Short Title: Thirty-day CO2 Bedrest - Laurie

Responsible HRP Element: Human Health Countermeasures

Collaborating Org(s):

Behavioral Health & Performance

Funding Status: Active - Currently funded and in progress

Procurement Mechanism(s):

Solicited

Aims:

Specific Aim I

Determine if changes consistent with VIIP develop during 30 days of BR combined with 0.5% CO₂ and determine if physiologic changes such as an increase in P_ETCO₂, PCO₂ sensitivity, or noninvasive estimates of intracranial pressure (nICP) occur and correlate with VIIP symptoms.

 

Specific Aim II

Determine if 30 days of BR combined with 0.5% CO₂ causes changes in cognitive function, mood, or anxiety and if these changes correlate with the development of VIIP symptoms. We will use two cognitive function assessment tools: the Cognition battery, which is currently undergoing testing in other NASA analog environments and on ISS, and the Defense Automated Neurobehavioral Assessment (DANA), an additional tool to assess cognitive changes, mood, and anxiety that includes a normative database based on testing with active military personnel and athletes.

 

Specific Aim III

Determine if 30 days of BR combined with 0.5% CO₂ causes sleep disruption, alters circadian and ultradian rhythms, and if these changes correlate with the development of VIIP symptoms.

Short Title: Functional Immune

Responsible HRP Element: Human Health Countermeasures

Collaborating Org(s):

International Space Station Medical Project

Funding Status: Active - Currently funded and in progress

Procurement Mechanism(s):

Directed

Aims:

[A] Determine the in-flight status of immune dysregulation (innate + adaptive) in conjunction with relevant parameters from other disciplines (nutrition, radiation, virology, host-pathogen, stress, etc.).

[B] Determine the post-flight time course to full recover for dysregulated parameters.

[C] Derive a final refined monitoring strategy encompassing innate immunity, adaptive immunity and relevant parameters from other disciplines which will be appropriate to validate countermeasures.


Integration/Unique Aspects: TBD, Plan to create a hybrid study that will incorporate a Directed portion with solicited portions.

Short Title: Biomarkers for Behavioral Health

Responsible HRP Element: Human Factors and Behavioral Performance

Collaborating Org(s):

Funding Status: Active - Currently funded and in progress

Procurement Mechanism(s):

Solicited

Aims:
Ground study to determine optimal methods for detecting individual vulnerabilities and resiliences to sleep loss and circadian desynchronization. Findings will help inform individualized countermeasure regimens for spaceflight. Touchpoint with Sleep

Aim 1: Perform individualized analyses and modeling of our extensive laboratory data set from inpatient studies ranging from 4-74 days including biomarkers such as sleep (EEG, actigraphy, logs); repeated measures of neurocognitive performance including attention, vigilance, motor control, and short-term memory; repeated measures of alertness (waking EEG, subjective scales); circadian phase (melatonin, cortisol, temperature); stress and activation (heart rate variability, blood pressure, catecholamines, cortisol), metabolism (lipid metabolism, glucose metabolism), immune function (cytokine and chemokine rhythms) and mood (clinical questionnaires, subjective scales) and multiple other physiological and metabolic measures.

Aim 2: Conduct a series of short 7-day inpatient studies on astronaut-aged healthy male and female volunteers to test the sensitivity and specificity of multiple biomarkers to predict inter-individual responses to sleep and circadian challenges.

 

Aim 3: Evaluate the feasibility and utility of implementing a standardized set of objective and subjective predictive biomarkers for neurocognitive impairment and behavioral health outcomes in Antarctica.

Short Title: Biomarkers of Stress and Resilience

Responsible HRP Element: Human Factors and Behavioral Performance

Collaborating Org(s):

Funding Status: Active - Currently funded and in progress

Procurement Mechanism(s):

Solicited

Aims:
This proposal has four specific aims:

Aim 1: Determine whether candidate biomarkers, including cardiovascular measures, change in response to high performance demands and acute sleep loss stressors.
Aim 2: Evaluate the predictive validity of a set of candidate biomarkers, including cardiovascular measures, for neurobehavioral susceptibility to the stressors in Aim 1.
Aim 3: Identify candidate biomarkers that differentiate susceptible and resilient individuals in responses to the stressors in Aim 1.
Aim 4: Determine the stability of candidate biomarkers from pre-mission to in-mission baseline and from in-mission recovery to post-mission.

Short Title: Prebreathe Validation

Responsible HRP Element: Human Health Countermeasures

Collaborating Org(s):

Funding Status: Active - Currently funded and in progress

Procurement Mechanism(s):

Directed

Aims:

Human research studies are required to validate safe and acceptable prebreathe protocols for exploration mission scenarios. Prebreathe protocols will be developed using models and validated in ground trials using the EVA simulator described in DCS-2 and the Accept/Reject limits developed in that task.

Each proposed PB protocol must be validated for a specific environment due to expected differences in transit time to the destination, operational concepts, mission profile and exploration EVA activities.

Operational concepts still need to mature and studies are still needed to characterize human performance during exploration EVA tasks in order to design an EVA Simulator. Many different scenarios will need to be tested until enough data exist for a valid DCS prediction model. Some of these scenarios include:

1. Initial 8 hour EVA on location surface from Lander with crew not be completely saturated at exploration environment (currently proposed at 8 psi/32% O2 but is subject to change).
2. 8 hour construction/maintenance EVA with crew at exploration environment saturation.
3. Multiple short EVA excursions from SEV. Expected baseline is 4 x 45 min EVA, 6 days/week. If this scenario is tested during the PB validation, the intermittent recompression study may need to be adjusted.

 

In the past, PB protocols in flight have been able to build in additional safety margin based on operational constraints, but this will not be the case with the Exploration Program.  Therefore, ground based testing must be carried out with the utmost precision and care in relation to simulating the key parameters related to DCS risk.

Additional measures of human performance will be included in this task to characterize the initial hypoxic does of the expected Exploration environment and to provide data on the cost/benefit of a mildly hypoxic environment that allows rapid EVA capability vs. an Earth normal environment with limited EVA capability.


Integration/Unique Aspects: TBD


This task was given ATP but was then put on hold and postponed per HRP Fy17 quarter 3 actions.   This task will resume if determined appropriate by HRP program management.

Short Title: Antarctic Long Duration Neurostructural Change

Responsible HRP Element: Human Factors and Behavioral Performance

Collaborating Org(s):

Funding Status: Active - Currently funded and in progress

Procurement Mechanism(s):

Solicited

Aims:
A NRA to evaluate the aspects of ICE environments absent in current literature.  Specifically, the impact of long duration stays on cognition. This task informs Sensorimotor gap SM26.

 

Aim 1: Perform structural and functional neuroimaging prior to, immediately after, and 6 months after the winter-over. This includes the administration of cognitive tests inside and outside of the scanner.

 

Aim 2: Assess cognitive performance on a wide range of cognitive domains with the Cognition test battery during the period of confinement and isolation on a monthly basis.

Aim 3: Investigate changes in sleep duration, sleep-wake rhythms and light exposure with continuously worn wrist actigraphy during the period of confinement and isolation.

 

Aim 4: Investigate physiologic changes in heart rate, heart rate variability, and sleep structure with monthly 24-h ECG measurements during the period of confinement and isolation.

 

Aim 5: Investigate changes in psychomotor vigilance performance, mood, depressive symptoms, and subjective assessments of workload, stress, sleep quality, tiredness, sickness, and conflicts among crewmembers during the period of confinement and isolation on a weekly basis.

 

Aim 6: Unobtrusively and continuously monitor crew cohesion and team structure with proximity sensors built into the wrist-worn actigraphs during the period of confinement and isolation.

 This task is on the BMed Critical Path

Short Title: NeuroMapping

Responsible HRP Element: Human Health Countermeasures

Collaborating Org(s):

Behavioral Health & Performance International Space Station Medical Project

Funding Status: Active - Currently funded and in progress

Procurement Mechanism(s):

Solicited

Aims:
Changes in brain structure and function may play a direct role in spaceflight-associated sensorimotor and cognitive dual task deficits, and may further impact the long-term health of astronauts. The objective of this study is to perform structural (volumetric MRI and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI)) and functional (sensorimotor and cognitive task) MRI (fMRI) and functional connectivity MRI (fcMRI)) brain imaging to identify changes in crewmember neurocognitive function due to long-duration space flight. The central hypothesis of this study is that measures of brain structure, function, and network integrity will change from pre to post flight in crewmembers.  Moreover, the prediction is that these changes will correlate with changes in the indices of cognitive, sensory, and motor function from pre flight, to in flight, and post flight, in a neuroanatomically selective fashion.

This study implements an interdisciplinary approach using cutting edge neuroimaging techniques and a broad range test battery of sensory, motor, and cognitive assessments to investigate neuroplastic and maladaptive brain changes in crewmembers following long-duration spaceflight.

This task also informs VIIP1 gap and the HCI and BMed Risks.

Short Title: Specialized Roles for Crew Composition

Responsible HRP Element: Human Factors and Behavioral Performance

Collaborating Org(s):

Funding Status: Active - Currently funded and in progress

Procurement Mechanism(s):

Solicited

Aims:

The specific aims of this study are to answer the following questions with regard to long duration, exploration missions:

(1) What are the key social and team technical (task) roles which influence team function;

(2) What are the behavioral and communicative markers which can be used to assess the degree to which key identified social and team technical roles are being fulfilled;

(3) What contextual aspects serve to trigger a need for the dynamic shift of social roles;

(4) What are the optimal combinations (i.e., profiles, algorithms) of social roles for the maintenance and regulation of team functions; and

(5) What are the markers that can be used to select for those most likely to fit social profiles and how do these profiles change across the duration of the mission (i.e., the team’s life cycle).

Short Title: Neurobehavioral Conditions List

Responsible HRP Element: Human Factors and Behavioral Performance

Collaborating Org(s):

Funding Status: Active - Currently funded and in progress

Procurement Mechanism(s):

Solicited

Aims:
This task aims to develop and validate a measure (i.e., checklist) through which flight surgeons can systematically evaluate symptoms of adverse neurobehavioral conditions that may occur over long-duration exploration missions.

Aim 1: To summarize available evidence of psychological and behavioral symptoms experienced in isolated, confined, extreme (ICE) environments and exploration spaceflight based on comprehensive literature reviews and interviews with subject matter experts.

Aim 2: To define and compare the prevalence, severity, and duration of discrete psychological/behavioral symptoms experienced among HERA and Antarctic winterover cohorts, including concurrent and sequential overlap with physical health symptoms.

 

 

 

Short Title: Neurobehavioral & CNS

Responsible HRP Element: Space Radiation

Collaborating Org(s):

Funding Status: Active - Currently funded and in progress

Procurement Mechanism(s):

Solicited

Aims:

Aim 1. Assess the immediate and long-term effects of radiation on spontaneous locomotor activity and body temperature, two primary indices of circadian function, in individual animals.

Aim 2. Assess post-irradiation mRNA and protein expression in brain regions important for sustained attention and circadian function.

Short Title: HZE Behavior and Neural Circuitry

Responsible HRP Element: Space Radiation

Collaborating Org(s):

Funding Status: Active - Currently funded and in progress

Procurement Mechanism(s):

Solicited

Aims:

Aim 1: The impact of HZE particles on other tests in the cognitive domain. Using the “flexible battery” of tests offered by the touchscreen operant platform, we will identify a behavioral framework for the HZE particle-induced improvement in pattern separation.

Aim 2: The impact of HZE particles on behaviors in the affective/social domain.

Aim 3: Indices of neural network perturbation underlying HZE particle exposure induced improved pattern separation

Short Title: Team Adaptation & Resilience

Responsible HRP Element: Human Factors and Behavioral Performance

Collaborating Org(s):

Funding Status: Active - Currently funded and in progress

Procurement Mechanism(s):

Solicited

Aims:
This research directly tackles the needs in the research road map by categorizing and quantifying environmental challenges or triggers (i.e., threats) that create a need for adaptation; examining how teams adapt (i.e., adjusting their team and taskwork processes) or fail to adapt in response to such challenges; and clarifying how specific types of team adaptations affect team performance, resilience, and well-being.

The research team will examine these relationships first using archival data from HERA and then by conducting a longitudinal empirical study of Saturation Dive (SAT) teams operating in isolated, confined and dangerous
conditions for 28-day periods – an environment with tremendous similarities to those that future
space crews will face.

They will also develop and test one or more countermeasures, first with the SAT teams and then in an empirical usability study with teams in a NASA analog environment. Collectively, this series of studies will help clarify key risks (adaptation triggers), improve NASA’s understanding of team adaptation dynamics, produce one or more validated countermeasures for enhancing team adaptation, and offer recommendations for composing and
preparing highly adaptive crews.

Short Title: Neuromapping CO2 Bedrest

Responsible HRP Element: Human Factors and Behavioral Performance

Collaborating Org(s):

Funding Status: Active - Currently funded and in progress

Procurement Mechanism(s):

Solicited

Aims:
Aim 1: Identify changes in brain structure, function, and network integrity as a function of 30 days head down tilt bed rest plus 0.5% CO2 and characterize their time course.
Aim 2: Specify relationships between structural and functional brain changes and performance and characterize their time course.
Aim 3: Identify predictors of individual differences in bed rest plus 0.5% CO2 responses.

Short Title: Team Problem Solving

Responsible HRP Element: Human Factors and Behavioral Performance

Collaborating Org(s):

Funding Status: Active - Currently funded and in progress

Procurement Mechanism(s):

Solicited

Aims:
This study takes a multidisciplinary approach designed to refine and validate the macrocognition in teams model (MITM) in the context of LDEM and use this as the theoretical foundation to develop and validate training protocols that lead to resilient team cognitive processes. In doing so, the research team takes a multi-pronged approach combining analysis of archival documents and qualitative coding of crew communication in analog environments with new ground-based and analog studies. The goal is to: (1) provide a richer understanding of team cognition and its relation to team performance in space crews and the larger multi-team system and (2) use this understanding to refine and validate training to mitigate decrements in team cognition.

Short Title: HZE Neuroproteome

Responsible HRP Element: Space Radiation

Collaborating Org(s):

Funding Status: Active - Currently funded and in progress

Procurement Mechanism(s):

Solicited

Aims:
Aim 1. Determine the Threshold dose for the induction of HISMI and HIASSI following exposure to 56Fe, 48Ti, and 28Si particles when delivered as a single dose.

Aim 2. Determine the Threshold dose for the induction of HISMI and HIASSI following exposure to 56Fe, 48Ti, and 28Si particles when delivered in three fractions over a 5-day period.

Aim 3. Identify changes in the neuroproteome that are associated with susceptibility or resistance to developing HISMI and HIASSI following exposure to 56Fe particles.

Aim 4. Determine the mechanism of HISMI and HIASSI induced by HZE particles of differing LET.

Short Title: EVA Benchmarking

Responsible HRP Element: Human Health Countermeasures

Collaborating Org(s):

Funding Status: Active - Currently funded and in progress

Procurement Mechanism(s):

Directed

Aims:

Phase 1: EVA Health & Human Performance Benchmarking Protocol Development & Validation: Use 1-g testing in shirtsleeve and MkIII to identify the tasks, methods, and metrics (including biomechanical, physiological, cognitive, neurovestibular, and biochemical) that will be used during subsequent benchmarking; quantify measurement reliability.

[Phase 1b: NBL Protocol Validation: Leverage existing funding from EVA Management Office (XX) to develop an IRB-approved NBL-version of the EVA Health & Human Performance Benchmarking Protocol]   

Phase 2: Use selected tasks, methods, and metrics from Phase 1 to conduct a study using the Active Response Gravity Offload System (ARGOS) to compare the EMU, MkIII, and Z2 spacesuits and a shirtsleeve baseline. Establish and compare performance benchmarks for current EVA suits and characterize differences in human performance benchmarking measures associated with different suit system design parameters.

Short Title: Fine Motor Skills

Responsible HRP Element: Human Factors and Behavioral Performance

Collaborating Org(s):

Funding Status: Active - Currently funded and in progress

Procurement Mechanism(s):

Directed

Aims:

Fine motor skills will be critical during long-duration space missions, particularly those skills needed to interact with new technologies required for autonomous operations in next generation space vehicles, spacesuits, and habitats.

The specific aims of this investigation are:  

1. Determine the effect of long-duration microgravity on fine motor performance.
   • How does fine motor performance in microgravity trend/vary over the duration of a six-month and year-long space mission?
   • How does fine motor performance on orbit compare with that of a closely matched subject on Earth?
2. Determine the effect of different gravitational transitions on fine motor performance.
   • How does performance trend/vary before and after gravitational transitions, including the periods of early flight adaptation, and very early/near immediate post-flight periods?

Results will refine the HCI risk by demonstrating, with objective data, if 1) performance in long-duration microgravity shows the same trend as ground (indicates fine motor control represents low-no risk), 2) if there are significant decrements (may need to gather more data to confirm/develop mitigations). Show 3) how performance is impacted at gravity transition periods (1-g to microgravity-launch, back to 1-g-landing). The task will contribute to gap closure by characterizing and quantifying risk, and identifying the need for wait periods or remedial practice before task performance.





Integration/Unique Aspects:

This study will data share with several other investigators – e.g, Functional Task Test (HHC), Field Test (HHC), Sleep, Neuromapping, Cognition. This investigation also has a data sharing agreement with Roscosmos RSC Energia and GCTC.

Short Title: Training Retention

Responsible HRP Element: Human Factors and Behavioral Performance

Collaborating Org(s):

Funding Status: Active - Currently funded and in progress

Procurement Mechanism(s):

Directed

Aims:

Future space missions involve both a long-duration and long communication delays (up to 30 seconds for Near Earth Asteroid / Near Earth Orbit missions and up to 40 minutes for Mars missions). These factors mean that training crewmembers for these missions requires durable training, surviving long delays between training and actual use of the learned knowledge and skills. Yet, the current intervals of on-board-training (OBT) for emergencies and to maintain currency on EVA and the robotic arm are largely based on anecdotal experience. Furthermore, all our theories and knowledge about skill acquisition, retention, and transfer to new situations are based on studies conducted at university laboratories with undergraduate students as research subjects. We do not know how well these studies apply to astronauts in space operations.
We do not know how well crews retain knowledge trained pre-flight, how well the knowledge transfers, how frequently critical skill should be refreshed, or what type of information or guidance need to be available for autonomous crews in terms of Just-in-Time (JIT) training and performance support tools.

 

Three specific aims are included in this study:

1. Test the retention and transfer of specific technical content learned pre-launch to assess the need for (and possible schedule of) onboard refresher and JIT training.
2. Compare the process of skill decay on orbit with that of a closely matched subject on Earth, and with that of university undergraduate students on Earth.
3.  Collect naturalistic data from onboard and previously flown crew on training-related crew performance including: performance errors, requests for ground support, need to review previously learned material, and training success stories. 

These results, along with results from the subsequent Training Retention – Flight Validation study, will help close the gap on how to determine retention in operational spaceflight and will identify information and guidance likely to be needed in the form of refresher training, JITT, or performance support tools.

The study addresses interests of three different Elements within the Human Research Program (HRP), and will thus be a close collaboration among these elements: Human Factors and Behavioral Performance (HFBP) and (ExMC) Exploration Medical Capabilities.

Short Title: Energy Expenditure

Responsible HRP Element: Human Health Countermeasures

Collaborating Org(s):

European Space Agency

Funding Status: Active - Currently funded and in progress

Procurement Mechanism(s):

Directed

Aims:
Determine whether energy requirements change during long-duration spaceflight (compared to preflight).


Integration/Unique Aspects: ESA Collaboration. Carried in ESA ISS utilization plan.

Short Title: Biochemical Profile

Responsible HRP Element: Human Health Countermeasures

Collaborating Org(s):

Human Health Countermeasures

Funding Status: Active - Currently funded and in progress

Procurement Mechanism(s):

Solicited

Aims:

To provide a repository of data from broad-based biochemistry profiles from blood and urine of astronauts on International Space Station (ISS) missions. These data will allow operational and research assessments to be done, to investigate the time course of changes during and after spaceflight and to characterize individual and subgroup responses to spaceflight in relation to other factors including gender, countermeasures, mission duration, dietary intake, and environmental factors.

The task will contribute to Gap closure by:
N3.1-providing relationship data between diet macronutrient composition, dietary intake, resting energy expenditure, and clinical outcomes (related to exercise, bone, immune, performance, and cardiovascular health)
N3.2-Quantify micronutrient requirements for spaceflight.
N4-Evaluate ongoing Nutritional Status Assessment data collection with each countermeasure tested during flight
N6-Provide risk quantification for the stand alone risk of Osidative Stress and Damage.
N7.1-Identify any significant elements of diet or nutritional status, above and beyond macro and micro requirements from N3.1 and 3.2 that impact measures of musculoskeletal health for follow up in existing or new gaps.
N7.2-Track detailed dietary intake and nutritional status assessment data and relate to cardiovascular health  (at the discretion  of the Cardiovascular Discipline). Identify any significant elements of diet or nutritional status, above and beyond macro and micro requirements from N3.1 and 3.2, that impact cardiovascular health for follow up in existing or new gaps.
N7.3-Identify the role of one-carbon pathway polymorphisms in VIIP related issues
N7.4-Identify any significant elements of diet or nutritional status, above and beyond macro and micronutrient requirements from N3.1 and 3.2, that impact behavioral health and performance.  
N13-Identify renal stone risk profiles related to dietary intake in flight studies
N15-Evaluate ongoing flight experiments for macro or micro nutrients correlated with biomarkers of oxidative damage, and determine if mission architecture  affect these relationships.
IM1-Characterize other uninvestigated aspects of immunoregulation, stress, virology and crew incidence.
IM2-characterize the in-flight status of the human immune system.  Initial closure will proceed incrementally as described in the metrics for IM-01. And a working group meeting will be held to interpret the necessity of a new/improved standard in the context of the in-flight data.
IM8-Analyze data from studies for impact on immune system.


Integration/Unique Aspects: The dataset from the Nutrition SMO has been used by numerous groups to help identify or explain medical, scientific, and even engineering issues that have occurred during or after ISS missions.  The data have been used by Medical Operations to confirm the effectiveness of 800-IU/d vitamin D supplementation, to determine whether nutrient toxicities existed (secondary to supplement use), to evaluate renal stone risk in crew members who had experienced renal stones post flight, and to evaluate the effects of exercise device use on bone and calcium metabolism.  The ISS Program Office used data from this experiment to determine factors contributing to the Urine Processor Assembly (UPA) failure, and subsequently to make operational decisions for defining forward risk determinations and hardware constraints.  Perhaps most strikingly, the data provide evidence that folate-dependent 1-carbon metabolism may be altered in crew members who experienced vision changes post flight.  These vision changes have been described as the single biggest clinical issue to arise from space flight to date, and the relationships with 1-carbon metabolism intermediates never would have been discovered if a research surveillance protocol was not being conducted.  In this case, data from the Nutrition SMO may guide future countermeasure research and ultimately operational recommendations to minimize risk of vision changes in future crew members. The impact of the data collected to date provide the rationale for continuing this protocol, eliminating some tests while expanding to provide a repository of data to other scientific Disciplines.

 

 

Short Title: Dwarf Fruit

Responsible HRP Element: Human Health Countermeasures

Collaborating Org(s):

Funding Status: Active - Currently funded and in progress

Procurement Mechanism(s):

Directed

Aims:

   
1. Identify promising dwarf plum genotypes from United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
2. Establish plants in controlled environment growth chambers and monitor a range of growth and horticultural parameters using flight-like constraints (growing volumes, environmental conditions, watering techniques, and electrical lighting)
3. Establish feasibility of growth protocols and cultivar selection for spaceflight, and make recommendations to guide future research solicitations. 

Short Title: SR-CNS II

Responsible HRP Element: Space Radiation

Collaborating Org(s):

Funding Status: Active - Currently funded and in progress

Procurement Mechanism(s):

Directed

Aims:
The NCRP will form a new scientific committee of subject matter experts in this Phase II follow-on study to address Central Nervous System Risks following space radiation exposure based on the guidelines and recommendations laid forth in the Phase 1 NCRP Commentary No. 25.  The committee's findings will be summarized in a detailed report that outlines the steps and approaches needed to more fully understand the risk of CNS effects following radiation exposures in space and to provide guidance for risk management and radiation protection.   The Committee will strive to identify any knowledge gaps regarding the implementation of a comprehensive and effective radiation safety program to protect astronauts against the potential for early and late CNS effects from space radiation. The Phase 2 committee will summarize and critically review the existing literature on each of the 5 main topics which include: 1)Mechanisms for radiation damage in the central nervous system; 2)Experimental animal research; 3) Human data; 4)Integration of data across all biological scale and 5)Interactions of radiation with other factors.

Short Title: Adaptation and Resilience NSCOR

Responsible HRP Element: Human Factors and Behavioral Performance

Collaborating Org(s):

Funding Status: Active - Currently funded and in progress

Procurement Mechanism(s):

Solicited

Aims:
The overarching goal of this proposal is to characterize the three less well-understood NIMH RDoC domains related to positive valence, negative valence, and social processes as they relate to the performance, adaptation, and resilience of individuals living and working in ICC/ICE environments.  The investigator team will identify predictive indicators and biomarkers for resilience and adaptation in individuals and teams, to aid in astronaut selection and individualized countermeasure development with the goal to maintain and optimize performance capability and behavioral health during long-duration exploration missions (LDEM).

The specific aims of this study are:
Aim 1: Identify and quantify individual differences in adaptation and resilience, key threats to and promoters of mission relevant behavioral health and performance. The investigator team will use components of the RDoC framework to look across individual risk factors in order to identify and validate molecular, circuitry and physiological measures that can be used for monitoring and selection of individuals who are highly resilient to the key behavioral health and performance threats during autonomous, long duration and/or long distance exploration missions.

Aim 1a. Perform a comprehensive literature review of the RDoC framework to identify the units of analysis (e.g., cells, etc.) of the individual risk factors most related to LDEMs and positive valence, negative valence and social processes domains.

Aim 1b. Identify how the risk factors within those three RDoC domains relate to performance outcomes, resiliency, and adaptation in LDEMs.

Aim 2: Identify neural circuits and molecular/cellular mechanisms underlying adaptation and resilience in a rodent model using cross-species equivalency. 

Aim 3: Encompasses the biological basis of social support to assess individual sociability and the neurobehavioral contributions to resiliency and/or adaptability of engaging positively in social interactions, tolerance, and awareness (e.g., affiliation, attachment).

Aim 4: Identify how meaningful work mediates the relationship between risk factors, the valence and social process domains, and operational outcomes, as well as direct effects of meaningful work on performance. The intent is to identify a sensitive, reliable, valid, and feasible set of measures for measuring and monitoring meaningfulness of work in spaceflight.

Aim 5: Encompasses the need to identify how positive and negative valence systems impact on psychological well-being and performance when confronted with the adverse conditions found in prolonged space flight. We will identify biomarkers and psychological report measures associated with the effects of well-being on performance and determine their contribution to the positive/negative valence systems involved in individual adaptation and resilience.

Short Title: Epigenome in twin astronauts

Responsible HRP Element: Human Health Countermeasures

Collaborating Org(s):

Funding Status: Active - Currently funded and in progress

Procurement Mechanism(s):

Solicited

Aims:

Create a web-based framework for integrating non-coding genomic variation and differential epigenetic states. This EpiSuite interface and set of machine-learning algorithms will help ongoing work with the NASA Twins study and aid future investigations that leverage multi-omics data sets from astronauts. These data will also be linked to gene expression data to gauge the impact of genetic

and epigenetic changes on specific biological networks.

Validate the altered chromatin states in cells from space travel and measure the proportion of cells changed with single-cell ATAC-seq using an assay called single cell (scATAC-seq), which can measure the sites of open and closed chromatin on a cell-by-cell basis. This will validate the sites where epigenetic changes are observed and also provide the first estimate of the proportion of

cells epigenetically impacted by space travel.

Short Title: ISS HRP Spaceflight Standard Measures (BHP) for Gateway

Responsible HRP Element: Human Factors and Behavioral Performance

Collaborating Org(s):

Funding Status: Active - Currently funded and in progress

Procurement Mechanism(s):

Directed

Aims:
This will allow HRP to establish, evaluate, and manage a common set of measures for use in spaceflight and analog research to: develop baselines, systematically characterize risk likelihood and consequences, and assess effectiveness of countermeasures that work for human factors and behavioral performance risk factors. This task will provide “standard measures” as the foundation to achieve consistent research measures for data-sharing in ISS and to meet the highly constrained, operationally-focused data gathering and analysis that allows for greater consistency in the research methods that are very specific to NASA HRP standard measures development. Additionally, the set of standardized measures on the ISS reflects the more operational nature of the measures while allowing the multiple and frequent internal and external collaborations required to execute this study.

Aims:
1. Provide a set of standard measurements from BHP towards the HRP standard measures for investigators to use in proposed projects.
2. Enable comparison of multiple missions across spaceflight analog campaigns to quantify risk using reliable metric-based data.
3. Provide database for data-mining and integrative modeling and increase research data quality and transfer to LSDA.

This task will contribute to gap closure by facilitating all tasks using ISS in the BMed, Sleep, and Team risk areas and by testing measures and monitoring tools for the Deep Space Gateway missions.

Short Title: BHP Standard Measures in NEK

Responsible HRP Element: Human Factors and Behavioral Performance

Collaborating Org(s):

Funding Status: Active - Currently funded and in progress

Procurement Mechanism(s):

Directed

Aims:
This will allow HRP to establish, evaluate, and manage a common set of measures for use in spaceflight and analog research to: develop baselines, systematically characterize risk likelihood and consequences, and assess effectiveness of countermeasures that work for human factors and behavioral performance risk factors. This task will provide “standard measures” as the foundation to achieve consistent research measures for data-sharing in HERA and to meet the highly constrained, operationally-focused data gathering and analysis that allows for greater consistency in the research methods that are very specific to NASA HRP standard measures development. Additionally, the set of BHP standardized measures in the NEK analog reflects the more operational nature of the measures while allowing the multiple and frequent internal and external collaborations required to execute this study.

Aims:
1. Provide a set of BHP standard measurements for investigators to use in proposed projects.
2. Enable comparison of multiple missions across spaceflight analog campaigns to quantify risk using reliable metric-based data.
3. Provide database for data-mining and integrative modeling and increase research data quality and transfer to LSDA.

This task will contribute to gap closure by facilitating all tasks using the IBMP NEK Chamber analog in the BMed, Sleep, and Team risk areas.

Short Title: BHP Standard Measures for Transport

Responsible HRP Element: Human Factors and Behavioral Performance

Collaborating Org(s):

Funding Status: Active - Currently funded and in progress

Procurement Mechanism(s):

Directed

Aims:
This task will allow HRP to establish, evaluate, and manage a common set of measures for use in spaceflight and analog research to: develop baselines, systematically characterize risk likelihood and consequences, and assess effectiveness of countermeasures that work for human factors and behavioral performance risk factors. This task will provide “standard measures” as the foundation to achieve consistent research measures for data-sharing in HERA and to meet the highly constrained, operationally-focused data gathering and analysis that allows for greater consistency in the research methods that are very specific to NASA HRP standard measures development. Additionally, the set of BHP standardized measures in the HERA analog reflects the more operational nature of the measures while allowing the multiple and frequent internal and external collaborations required to execute this study.

The study aims to:
1. Provide a set of BHP standard measurements for investigators to use in proposed projects.
2. Enable comparison of multiple missions across spaceflight analog campaigns to quantify risk using reliable metric-based data.
3. Provide database for data-mining and integrative modeling and increase research data quality and transfer to LSDA.

This task will contribute to gap closure by facilitating all tasks using the HERA analog in the BMed, Sleep, and Team risk areas and by testing measures and monitoring tools for the Deep Space Transport missions.

Short Title: Predictors of Resilience to Stress

Responsible HRP Element: Human Factors and Behavioral Performance

Collaborating Org(s):

Funding Status: Active - Currently funded and in progress

Procurement Mechanism(s):

Solicited

Aims:

The objective is to identify the key personality, behavioral, and neurophysiological predictors of resiliency among a population of high-achieving young adults in a high-stress environment. 200 adult male and female trainees from highly-demanding medical training programs and research labs, a population analogous to astronauts will be recruited. During Wave 1, trainees will be assessed with a comprehensive battery of characteristics relevant to resiliency. Self-report predictors include “Big 5” personality, recently-developed subfacets of the Big 5 (i.e., social closeness, melancholia, self-discipline, etc.), IQ, and behavioral-health scales (i.e., mood, anxiety, support, etc.). Neurophysiological predictors will be assessed using a comprehensive battery designed to measure neural reactivity (i.e., electroencephalogram) during experimental tasks relevant to space mission success (i.e., performance monitoring, vigilance).

 

Resiliency will be measured by self-report behavioral health symptoms (i.e., depression, anxiety, sleep, stress) and behavioral performance on tasks (e.g., accuracy, post-error adjustments, reaction time) at Wave 1 (to establish a baseline) and then monthly for 5 months. This prospective, repeated measures design will allow tracking of fluctuations in resiliency during the course of subjects’ highly-demanding medical training program. After completing data collection, the Wave 1 personality, behavioral, and neurophysiological profile will be identified that best predicted successful adaption during intensive training (i.e., better mental health and better performance). Innovative statistical methods will be used to develop validity scales to identify "fake good" personality responses.

This research proposal aims to elucidate the personality, behavioral, and neurophysiological factors that predict successful adaption to chronic stress among high-achieving young adults in highly demanding contexts. The knowledge gained from this research will aid in the design of a new standardized selection protocol, which could then be streamlined and validated in an astronaut sample in space travel analogs.

Short Title: AG HDBR - HyperCampus Neuroplasticity

Responsible HRP Element: Human Factors and Behavioral Performance

Collaborating Org(s):

Funding Status: Active - Currently funded and in progress

Procurement Mechanism(s):

Solicited

Aims:

Aim 1: Investigate the effects of HDBR with and without artificial gravity on gray and white matter volume, subcortical volume, myelination, functional connectivity and task related brain activation.

Aim 2: Investigate the effects of HDBR with and without artificial gravity on grey matter glucose metabolism.

Aim 3: Investigate the effects of HDBR with and without artificial gravity on cortical neurocircuitry associated with baroreflex function and cardiovascular control.

Aim 4: Investigate the effects of HDBR with and without artificial gravity on cognitive performance.

Aim 5: Investigate the effects of HDBR with and without artificial gravity on biochemical markers of stress and neuroplasticity.

Short Title: AG HDBR - Neurocognitive Declines CM

Responsible HRP Element: Human Factors and Behavioral Performance

Collaborating Org(s):

Funding Status: Active - Currently funded and in progress

Procurement Mechanism(s):

Solicited

Aims:

A recently completed 70-day 6° head down tilt bed rest study examined a range of brain structural, brain functional, sensorimotor and cognitive metrics as outcome measures. Here, we select those that are sensitive to this spaceflight analog environment as outcome metrics for the following aims:

Aim 1) Determine whether 30 minutes per day of supine centrifugation +1Gz at the heart is effective at mitigating declines in brain structure, brain function, sensorimotor and cognitive performance induced by 60 days of 6° head down tilt bed rest in comparison to a control group that is not exposed to AG.

Aim 2) Determine whether centrifugation is more effective and better tolerated as a countermeasure when it is delivered continuously for 30 minutes or in six, five minute sessions separated by breaks of five minutes each.

Aim 3) Identify predictors of individual differences in bed rest and AG responses. We will examine whether pre bed rest measures of brain structure, brain function, and genotype for a few targeted single nucleotide polymorphisms (snps, COMT, DRD2, BDNF, alpha2-adrenergic receptor gene) are predictive of changes in sensory, motor, and cognitive function occurring in association with bed rest, and whether they also predict AG tolerance. We will combine data collected here with those we are acquiring in two ongoing NSBRI funded “predictors” studies to increase our predictive power. 

Short Title: CBS Data Mining

Responsible HRP Element: Human Factors and Behavioral Performance

Collaborating Org(s):

Human Health Countermeasures Space Radiation

Funding Status: Active - Currently funded and in progress

Procurement Mechanism(s):

Directed

Aims:
Lit review and assessment of NASA-funded current and completed research findings relevant to this integrated risk.  Identify behavioral and physiological (biomarker) cellular & molecular changes linked to specific effects of targeted ions & brain regions with translational relevance to operational performance measures. Identify Brain Performance Pathway neural circuitry responsible for operationally-relevant behavior characteristics to determine similar neuronal circuits maintaining coherent functions; assess artificial stimulation of the particular network (sensitive to CBS means—radiation, isolation & confinement, altered gravity) that generate predicted responses; and identify biomarkers that influence or act as the carriers of the network activity (neurotransmitters and other biomarkers with messenger activity) that predict the relevant behavioral changes.

Short Title: Assess Glymphatic Changes for Spaceflight

Responsible HRP Element: Human Factors and Behavioral Performance

Collaborating Org(s):

Human Health Countermeasures

Funding Status: Planned-Funded - Task expected to be within budget

Procurement Mechanism(s):

Solicited

Aims:

In their evaluation of rodents, researchers from the University at Rochester have recently discovered that cerebral spinal fluid moves quickly and deeply into the brain to flush out cellular waste and minimize neuronal plaque (the hallmark of Alzheimer's). This process appears to be approximately 80% more efficient when we sleep; more recent studies have shown that postural changes (e.g. sitting to supine) contributes to this effect as well.

The purpose of this task is to conduct a study using head-down-tilt that evaluates the relationship between fluid shifts experienced in spaceflight, sleep loss, and changes in the glymphatic system. Results from the study will inform the likelihood and consequence of this risk.

This task will contribute to gap closure by informing the key threats for behavioral health and performance for a future exploration missions.

Short Title: Immune Function Data Mining

Responsible HRP Element: Human Factors and Behavioral Performance

Collaborating Org(s):

Funding Status: Planned-Funded - Task expected to be within budget

Procurement Mechanism(s):

Directed

Aims:

This task will compare ISS immune data with other existing ISS data sets from the same increments to examine the relationship between immune markers and chronic stress.  Immune data and behavioral data from isolated and confined analogs may also be compared to look for potential relationships.

Short Title: EVA Workload and Duration

Responsible HRP Element: Human Health Countermeasures

Collaborating Org(s):

Engineering Crew & Thermal Systems/NASA JSC

Funding Status: Planned-Funded - Task expected to be within budget

Procurement Mechanism(s):

Directed

Aims:
To determine the effect of EVA duration and frequency across a mission on human performance and injury risk.

Short Title: Integrated Food Acceptability

Responsible HRP Element: Human Health Countermeasures

Collaborating Org(s):

Behavioral Health & Performance

Funding Status: Planned-Funded - Task expected to be within budget

Procurement Mechanism(s):

Directed

Aims:

Where possible, this task will be informed by data collected from previous acceptability tasks, including the NRA’s “Appetite in Space” and “Food Acceptability Factors.”

1. Use information gathered from Standard Measures to investigate changes in perception of taste and aroma in flight and translate to guidelines for product development of flight foods.
2. Determine psychosocial effects of variety and acceptability limitations over time.
3. Develop requirements to ensure adequate variety, food acceptability, and satiety in spaceflight. 

Short Title: Integrated Bioregen Acceptability

Responsible HRP Element: Human Health Countermeasures

Collaborating Org(s):

Funding Status: Planned-Funded - Task expected to be within budget

Procurement Mechanism(s):

Solicited

Aims:

1. Assess the impact of different levels of food preparation, variety, choice, and fresh food availability vs. prepackaged food on human well being on a long duration mission.
2. Determine requirements for variety, choice, fresh food availability, and control over food preparation in a bioregenerative food system.
3. Determine impact of time requirement/risk of food scarcity on crew well-being (based on time spend on food supply – from growth to preparation).

BHP, Space Biology (Horticulture)

Short Title: KSC - Pick & Eat Expansion

Responsible HRP Element: Human Health Countermeasures

Collaborating Org(s):

Funding Status: Planned-Funded - Task expected to be within budget

Procurement Mechanism(s):

Directed

Aims:
1. Identify and characterize candidate crops for pick and eat food system on ISS
2. Determine protocols to grow, maintain, and harvest crops to ensure safety, nutrition, and acceptability

Results will contribute to Space Biology

Short Title: MR Reform

Responsible HRP Element: Human Health Countermeasures

Collaborating Org(s):

Funding Status: Planned-Funded - Task expected to be within budget

Procurement Mechanism(s):

Directed

Aims:
The food system places a significant burden on the available mass in every mission scenario. Currently the total % fat across the food system is below the maximum allowable limit. Fat is more energy dense than carbohydrates and protein, and it has been determined that strategically increasing the fat content across the food system could contribute to mass reduction. However, saturated fat currently meets the allowable maximum limit. Therefore, any fat increase would have to be implemented through unsaturated fats, which are more unstable to oxidation over time. This study will investigate the possibility of reducing food system mass by maximizing the fat content through strategic reformulation throughout the food system, while continuing to meet nutritional requirements and maintain acceptability.



1. Determine a strategy for reformulation that would provide the maximum limit of fat in the standard menu and determine the mass savings that would be expected.

2. Evaluate the stability and acceptability of reformulated foods through processing and shelf life testing.



This task will contribute to gap closure by informing the potential to decrease the mass of the food system through an increase in fat to the maximum allowable limit.

Short Title: Pick and Eat - System Integration

Responsible HRP Element: Human Health Countermeasures

Collaborating Org(s):

Funding Status: Planned-Funded - Task expected to be within budget

Procurement Mechanism(s):

Solicited

Aims:
Validation of pick and eat system on ISS - protocols and resources for growing, maintaining, and harvesting safe, nutritious, and acceptable quality and variety of crops to supplement the prepackaged food system.

Short Title: Surface Food System - Ingredient Functionality/Formulation

Responsible HRP Element: Human Health Countermeasures

Collaborating Org(s):

Funding Status: Planned-Funded - Task expected to be within budget

Procurement Mechanism(s):

Solicited

Aims:
1 - Determine effect of storage/radiation on functionality, acceptability, and nutrition of ingredients to be used in food processing/preparation.
2 - Coordinate with "Surface Crop Expansion" food formulations to ensure food processing/preparation is planned with functional available resources. 
3 - Determine required variety and complementation of bioregenerative, pick and eat, and prepackaged food system to support crew nutrition and psychosocial health.

Short Title: Surface Food System - Surface Crop Expansion - Mission Validation

Responsible HRP Element: Human Health Countermeasures

Collaborating Org(s):

Funding Status: Planned-Funded - Task expected to be within budget

Procurement Mechanism(s):

Directed Solicited

Aims:
Mission validation of requirements and protocols for growing, maintaining, and harvesting safe, acceptable, and nutritious food crops that will be used for processing and preparing into meals as part of a surface food system on long duration missions. 

Short Title: Automated Bulk Processing

Responsible HRP Element: Human Health Countermeasures

Collaborating Org(s):

Funding Status: Planned-Funded - Task expected to be within budget

Procurement Mechanism(s):

Solicited

Aims:
This task will investigate the potential to provide customized foods with precise amounts of nutrition on an as-needed basis as part of the spaceflight food system. A technology with this capability would be a countermeasure to nutritional degradation in food. In a case where nutritional degradation kinetics of nutrients in powder or liquid form were known, calculated amounts of these nutrients could be added to customized foods real time. This technology would ensure that appropriate amounts of nutrients were delivered to crewmembers throughout a mission, and would enable prescribed nutrient addition in crew-specific cases.



1. Determine method that would enable precise amounts of nutrients to be added to customized foods in transit.

2. Determine nutrient kinetics of nutrient additives.

3. Determine acceptability of foods with added nutrients.

4. Determine requirements to integrate system in spaceflight.



This task will contribute to gap closure by providing a method to customize nutrition and to ensure uniform delivery of nutrients to crew throughout long duration missions.

Short Title: Stress and CV health

Responsible HRP Element: Human Health Countermeasures

Collaborating Org(s):

Human Health Countermeasures

Funding Status: Planned-Funded - Task expected to be within budget

Procurement Mechanism(s):

Solicited

Aims:

It is becoming clearer that stress can adversely affect the function of many organ systems, including the cardiovascular system.  A number of mechanisms have been proposed to account for this effect, but little is known about the interaction during prolonged spaceflight.  

Short Title: HFBP Standard Measures in HERA for Mars

Responsible HRP Element: Human Factors and Behavioral Performance

Collaborating Org(s):

Funding Status: Planned-Funded - Task expected to be within budget

Procurement Mechanism(s):

Directed

Aims:
This will allow HRP to establish, evaluate, and manage a common set of measures for use in spaceflight and analog research to: develop baselines, systematically characterize risk likelihood and consequences, and assess effectiveness of countermeasures that work for human factors and behavioral performance risk factors. This task will provide “standard measures” as the foundation to achieve consistent research measures for data-sharing in HERA and to meet the highly constrained, operationally-focused data gathering and analysis that allows for greater consistency in the research methods that are very specific to NASA HRP standard measures development. Additionally, the set of HFBP standardized measures in the HERA analog reflects the more operational nature of the measures while allowing the multiple and frequent internal and external collaborations required to execute this study.

This study aims to:
1. Provide a set of HFBP standard measurements for investigators to use in proposed projects.
2. Enable comparison of multiple missions across spaceflight analog campaigns to quantify risk using reliable metric-based data.
3. Provide database for data-mining and integrative modeling and increase research data quality and transfer to LSDA.

This task will contribute to gap closure by facilitating tasks using the HERA analog in the BMed, Sleep, and Team risk areas and by testing measures and monitoring tools for Mars.

Short Title: ISS HRP Spaceflight Standard Measures (HFBP) for Mars Fly-By

Responsible HRP Element: Human Factors and Behavioral Performance

Collaborating Org(s):

Funding Status: Planned-Funded - Task expected to be within budget

Procurement Mechanism(s):

Directed

Aims:
This will allow HRP to establish, evaluate, and manage a common set of measures for use in spaceflight and analog research to: develop baselines, systematically characterize risk likelihood and consequences, and assess effectiveness of countermeasures that work for human factors and behavioral performance risk factors. This task will provide “standard measures” as the foundation to achieve consistent research measures for data-sharing in ISS and to meet the highly constrained, operationally-focused data gathering and analysis that allows for greater consistency in the research methods that are very specific to NASA HRP standard measures development. Additionally, the set of standardized measures on the ISS reflects the more operational nature of the measures while allowing the multiple and frequent internal and external collaborations required to execute this study.

Aims:
1. Provide a set of standard measurements from HFBP towards the HRP standard measures for investigators to use in proposed projects.
2. Enable comparison of multiple missions across spaceflight analog campaigns to quantify risk using reliable metric-based data.
3. Provide database for data-mining and integrative modeling and increase research data quality and transfer to LSDA.

This task will contribute to gap closure by facilitating all tasks using ISS in the BMed, Sleep, and Team risk areas and by testing measures and monitoring tools for the Mars Fly-by.

Short Title: Family and Social Support

Responsible HRP Element: Human Factors and Behavioral Performance

Collaborating Org(s):

Funding Status: Planned-Funded - Task expected to be within budget

Procurement Mechanism(s):

Solicited

Aims:
Long duration exploration missions will require extended separation from a crewmember’s family and friends, which can negatively impact crew health and performance. Current methods and technologies are likely insufficient to support future long duration autonomous crews. This task will be a research study to develop and test the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of a protocol of a pre-, in- and, post- flight support including family and non-family social support for the promotion of astronaut behavioral health.

This task will contribute to gap closure by providing recommendations/requirements for an effective psychosocial support system that replicates what is currently available and acceptable for ISS crewmembers but is feasible for exploration class missions.

Short Title: Problem Solving Skills Training

Responsible HRP Element: Human Factors and Behavioral Performance

Collaborating Org(s):

Funding Status: Planned-Funded - Task expected to be within budget

Procurement Mechanism(s):

Solicited

Aims:
NASA’s “mission teams” are composed of astronauts and Earth-based support staff (flight crews, Mission Control Center, flight controllers, flight control teams, etc.) who work closely together to ensure both individual and crew performance. Future Long Duration Spaceflight Exploration (LDSE) missions, potentially including planetary surface missions on Mars, will demand the support and ability of these teams to manage shifting levels of autonomy when crew health, performance and/or mission success are threatened by unanticipated problems.
This task will provide standards and guidelines for training individual and team problem-solving skills across all team, medical, and technical domains for both work and non-work situations throughout a long-duration mission.

1. Determine how problem-solving skills are developed and used in operational settings such that there is generalization across many tasks and situations.
2. Identify which individual and team skills are most important to performing tasks in normal conditions and surviving in emergency conditions for LDEM.
3. Determine the relationship of individual cognitive processes/skills (e.g., attention, reasoning) to team cognitive processes/skills (e.g., collaborative problem solving, decision making).
4. Describe how these skills change over time and what may trigger these shifts.
5. Validate measurement, particularly unobtrusive measurement, of these skills for both individuals and teams.
6. Develop validated training guidelines and recommendations to develop and maintain individual and team cognitive skills throughout an LDSE mission, and allow them to be trained efficiently to maintain performance across tasks and situations in mission.

Short Title: CVD Rodent ISS

Responsible HRP Element: Space Radiation

Collaborating Org(s):

Funding Status: Planned-Funded - Task expected to be within budget

Procurement Mechanism(s):

Solicited

Aims:

Focus of this research is the evaluation of the effects of the combined exposures (weightlessness plus radiation) on cardiovascular structure and function.

 

Specific Aims:

• Aim 1: Utilize a ground-based rodent animal model involving hindlimb suspension as a simulation of weightlessness combined with radiation exposures

• Aim 2: Evaluate potential oxidative and inflammatory biomarkers as surrogate endpoints and compare with available human data from ISS missions

• Aim 3: Evaluate effects of combined exposures on disease latency and progression

• Aim 4: Investigate effects of countermeasures for mitigation of the simulated deep space effects

• Aim 5: Validate ground analogs with flight cohorts