commercial personal sub-orbital acute responses to space ... · acquisition of a biomedical...

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Acquisition of a Biomedical Database of Acute Responses to Space Flight During

Commercial Personal Sub-Orbital Flights

J. Charles

Space Life S

ciences Directorate

NA

SA Johnson S

pace Center, H

ouston, Texas, US

AE

. Richard

Wyle Integrated S

cience and Engineering G

roupH

ouston, Texas, US

A

Four Minutes of W

eightlessness

14048.pdf, Life S

ciences I, Feb. 19, 2010N

ext-Generation S

uborbital Researchers C

onference, Boulder C

O

Disclaim

erThe approaches and techniques described in this presentation are the suggestions and proposals of the authors only and do not represent an approved NASA program.

4048.pdf, Life Sciences I, Feb. 19, 2010

Next-G

eneration Suborbital R

esearchers Conference, B

oulder CO

2

Hum

an Space Flight 0g E

xperience


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3

1 minute

5 minutes

10 minutes

1 parabola

1 orbit

1 day

1 week

1 month

1 year

1000 days

# people

Duration of w

eightlessness

4

Problem

•

Currently, little data on initial physiological responses of

diverse human population to g-transitions to and from

weightlessness (and other space flight factors)

Opportunity

•E

ncourage participation by expected potentially large num

ber (500-5,000 per year!) Com

mercial S

pace Flight P

articipants (CS

FPs) on a standardized (±) flight profile,

especially brief weightlessness

–P

articipation by even a small percentage w

ould provide significant database

–U

ntil recently, no published indication of planned capture of basic physiological data on C

SFP

s.“E

very passenger is a research subject” Jon C

lark, May 2008


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Constraints on sub-orbitalbiom

edical research


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A colleague recently observed that…

“The ‘diverse’ population will likely be skew

ed (at least initially) tow

ard rich, old guys”

…and…

“If I only had 4 minutes to enjoy m

y $200K flight, I

don’t think I’d want to w

aste much of it perform

ing an experim

ent.”

6

5 g

Typical acceleration profiles


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What measurements could compete

with the view and the weightlessness?

•S

usceptible to dramatic change during suborbital

space flight (high-g launch, brief weightlessness,

high-g re-entry)•

Readily perceptible by participant

•A

menable to recording and display in personal

interest package•

Clinically relevant either post-flight or during in-

flight monitoring (in situ or rem

otely)•

Physiologically illum

inating in context of database


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Criteria for high-priority physiological parameters

8

Cardiovascular responses to g-transitions

+x / +z

+x / +x

+x / +x

+x / +z

+x / +x+x / +z

Data from

KC

-135 parabolic flights.C

ardiovascular data recorded in 4 postures: standing, seated, supine, sem

i-supine.

9

Cardiovascular, cardiopulmonary risk factorsand operational covariates of specific interest

•N

ot controllable, not modifiable risk factors

H

eredity

Gender

A

ge•

Controllable, m

odifiable risk factors

•O

perational, flight-related variables

+gx vs. +gz ascent body vectors

Pressure suit vs. shirt sleeves

M

otion sick vs. not sick

+gx vs. +gz re-entry

C

abin temperature

R

estrained vs. free-floating

S

moking

H

igh Blood C

holesterol

High B

lood Pressure

O

besity (BM

I)

P

hysical Inactivity

Stress &

Behavior

S

pace flight history

Other?


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Hypotheses of Interest

•C

ovariates will influence physiological

responses to brief weightlessness, and to g-

load after brief weightlessness

•P

hysiological responses will differ betw

een populations exposed to different launch loads and profiles (e.g., different providers)

•R

epeat flyers will respond to flight stresses

differently than novice flyers (more…

)


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Hypotheses of Interest

•R

epeated flight exposures will be associated

with accom

modation in acute responses,

especially those requiring central processing–

Sight-seers: 1-2 flights

–R

esearchers: ~10 flights?–

Flight crews (com

mercial providers’ pilots): ~10s

of flights?•

Assum

ed available as comparison subjects

Astronauts and cosm

onauts have exhibited less acute responses to repeated orbital flights in som

e areas (such as space m

otion sickness) but not in others (such as post-flight orthostatic hypotension)


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Physiological responses to briefweightlessness and acceleration

Physiological System

Response to be m

easured and rationaleH

ow to A

ssay?

Cardiovascular &

Cardiopulm

onary

Yes: Headw

ard fluid shift will be

detectable, and will distend thoracic

vessels and sensors and initiate neural responses

Surface

recording

Sensory-m

otorYes: U

nloading of otolith sensors will be

adequate to initiate neural reflex responses

Surface, voice &

video recording

Hum

an Behavior

and Perform

anceYes: A

cute psychological and emotional

responses will influence other param

eters S

urface, voice & video recording

Musculoskeletal

?: Will exposure be too brief to initiate

meaningful structural changes (but see

sensory-motor)

Functional evaluation

Imm

unological, E

ndocrinological?: W

ill exposure be too brief to initiate unequivocal response

Direct sam

pling (venous access; sw

abs?)4048.pdf, Life S

ciences I, Feb. 19, 2010N

ext-Generation S

uborbital Researchers C

onference, Boulder C

O

ca. 1990 low-profile measurements on Shuttle•

Response to g-transitions: 1g→

3g → 0g →

2g →

1g•

Cardiovascular

•S

ensory-motor


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14

21st century body-worn instrumentation integratedinto flight survival garments on sub-orbital flights

OpticH

olter 2a (S

trangman, M

GH

-H

MD

/NS

BR

I)

Typical lightweight in-cabin

pressure garment:

Sokol K

V2

(Zvezda NP

O, M

oscow)

AFTE

(Cow

ings, AR

C;

Jemison, B

iosentient)

LifeShirt (VivoM

etrics)

Helm

ut Hinghoffer-

Szalkay: transiently extra-corporeal blood

diversion for continuous density m

easurement, and

sampling

Response to g-transitions: 1g→

5g → 0g →

5g → 1g

•Training ground for next generation of flight surgeons and space life sciences researchers

•H

ardware developm

ent, demonstration, and procedures validation

in flight environment before orbital com

mitm

ent

15

Why m

ight NA

SA support hum

an research on sub-orbital flights?


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•D

emonstrated spaceflight com

patibility of a large, diverse population w

ith a variety of pre-existing conditions m

ay encourage diversification in astronaut recruitm

ent and retention

•E

ncourage duplicate data–

Independent confirmation of discoveries

•P

reviously discouraged in space life sciences research–

Distributed researchers m

ay cover different regional operations

16

Next steps

•Encourage operators to accommodate data recording

•Identify willing suborbital volunteers–

Everybody! (voluntarily, of course)•

Celebrities, VIPs•

Families (youngest to oldest)•

Researchers•

Pilots and flight crew•

Develop data recording system–

Synergies with other users–

Data recording continuously in the background, transparent to participant•

Non-interference with work, play, sight-seeing•

Document stressfulness of various individual activities•

With large enough subject population, categorize responses to stressors in

statistically valid manner•

Develop data archiving system

Every passenger will be an experim

ent—the only question is whether we or not collect the data!

17

Thank you!

Questions?

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