, but also organic compounds compatible with a human space habitat are considered (such as fatty acids, gels and liquid organic wastes). Different designs and material combinations are proposed for the spacesuits. To quantify shielding performance we use GRAS/Geant4 simulations of an anthropomorphic phantom in an average SPE environment, with and without the spacesuit, and we compare results for the dose to Blood Forming Organs (BFO) in Gy-Eq, i.e. physical absorbed dose multiplied by the proton Relative Biological Effectiveness (RBE) for non-cancer effects. In case of SPE occurrence for Intra-Vehicular Activities (IVA) outside a radiation shelter, dose reductions to BFO in the range of 44–57% are demonstrated to be achievable with the spacesuit designs made only of water elements, or of multi-layer protection elements (with a thin layer of a high density material covering the water filled volume). Suit elements have a thickness in the range 2–6 cm and the total mass for the garment sums up to 35–43 kg depending on model and material combination. Dose reduction is converted into time gain, i.e. the increase of time interval between the occurrence of a SPE and the moment the dose limit to the BFO for acute effects is reached. Wearing a radiation shielding spacesuit of the kind we propose, the astronaut could have up to more than the double the time (e.g. almost 6 instead of 2.5 h) to perform necessary interventions outside a radiation shelter during a SPE, his/her exposure remaining within dose limits. An indicative mass saving thanks to the shielding provided by the suits is also derived, calculating the amount of mass needed in addition to the 1.5 cm thick Al module considered for the IVA scenario to provide the same additional shielding given by the spacesuit. For an average 50% dose reduction to BFO this is equal to about 2.5 tons of Al. Overall, our results offer a proof-of-principle validation of a complementary personal shielding strategy in emergency situations in case of a SPE event. Such results pave the way for the design and realization of a prototype of a water-filled garment to be tested on board the International Space Station for wearability. A successful outcome will possibly lead to the further refining of the design of radiation protection spacesuits and their possible adoption in future long-duration manned missions in deep space.

SOA-Based Intensive Support System for Space Radiation Data

Modern data intensive science involves heterogeneous and structured data sets in sophisticated data formats. Scientists need access to distributed computing and data sources and support for remote access to expensive, multinational specialized instruments. Scientists need effective software for data analysis, querying, accessing and visualization. The interaction between computer science and science and engineering becomes essential for the automation of data manipulation. The key solution uses the Service-oriented Architecture (SOA) in the field of science and Grid computing. The goal of this paper is managing the scientific data received by the Lyulin-5 particle telescope used in MATROSHKA-R experiment performed at the International Space Station (ISS). The dynamics of radiation characteristics and their dependency on the time and the orbital parameters have been established. The experiment helps the accurate estimation of the impact of space radiation on human health in long-duration manned missions.

Simulations of the MATROSHKA experiment at the international space station using PHITS

Concerns about the biological effects of space radiation are increasing rapidly due to the perspective of long-duration manned missions, both in relation to the International Space Station (ISS) and to manned interplanetary missions to Moon and Mars in the future. As a preparation for these long-duration space missions, it is important to ensure an excellent capability to evaluate the impact of space radiation on human health, in order to secure the safety of the astronauts/cosmonauts and minimize their risks. It is therefore necessary to measure the radiation load on the personnel both inside and outside the space vehicles and certify that organ- and tissue-equivalent doses can be simulated as accurate as possible. In this paper, simulations are presented using the three-dimensional Monte Carlo Particle and Heavy-Ion Transport code System (PHITS) (Iwase et al. in J Nucl Sci Tech 39(11):1142-1151, 2002) of long-term dose measurements performed with the European Space Agency-supported MATROSHKA (MTR) experiment (Reitz and Berger in Radiat Prot Dosim 120:442-445, 2006). MATROSHKA is an anthropomorphic phantom containing over 6,000 radiation detectors, mimicking a human head and torso. The MTR experiment, led by the German Aerospace Center (DLR), was launched in January 2004 and has measured the absorbed doses from space radiation both inside and outside the ISS. Comparisons of simulations with measurements outside the ISS are presented. The results indicate that PHITS is a suitable tool for estimation of doses received from cosmic radiation and for study of the shielding of spacecraft against cosmic radiation.

Magnetically Assisted Filtration for Solid Waste Separation and Concentration in Microgravity and Hypogravity

Development of efficient means for the recovery of valuable resources from solid waste materials is a critical requirement for future advanced life-support systems that will be needed to support long-duration manned missions in space. Of particular importance are technologies that may be used in hypogravity and microgravity environments. Gradient magnetically assisted fluidized-bed (G-MAFB) technology, which uses magnetic forces to compensate for the absence of gravity, is under development to serve as an operating platform for fluidized-bed and related operations in the space environment. In this study, the G-MAFB is used as a renewable filter in which granular ferromagnetic filtration media are magnetically consolidated into a packed bed. The filtration media attains a substantially different structure from that of an ordinary packed bed, when consolidated under the influence of the magnetic field gradient. This directly influences filtration rates. The fully loaded bed is then regenerated by magnetically controlled fluidization, thereby releasing a concentrated slug of solids, which may be further processed by a variety of treatment schemes. Filtration experiments have shown that G-MAFB-based methods can successfully separate suspended inedible plant biomass waste particles from a recirculating liquid stream. A mathematical model that describes the filtration process in the G-MAFB is presented. Correlations for estimation of the accumulation and detachment coefficients, based on hydrodynamic conditions and geometry of the filtration system, have also been developed. Model predictions are compared with experimental results obtained in the G-MAFB while operated under Earth's gravity conditions (1 g). The experimental data are in good agreement with the theoretical predictions.