Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com – @BednarChuck
After spending nearly 200 days in space, one might think that returning International Space Station (ISS) crewmembers had earned a little R&R, but as NASA explained on Wednesday, they actually have one final experiment to complete upon their return to Earth.
Yes, once they stepped foot back on good old terra firma, Terry Virts of the US space agency, Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency (ESA), and Anton Shkaplerov from the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) went through a battery of tests on Thursday.
The tests, which were conducted in a medical tent in the field, measured their balance as well as their ability to step over obstacles and navigate an environment on Earth. The tests were designed to learn about how the human body re-adapts to gravity after spending a prolonged amount of time in space.
The agency claims the tests are also an essential part of NASA’s preparation for an upcoming manned mission to Mars. The post-spaceflight examinations join several other research projects, including those searching for ways to overcome body mass loss resulting from microgravity, as well as the reason behind changes in the astronaut’s vision.
Tracking the impact of space travel on the human body
Thursday’s examinations were part of what is officially known as the Recovery of Functional Sensorimotor Performance Following Long Duration Space Flight, or Field Test, an initiative designed to study the physical changes that occur in people who return to Earth after spending six months to one year in space.
NASA explained that prolonged exposure to microgravity environments cause astronauts to “experience physical changes that have noticeable effects once they return to Earth’s gravity, including changes to vision, balance, coordination, blood pressure, and the ability to walk, which impact their ability to perform basic tasks.”
While ISS crew members who return to Earth have “immediate access to medical assistance and rehabilitation facilities,” the agency notes that those travelling to Mars will not be so lucky. The Field Test was designed to study “the complexity, severity, and duration of these changes” in order to improve recovery time and devise injury prevention methods.
The program, which officially launched in March, was developed by researchers at the NASA Johnson Space Center Human Research Program and the Institute of Biomedical Problems at the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow. In all, a total of 30 subjects will be studied as part of the ongoing initiative, according to NASA.
—–
Follow redOrbit on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Instagram and Pinterest.
Comments