With six state-of-the-art laboratories, the Space Station will be the premiere research facility in space, four times larger and more capable than any previous space station. It is hoped that it will allow for advancements in medicine, technology and science. For example, studies in micro and hyper gravity will help researchers better understand its effects on humans and offer insight into how the human body works. There are leg restraints to keep the astronaut seated securely and an arrangement of fans and vacuum pumps to dispose of waste matter quickly and safely.
Free-floating droplets of water can be hazardous on the ISS, as they could find their way into sensitive equipment and cause problems. The same is true of small particles too, and that has implications for eating in space.
Here on terra firma, we routinely sprinkle salt and pepper onto our meals. So, they are available in liquid form instead. The crew of the ISS get three meals a day and some of the food they eat is no different to what they might enjoy back home. Fruit, for example, and brownies too are available in their natural forms. Other food is stored dry and has to be mixed with water before it is cooked; there is an oven on the ISS, but there are no refrigerators. There is also plenty of free time and a range of non-research activities for the crew.
Astronauts regularly share stories and photos via social media, keeping in touch with space-watchers far below. They also take part in educational sessions via video , discussing science and space with school students around the world.
It moves much faster than anything else you are likely to see up there, too. Unlike a plane, there are no flashing lights on the ISS and it travels in a perfectly straight line.
The best time to see it is shortly before or after sunrise or sunset. The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum. A new paper, published in 'Nature', uses the discovery of a new exoplanet to explore the possible events when our own sun becomes a white dwarf. Register for a free account to start saving and receiving special member only perks. Spanning a construction period of more than a decade and involving the coordinated efforts of many nations, the International Space Station ISS represents a stunning achievement of human engineering.
After years of continual redesign, development, and assembly, the ISS is poised to begin fulfilling its intended role as a world-class scientific laboratory for studying biological and physical processes in the near absence of gravity. However, the ISS of today lacks a number of important research facilities, such as the 3-meter centrifuge, planned during earlier stages of its design.
The assembly of major U. The Russians may launch their own pressurized laboratory to the station in the time frame, but those plans are not yet finalized. The ISS reached its full crew complement of six in May and should continue to hold that many until at least , and perhaps beyond. Although limited by crew and equipment availability, significant science research was conducted during the construction phase of the ISS, with small observational experiments carried out shortly after the initial launch and more meaningful work beginning after the arrival of the Expedition 1 crew in late Flight research is generally part of a continuum of efforts that extend from laboratories and analog environments on the ground, through other low-gravity platforms as needed and available, and eventually into extended-duration flight.
Like any process of scientific discovery this effort is iterative, and further cycles of integrated ground-based and flight research are likely to be warranted as understanding of the system under study evolves. Although research on the ISS is only one component of this endeavor, the capabilities provided by the ISS are vital to answering many of the most important research questions detailed in this report.
The ISS is the only. Before the budget announcement, the research plan of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA for ISS utilization was expected to focus on objectives required for lunar and Mars missions in support of Constellation program timelines. The change in focus strengthens the need for a permanent research laboratory in microgravity devoted to scientific research in space focused both on fundamental questions and on questions posed in response to the envisioned needs of future space missions.
Each of the panel chapters Chapters 4 through 10 in this report describes critical research questions, most of which will need to progress through the use of more than one research platform, including ground-based laboratories and facilities such as drop towers or parabolic flights, to use of the ISS.
The platforms and facilities required for each research area are discussed in the individual chapters, but it can be noted that for the majority of investigations, the ISS will provide the most advantageous research platform once the investigations transition to flight.
In many cases, the ISS will be the only platform capable of meeting the requirements of investigations, and the ISS is the only platform that can provide a very long duration microgravity environment. Summarized in the following sections are examples of areas of past and future life and physical sciences research benefiting from, or requiring, the capabilities of the ISS.
Although it is impossible to list all the various biological research projects that were conducted on the ISS prior to the current era, insights from a report from NASA indicate a spectrum that, for plants, ranges from investigating the influences of gravity on the molecular changes in Arabidopsis thaliana to studying the mechanisms of photosynthesis, phototropism, and gravity sensing. Also investigated were the chromosomal aberrations in the blood lymphocytes of astronauts and the effect of spaceflight on the reactivation of latent Epstein-Barr virus.
Such analyses have revealed notable gaps in knowledge. For example, there has not been a comprehensive program dedicated to analyzing microbial populations and responses to spaceflight, yet microbes play significant roles in positive and negative aspects of human health and in the degradation of their environment through, for example, food spoilage and biofouling of equipment.
The final report of the Review of U. Human Spaceflight Plans Committee also known as the Augustine Commission or Augustine Committee 2 has emphasized that future astronauts will face three unique stressors: 1 prolonged exposure to solar and galactic radiation, 2 prolonged periods of exposure to microgravity, and 3 confinement in close, relatively austere quarters along with a small number of other crew members with whom the astronaut will have to live and work effectively for many months while having limited contact with family and friends.
All of these stressors are present in the ISS environment. Accordingly, ISS research studies could profitably determine mission-specific effects of these and other relevant stressors, alone and in combination, on the general psychological and physical well-being of astronauts and on their ability to perform mission-related tasks.
Aspects pertaining to crew member interactions and the behavioral aspects of isolation and confinement have been examined on the ISS, 3 but research with the full crew complement of six and prolonged mission durations is needed to address critical mission issues, such as the importance of sleep for astronaut performance and how best to maximize interpersonal behavior and maintain cognitive function so that the crew can function at its optimal level.
Experiments related to human physiology on the ISS have examined the effects of spaceflight on the central nervous system and spinal excitability, skeletal muscle, bone maintenance and loss, cardiovascular control, pulmo-. Investigations have included the effects of radiation, the influence of light on the sleep-awake cycle, the risk of renal stones, and the advantages of select pharmaceutical drugs. For example, recent findings for ISS astronauts who have been in space for 6 months or longer and who performed the recommended exercise regimens indicated that these countermeasures were unable to prevent loss of muscle mass or decrement in muscle performance.
It is clear that further research is essential for attaining an understanding of how and why human physiology is altered in space and for the design of effective countermeasures that will help to maintain the necessary functional homeostasis when humans are faced with altered gravitation on future missions.
The ISS provides a unique opportunity to carry out both fundamental and translational research on organ and systemic function in the absence of the gravity variable necessary to meet these goals.
The presence of humans in the space laboratory for up to 6 months enables the development of the much-needed databases for the various physiological systems as well as a thorough evaluation of select countermeasures such as exercise and pharmacological agents.
Insights can be gleaned, for example, concerning the effect of radiation on coronary heart disease and pharmacological interventions to reduce bone resorption within a given tour. The prolonged access to space afforded by the ISS will also allow the probing of fundamental questions about animal biology not directly related to human health, such as the role of gravity in developmental biology, by examining how animals grow, develop, mature, and age.
Notably absent from the report from NASA on ISS research accomplishments 6 and in subsequent reports were references to animal research being conducted in ISS modules, even though the capability exists. Because of budgetary constraints and policy decisions, this essential component of microgravity research has not been implemented. Also eliminated was a provision for a small-animal centrifuge that the Russians had previously demonstrated as an effective countermeasure to the effects of microgravity in Cosmos Without this capability, it will not be possible to conduct future experiments essential to advancing the basic understanding of animal physiology in space and to providing animal models for probing changes affecting the health of astronauts and for the development of suitable countermeasures.
Thus, the availability of animals in the ISS National Laboratory would facilitate fundamental research on the effects of microgravity on inadequately studied systems, such as the immune, endocrine, reproductive, and nervous systems, while expanding knowledge of the mechanisms responsible for cellular and molecular changes in skeletal, muscular, and connective tissue systems. In addition, there is the potential to gain new data on tissue healing especially fractures and on the growth and development of animals over multiple generations.
One further element of research enabled by access to the ISS is its use as a test bed to facilitate studies on plant and microbial components of a bioregenerative life support system. Establishing the robust elements of such a bioregenerative life support system, which will likely incorporate a combination of biological systems and physico-chemical technologies, requires extended research now that carefully integrates ground- and ISS-based work.
Levels and quality of light, atmospheric composition, nutrient levels, and availability of water are all critical elements shaping plant growth in space; each of the elements needs to be optimized in a rigorously tested technology platform designed to maximize performance during spaceflight.
Although such a research program will be enabled by access to the unique environment of the ISS, it is fundamentally aimed at enabling a long-term human presence in space. Developing a sustained research program combining the ground- and ISS-based design and validation of components will be critical to establishing the dynamic, integrated intramural and extramural research community necessary to support this area.
These examples highlight the ISS as an essential and integral component of any implementation of the life sciences research outlined in this decadal survey.
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