Mars-500 Research Articles

Automatic Interpretation of Affective Facial Expressions in the Context of Interpersonal Interaction

This paper proposes a method for interpretation of the emotions detected in facial expressions in the context of the events that cause them. The method was developed to analyze the video recordings of facial expressions depicted during a collaborative game played as a part of the Mars-500 experiment. In this experiment, six astronauts were isolated for 520 days in a space station to simulate a flight to Mars. Seven time-dependent components of facial expressions were extracted from the video recordings of the experiment. To interpret these dynamic components, we proposed a mathematical model of emotional events. Genetic programming was used to find the locations, types, and intensities of the emotional events as well as the way the recorded facial expressions represented reactions to them. By classification of different statistical properties of the data, we found that there are significant relations between the facial expressions of different crew members and a memory effect between the collective emotional states of the crew members. The model of emotional events was validated on previously unseen video recordings of the astronauts. We demonstrated that both genetic search and optimization of the parameters improve the accuracy of the proposed model. This method is a step toward automating the analysis of affective expressions in terms of the cognitive appraisal theory of emotion, which relies on the dependence of the expressed emotion on the causing event.

Comparison of Spatiotemporal Adaptive Indicators in Isolated and Confined Teams during the Concordia Stay, Tara Drift and Mars-500 Experiment

The present study examines teams’ behavior monitored over long-term missions in isolation and confinement to highlight human performance for future interplanetary exploration. The theoretical model refers to rules governing self-organized systems based on the heterogeneity of their own elements, i.e. cultural, gender, and individual characteristics. We used ethological method based on observations of the adaptive strategies in daily life activities through temporal indicators and spatial indicators. The protocol of observations was implemented at meal times with data collected weekly during the Concordia stay and Tara drift, and every two weeks during the Mars-500 experiment. Behavioral monitoring consisted of localizing and identifying team members at tables and of measuring teams’ meal durations. The results showed a cyclicity of changes in meal durations during the Concordia stay, a diversity of changes in spatial positions during the Tara drift and a stability of these behavioral occurrences during the Mars-500 experiment. We discuss the ethological findings with regard to psychological contexts and indicate differences and associations among the three situations regarding group organization in the perspective of 500-day space missions.

Comparison of the results of satellite studies in participants of the mars-500 experiment in Syktyvkar and Almaty

Participants of the Mars-500 experiment living in Syktyvkar (northerners) and Almaty (southerners) were studied during a year in contrasting seasons. Latitude-related differences in autonomic index and, in the warm season, in the RMSSD and pNN50 indices. The northerners were observed to have significant seasonal shifts in thermoregulation parameters and the RMSSD and pNN50 values related to the climatic contrast. The southerners exhibited no seasonal changes in these indices. The participants from both groups were shown to have deviations in several physiological parameters from the normal values for temperate latitudes. Many participants from both groups were in the state of stress. Orthostatic tests revealed deficiencies in regulation of blood circulation.

Confinement vs. isolation as analogue environments for Mars missions from a human ethology viewpoint.

This study compares observational data from two situations designed as planetary exploration missions: the Tara expedition and the Mars-500 experiment. We examined the issue of distinct environmental factors, isolation vs. confinement, which may have different or similar impacts on crews' behavioral manifestations for long-term adaptation, such as on a Mars mission. The Tara expedition was a 507-d polar drift of the Tara schooner embedded in the Arctic ice with two successive periods of summer and winter-over in an isolated environment. The Mars-500 experiment took place in Moscow and was a 520-d simulation of a trip to Mars, the Mars landing, and the return trip to Earth in a confined environment. We used the ethological method based on observation, description, and quantification of individual and interindividual behaviors. These events were scored from video recordings made during daily life activities and aggregated according to the summer period and to the outgoing trip for the whole crew (N = 6) for each situation, respectively. We did not observe differences in the frequency of facial expressions and in the duration of body interactions. Conversely, there were differences in the frequency of collateral acts and in the duration of personal actions with the highest levels during the Mars-500 experiment (0.52 /min and 41,799 s); the highest level of visual interactions was observed during the Tara expedition (33,167 s). We found that confinement generates stress manifestations vs. isolation, that isolation enhances social relashionships vs. confinement, and that the crew adapted positively to both environments.

Permanent proteins in the urine of healthy humans during the Mars-500 experiment.

Urinary proteins serve as indicators of various conditions in human normal physiology and disease pathology. Using mass spectrometry proteome analysis, the permanent constituent of the urine was examined in the Mars-500 experiment (520 days isolation of healthy volunteers in a terrestrial complex with an autonomous life support system). Seven permanent proteins with predominant distribution in the liver and blood plasma as well as extracellular localization were identified. Analysis of the overrepresentation of the molecular functions and biological processes based on Gene Ontology revealed that the functional association among these proteins was low. The results showed that the identified proteins may be independent markers of the various conditions and processes in healthy humans and that they can be used as standards in determination of the concentration of other proteins in the urine.

Urinary Metabolic Profiling of ‘MARS-500 Project’ with Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

Human sustainable space exploration could go further with the development of strategies and preparatory activities. Enormous scientific work has been done during the 21st century. MARS-500 project is one of unique preparatory activities, and was finished within 520 day isolation on the Earth. The full 520 day MARS mission simulation provided an opportunity to conduct a long-term, isolated experiment to observe metabolic changes due to people differences and its stability to duration variation. Six volunteers were selected from Russia, France, Italy, and China, and their urine specimens were collected in six periods. Then the subtle metabolic variations were investigated by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) at six different periods. We found that the metabotypes of six crews drifted out from the first period to the farthest third period, then reverted to the nearest sixth period in metabolic space, suggesting a property of resilience for metabolic phenotype. Furthermore, a set of 20 biomarkers, discriminating great changes in metabolic phenotypes well, were associated with emotion, muscle turnover, circadian rhythms, energy expenditure, lipid metabolism, oxidative activity, cognitive performance, and gut-microbial activities. In deeps, to analysis the data from MARS-500 project with two-way ANOVA, an interaction between factor of people differences and long-term isolation showed that the six crews each had a specific response to 520 days’ isolation. In this picture, accurate healthy management during future human space mission should aim at promoting his or her ability to revert to his or her stable metabotype under a defined and isolated environment.

Functional indices in participants of the satellite study of the Mars-500 project in the Russian north during different seasons

We studied morphological, physiometrical, physiological, and biochemical indices in 17 adult male residents of the North involved in the satellite experiments in the framework of the Mars-500 project and calculated pre-nosological indices of health in them in different seasons using the Ecosan-2007 hardware and software complex. We found sinusoid seasonal variations in the group mean values of thermoregulation (body and skin temperature), lipid metabolism (blood contents of cholesterol and high- and low-density lipoproteins), and regulation of hemodynamics under the conditions of physical load (increase in the double product and its recovery). In most subjects studied, we revealed adverse deviations from the middle-latitude standards in all seasons in the values of body weight, force and living indices, latency of simple visual-motor response, autonomic Kerdo index, rate of physical health, and index of activity of the regulatory systems.

Intelligent spacecraft module

The paper presents the development of an on-going research project that focuses on a human-centered design approach to habitable spacecraft modules. It focuses on the technical requirements and proposes approaches on how to achieve a spatial arrangement of the interior that addresses sufficiently the functional, physiological and psychosocial needs of the people living and working in such confined spaces that entail long-term environmental threats to human health and performance. Since the research perspective examines the issue from a qualitative point of view, it is based on establishing specific relationships between the built environment and its users, targeting people׳s bodily and psychological comfort as a measure toward a successful mission. This research has two basic branches, one examining the context of the system׳s operation and behavior and the other in the direction of identifying, experimenting and formulating the environment that successfully performs according to the desired context. The latter aspect is researched upon the construction of a scaled-model on which we run series of tests to identify the materiality, the geometry and the electronic infrastructure required. Guided by the principles of sensponsive architecture, the ISM research project explores the application of the necessary spatial arrangement and behavior for a user-centered, functional interior where the appropriate intelligent systems are based upon the existing mechanical and chemical support ones featured on space today, and especially on the ISS. The problem is set according to the characteristics presented at the Mars500 project, regarding the living quarters of six crew-members, along with their hygiene, leisure and eating areas. Transformable design techniques introduce spatial economy, adjustable zoning and increased efficiency within the interior, securing at the same time precise spatial orientation and character at any given time. The sensponsive configuration is programmed to exhibit behavior in direct relation to human activity. It is based upon two active systems, the Activity Evaluation System (AES) and the Response System (RS), with combined action that is always open to the control of the user. The AES monitors the daily schedule of the astronauts in order to find patterns of activity, understand the context of actions and moreover to assess the psychological condition of the crew-members. If it finds cause for intervention, AES will give way to the RS which employs smart materials, controllers and actuators in order to perform required changes in the environmental factors, both spatial (volume and surface) and ambient (audio, visual, olfactory, and haptic), and induce a desirable spatial and/or psychological condition that is beneficial for the astronauts׳ comfort and well being.

Neurocognitive performance using the Windows spaceflight cognitive assessment tool (WinSCAT) in human spaceflight simulations

Data from the first 8 months of the Mars500 experiment (a 520-day simulation of a spaceflight mission to Mars, conducted in a chamber with 6 crewmembers) was collected using the WinSCAT computerized neurocognitive battery. Different hypotheses regarding reaction time, attention, and cognitive performance were analyzed, focusing on age-dependent differences and differences between language groups (Russian/other). The WinSCAT battery was able to detect differences in reaction time and accuracy. These results suggest future directions and implications for cognitive performance and neuropsychological assessment tools in human spaceflight.

Dynamics of the duration of tracheal forced expiratory noises during long-term isolation in the Mars-500 experiment

Dynamics of duration of tracheal forced expiratory noises in a group of volunteers was studied before, during and after 520-days confinement. The duration did not change in most volunteers. Two volunteers demonstrated significant changes of tracheal sounds duration and some spirometric parameters. Increase in duration of tracheal forced expiratory noises and decrease in spirometric parameters reveal ventilatory impairment of obstructive type. Analysis of duration of tracheal forced expiratory noises dynamics during prolonged confinement proves to be a sensitive technique to test ventilatory function changes.

Confinement has no effect on visual space perception: The results of the Mars-500 experiment

People confined to a closed space live in a visual environment that differs from a natural open-space environment in several respects. The view is restricted to no more than a few meters, and nearby objects cannot be perceived relative to the position of a horizon. Thus, one might expect to find changes in visual space perception as a consequence of the prolonged experience of confinement. The subjects in our experimental study were participants of the Mars-500 project and spent nearly a year and a half isolated from the outside world during a simulated mission to Mars. The participants were presented with a battery of computer-based psychophysical tests examining their performance on various 3-D perception tasks, and we monitored changes in their perceptual performance throughout their confinement. Contrary to our expectations, no serious effect of the confinement on the crewmembers' 3-D perception was observed in any experiment. Several interpretations of these findings are discussed, including the possibilities that (1) the crewmembers' 3-D perception really did not change significantly, (2) changes in 3-D perception were manifested in the precision rather than the accuracy of perceptual judgments, and/or (3) the experimental conditions and the group sample were problematic.

Circadian Rhythm of Autonomic Cardiovascular Control During Mars500 Simulated Mission to Mars

The Mars500 project was conceived to gather knowledge about the psychological and physiological effects of living in an enclosed environment during 520 d as would be required for a real mission to Mars. Our objective was to investigate the circadian profile of heart rate variability (HRV) in the context of the Mars500 study. Before, during, and after confinement, 24-h EKG records were obtained from the six crewmembers who participated in the mission. Autonomic activity was evaluated through time and frequency domain indexes of HRV analysis. Circadian rhythmicity was assessed both by averaging hourly HRV along wake and sleep scheduled periods and by fitting a 24-h harmonic to the hourly means. During confinement, wake HRV showed (mean +/- SE) a progressive increase in mean RR interval (from 778 +/- 24 ms to 916 +/- 42 ms), and in the amplitude (values are wavelet power coefficients) of very low (from 13.3 +/- 0.3 to 14.1 +/- 0.2) and high (from 7.8 +/- 0.4 to 8.3 +/- 0.3) frequency components. During sleep, the relative amplitude of the high frequency component of HRV decreased (from 11.8 +/- 1.6 to 9.4 +/- 1.8 normalized units). Overall, sleep-wake differences of HRV showed a progressive decrease of the relative amplitude of the high frequency component. Also, circadian HRV rhythms were dampened during confinement. Data revealed diminished amplitude of the rest-activity pattern of the autonomic nervous system parasympathetic function. Reduced daylight exposure and mood changes could account for this observation.

Time Effects, Cultural Influences, and Individual Differences in Crew Behavior During the Mars-500 Experiment

This note provides an overview of salient factors that could have an impact on the behavior of a crew in an isolated and confined environment during a very long-term adaptive process. We present the Mars-500 experiment, which took place in Moscow, Russia, over 520 d from June 5, 2010, to November 4, 2011. It was designed to simulate a 250-d interplanetary mission from Earth to Mars, a 30-d orbital stay with a Mars landing, and a 240-d interplanetary mission from Mars back to Earth. The six-person crew was composed of three Russians, two Europeans, and one Chinese. We applied the ethological method based on observation, description, and quantification of nonverbal behavior expressed by actions and interactions, as well as verbal behavior expressed through positions and communications. These events were scored with The Observer XT software from video recordings made every 2 wk during a daily life activity at breakfast time and every month during a group discussion task. We show that the frequency of occurrences of personal actions, visual interactions, facial expressions and collateral acts are linked to certain phases, periods, and temporal points of the mission. Verbal communications in English and in Russian involve prevalent language associated with place preferences and preferential relationships among the crewmembers. We found evidence that the Mars-500 crew behavior was dependent on time, culture, and the individual.

Metagenomic Analysis of the Dynamic Changes in the Gut Microbiome of the Participants of the MARS-500 Experiment, Simulating Long Term Space Flight

A metagenomic analysis of the dynamic changes of the composition of the intestinal microbiome of five participants of the MARS-500 experiment was performed. DNA samples were isolated from the feces of the participants taken just before the experiment, upon 14, 30, 210, 363 and 510 days of isolation in the experimental module, and two weeks upon completion of the experiment. The taxonomic composition of the microbiome was analyzed by pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA gene fragments. Both the taxonomic and functional gene content of the microbiome of one participant were analyzed by whole metagenome sequencing using the SOLiD technique. Each participant had a specific microbiome that could be assigned to one of three recognized enterotypes. Two participants had enterotype I microbiomes characterized by the prevalence of Bacteroides, while the microbiomes of two others, assigned to type II, were dominated by Prevotella. One participant had a microbiome of mixed type. It was found that (1) changes in the taxonimic composition of the microbiomes occurred in the course of the experiment, but the enterotypes remained the same; (2) significant changes in the compositions of the microbiomes occurred just 14-30 days after the beginning of the experiment, presumably indicating the influence of stress factors in the first stage of the experiment; (3) a tendency toward a reversion of the microbiomes to their initial composition was observed two weeks after the end of the experiment, but complete recovery was not achieved. The metagenomic analysis of the microbiome of one of the participants showed that in spite of variations in the taxonomic compositions of microbiomes, the "functional" genetic composition was much more stable for most of the functional gene categories. Probably in the course of the experiment the taxonomic composition of the gut microbiome was adaptively changed to reflect the individual response to the experimental conditions. A new, balanced taxonomic composition of the microbiome was formed to ensure a stable gene content of the community as a whole without negative consequences for the health of the participants.

The Mars-500 crew in daily life activities: An ethological study

A Mars mission is a new challenge for scientific investigators in the space field. What would be the behavioral profile of an interplanetary crew with long-duration social isolation and spatial restriction? The current study addresses this question with the first ethological data from the Mars-500 experiment. It took place in Moscow, Russia from June 3, 2010 to November 4, 2011. It was designed to simulate the living and working conditions of an isolated and confined crew over 250 days for reaching Mars, 30 days for Mars orbiting with Mars landing and 240 days for returning to Earth. The Mars-500 crew was composed of three Russians, two Europeans and one Chinese. The Mars-500 facilities comprised four hermetically sealed, interconnected modules and a Martian surface module. We applied the ethological method based on observation, description and quantification of the individual and inter-individual behaviors in terms of personal actions, visual interactions, object interactions, body interactions, facial expressions and collateral acts. These events were scored on the Observer XT® software, from video recordings made every two weeks at breakfast time inside the habitat module. We found the following results: a diminishing collective time from the first phase corresponding to the 250-day trip to Mars to the second phase corresponding to the 240-day return to Earth; 35-day cycles then 70-day cycles of high duration of personal actions within these phases; periodic oscillations of duration of inter-personal actions; decreasing then increasing occurrences of facial expressions with temporal points of decrements, around day 159 and day 355, after 6 months and one year of simulation; increasing occurrences of collateral acts over the full 520-day journey. We discuss the findings with regard to a Mars mission scenario. Time has a major impact on the behavioral profile, as shown by indicators of physical and psychological states of fatigue, stress, well being and good spirit. The interplanetary crew follows phasic, cyclic, periodic and punctual behavioral changes in a temporal dynamic as a positive adaptation.

Non-invasive panel tests for gastrointestinal motility monitoring within the MARS-500 Project

To develop an integrated approach for monitoring gastrointestinal motility and inflammation state suitable for application in long-term spaceflights. Breath tests based on the oral administration of ¹³C-labeled or hydrogen-producing substrates followed by the detection of their metabolites (¹³CO₂ or H₂) in breath were used to measure gastrointestinal motility parameters during the 520-d spaceflight ground simulation within the MARS-500 Project. In particular, the gastric emptying rates of solid and liquid contents were evaluated by ¹³C-octanoic acid and ¹³C-acetate breath tests, respectively, whereas the orocecal transit time was assessed by an inulin H₂-breath test, which was performed simultaneously with the ¹³C-octanoic acid breath test. A ready-to-eat, standardized pre-packaged muffin containing 100 mg of ¹³C-octanoic acid was used in the ¹³C-octanoic acid breath test to avoid the extemporaneous preparation of solid meals. In addition, a cassette-type lateral flow immunoassay was employed to detect fecal calprotectin, a biomarker of intestinal inflammation. Because no items could be introduced into the simulator during the experiment, all materials and instrumentation required for test performance during the entire mission simulation had to be provided at the beginning of the experiment. The experiments planned during the simulation of a manned flight to Mars could be successfully performed by the crewmembers without any external assistance. No evident alterations (i.e., increasing or decreasing trends) in the gastric emptying rates were detected using the ¹³C-breath tests during the mission simulation, as the gastric emptying half-times were in the range of those reported for healthy subjects. In contrast to the ¹³C-breath tests, the results of the inulin H₂-breath test were difficult to interpret because of the high variability of the H₂ concentration in the breath samples, even within the same subject. This variability suggested that the H₂-breath test was strongly affected by external factors, which may have been related to the diet of the crewmembers or to environmental conditions (e.g., the accumulation of hydrogen in the simulator microenvironment). At least in closed microenvironments such as the MARS-500 simulator, ¹³C-breath tests should therefore be preferred to H₂-breath tests. Finally, the fecal calprotectin test showed significant alterations during the mission simulation: all of the crewmembers were negative for the test at the beginning of the simulation but showed various degrees of positivity in at least one of the subsequent tests, thus indicating the onset of an intestinal inflammation. Breath tests, especially those ¹³C-based, proved suitable for monitoring gastrointestinal motility in the 520-d isolation experiment within MARS-500 project and can be applied in long-term spaceflights.

Rapid Resolution Liquid chromatography/High Resolution Tandem Mass Spectrometry to Characterize Metabolic Changes in Subjects Involved in MARS500 Project

A rapid resolution liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry analysis was applied to human urine samples to discover new molecular biomarkers of the alteration of psychophysical well-being due to the environmental, physiological and confinement stress conditions achieved in the MARS500 project. Urine samples of crew members were submitted to metabolomic studies by means of separative techniques coupled with mass spectrometric techniques and data analysis. More than 2,000 metabolite features were found in each comparison, and more than 150 metabolites were identified for every differential analysis. Significant modifications in eight metabolites were shared by the subjects under study.

Men for Mars

![Figure][1] Relaxation in isolation. CREDIT: SOURCE: IBMP If six men are crammed into a space capsule for 520 days, will they go crazy? Candidates are now competing to help answer that question. There's no crewed voyage to Mars in the offing, but the joint Russian-European Mars500 project is on track for a simulated year-and-a-half roundtrip to, and a 3-week field trip on, the Red Planet. Six men will enter a capsule this summer at the Russian Institute for Biomedical Problems (IBMP) in Moscow. Nine candidates are currently training in Russia. The final crew, to be announced in May, will comprise three Russians, two Europeans, and either a Chinese or another Russian. Astronauts who venture beyond the protection of Earth's magnetic field must dive behind protective shields periodically to avoid deadly blasts of radiation from solar flares. Otherwise, the daily routine is similar to life aboard a ship: 8 hours each of work, recreation, and sleep. Work includes medical tests, growing vegetables in the greenhouse, and mandatory exercise. Recreation includes the use of an onboard sauna. Unlike Russian cosmonauts, the crew won't be allowed cocktails. Six men have already successfully endured a 105-day version of the experiment last year. There was only one problem: European-style freeze-dried fare “did not match the Russian taste for food, which at the end led to some weight loss in some of the Russian crew members,” says project manager Jennifer Ngo-Anh. [1]: pending:yes