A urine-fuelled soil-based bioregenerative life support system for long-term and long-distance manned space missions
Publication date: May 2018 Source:Life Sciences in Space Research, Volume 17 Author(s): Federico Maggi, Fiona H.M. Tang, Céline Pallud, Chuanhui Gu A soil-based cropping unit fuelled with human urine for long-term manned space missions was investigated with the aim to analyze whether a closed-loop nutrient cycle from human liquid wastes was achievable. Its ecohydrology and biogeochemistry were analysed in microgravity with the use of an advanced computational tool. Urine from the crew was used to supply primary (N, P, and K) and secondary (S, Ca and Mg) nutrients to wheat and soybean plants in the controlled croppin...
Source: Life Sciences in Space Research - March 20, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Early effects of 16O radiation on Neuronal Morphology and Cognition in a Murine Model
Publication date: Available online 14 March 2018 Source:Life Sciences in Space Research Author(s): Hannah Carr, Tyler C. Alexander, Thomas Groves, Frederico Kiffer, Jing Wang, Elvin Price, Marjan Boerma, Antiño R. Allen Astronauts exposed to high linear energy transfer radiation may experience cognitive injury. The pathogenesis of this injury is unknown but may involve glutamate receptors or modifications to dendritic structure and/or dendritic spine density and morphology. Glutamate is the major excitatory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system, where it acts on ionotropic and metabotropic glutamate rec...
Source: Life Sciences in Space Research - March 15, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Late Effects of 1H Irradiation on Hippocampal Physiology
Publication date: Available online 15 March 2018 Source:Life Sciences in Space Research Author(s): Frederico Kiffer, Alexis K. Howe, Hannah Carr, Jing Wang, Tyler Alexander, Julie E. Anderson, Thomas Groves, John W. Seawright, Vijayalakshmi Sridharan, Gwendolyn Carter, Marjan Boerma, Antiño R. Allen NASA's Missions to Mars and beyond will expose flight crews to potentially dangerous levels of charged-particle radiation. Of all charged nuclei, 1H is the most abundant charged particle in both the galactic cosmic ray (GCR) and solar particle event (SPE) spectra. There are currently no functional spacecraft shie...
Source: Life Sciences in Space Research - March 15, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research
High LET radiation shows no major cellular and functional effects on primary cardiomyocytes in vitro
Publication date: February 2018 Source:Life Sciences in Space Research, Volume 16 Author(s): Anja Heselich, Johannes L. Frieß, Sylvia Ritter, Naja P. Benz, Paul G. Layer, Christiane Thielemann It is well known that ionizing radiation causes adverse effects on various mammalian tissues. However, there is little information on the biological effects of heavy ion radiation on the heart. In order to fill this gap, we systematically examined DNA-damage induction and repair, as well as proliferation and apoptosis in avian cardiomyocyte cultures irradiated with heavy ions such as titanium and iron, relevant for manned sp...
Source: Life Sciences in Space Research - March 8, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Synthetic torpor: A method for safely and practically transporting experimental animals aboard spaceflight missions to deep space
Publication date: February 2018 Source:Life Sciences in Space Research, Volume 16 Author(s): Yuri Griko, Matthew D. Regan Animal research aboard the Space Shuttle and International Space Station has provided vital information on the physiological, cellular, and molecular effects of spaceflight. The relevance of this information to human spaceflight is enhanced when it is coupled with information gleaned from human-based research. As NASA and other space agencies initiate plans for human exploration missions beyond low Earth orbit (LEO), incorporating animal research into these missions is vitally important to understan...
Source: Life Sciences in Space Research - March 8, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research
From the desk of the Editor in Chief
Publication date: February 2018 Source:Life Sciences in Space Research, Volume 16 (Source: Life Sciences in Space Research)
Source: Life Sciences in Space Research - March 8, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Solar Particle Event Storm Shelter Requirements for Missions Beyond Low Earth Orbit
Publication date: Available online 21 February 2018 Source:Life Sciences in Space Research Author(s): L.W. Townsend, J.H. Adams, S.R. Blattnig, M.S. Clowdsley, D.J. Fry, I. Jun, C.D. McLeod, J.I. Minow, D.F. Moore, J.W. Norbury, R.B. Norman, D.V. Reames, N.A. Schwadron, E.J. Semones, R.C. Singleterry, T.C. Slaba, C.M. Werneth, M.A. Xapsos Protecting spacecraft crews from energetic space radiations that pose both chronic and acute health risks is a critical issue for future missions beyond low Earth orbit (LEO). Chronic health risks are possible from both galactic cosmic ray and solar energetic particle ...
Source: Life Sciences in Space Research - March 8, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research
HZETRN Radiation Transport Validation Using Balloon-Based Experimental Data
Publication date: Available online 21 February 2018 Source:Life Sciences in Space Research Author(s): James E. Warner, Ryan B. Norman, Steve R. Blattnig The deterministic radiation transport code HZETRN (High charge (Z) and Energy TRaNsport) was developed by NASA to study the effects of cosmic radiation on astronauts and instrumentation shielded by various materials. This work presents an analysis of computed differential flux from HZETRN compared with measurement data from three balloon-based experiments over a range of atmospheric depths, particle types, and energies. Model uncertainties were quantified using an int...
Source: Life Sciences in Space Research - March 8, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Biological filters and their use in potable water filtration systems in spaceflight conditions
Publication date: Available online 6 March 2018 Source:Life Sciences in Space Research Author(s): Starla G. Thornhill, Manish Kumar Providing drinking water to space missions such as the International Space Station (ISS) is a costly requirement for human habitation. To limit the costs of water transport, wastewater is collected and purified using a variety of physical and chemical means. To date, sand-based biofilters have been designed to function against gravity, and biofilms have been shown to form in microgravity conditions. Development of a universal silver-recycling biological filter system that is able to functi...
Source: Life Sciences in Space Research - March 8, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Development of a step-down method for altering male C57BL/6 mouse housing density and hierarchical structure: Preparations for spaceflight studies
This study was initiated as a component of a larger undertaking designed to study bone healing in microgravity aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Spaceflight experimentation introduces multiple challenges not seen in ground studies, especially with regard to physical space, limited resources, and inability to easily reproduce results. Together, these can lead to diminished statistical power and increased risk of failure. It is because of the limited space, and need for improved statistical power by increasing sample size over historical numbers, NASA studies involving mice require housing mice at densities highe...
Source: Life Sciences in Space Research - March 8, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research
If technological intelligent extraterrestrials exist, what biological traits are de rigueur
Publication date: May 2018 Source:Life Sciences in Space Research, Volume 17 Author(s): E.R. Taylor If extraterrestrials exist in the depths of cosmic space, and are capable of interstellar communications, even space flight, there is no requirement that they be humanoid in form. However, certain humanoid capabilities would be advantageous for tool fashioning and critical to operating space craft as well as functioning under the disparate extreme conditions under which they may be forced to operate. They would have to be “gas breathing”. The reasonable assumption that life based upon the same elements as Earth life r...
Source: Life Sciences in Space Research - March 8, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Dynamical Modeling Approach to Risk Assessment for Radiogenic Leukemia among Astronauts Engaged in Interplanetary Space Missions
Publication date: Available online 21 December 2017 Source:Life Sciences in Space Research Author(s): Olga A. Smirnova, Francis A. Cucinotta A recently developed biologically motivated dynamical model of the assessment of the excess relative risk (ERR) for radiogenic leukemia among acutely/continuously irradiated humans (Smirnova, 2015, 2017) is applied to estimate the ERR for radiogenic leukemia among astronauts engaged in long-term interplanetary space missions. Numerous scenarios of space radiation exposure during space missions are used in the modeling studies. The dependence of the ERR for leukemia among astronaut...
Source: Life Sciences in Space Research - December 21, 2017 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Age as a factor in the responsiveness of the organism to the disruption of cognitive performance by exposure to hze particles differing in linear energy transfer
Publication date: Available online 13 December 2017 Source:Life Sciences in Space Research Author(s): Bernard M. Rabin, Kirsty L. Carrihill-Knoll, Marshall G. Miller, Barbara Shukitt-Hale Exposure to particles of high energy and charge (HZE particles) can produce decrements in cognitive performance. A series of experiments exposing rats to different HZE particles was run to evaluate whether the performance decrement was dependent on the age of the subject at the time of irradiation. Fischer 344 rats that were 2-, 11- and 15/16-months of age were exposed to 16O, 48Ti, or 4He particles at the NASA Space Radiation Labor...
Source: Life Sciences in Space Research - December 14, 2017 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Effects of spaceflight on the immunoglobulin repertoire of unimmunized C57BL/6 mice
Publication date: Available online 2 December 2017 Source:Life Sciences in Space Research Author(s): Claire Ward, Trisha A. Rettig, Savannah Hlavacek, Bailey A. Bye, Michael J. Pecaut, Stephen K. Chapes Spaceflight has been shown to suppress the adaptive immune response, altering the distribution and function of lymphocyte populations. B lymphocytes express highly specific and highly diversified receptors, known as immunoglobulins (Ig), that directly bind and neutralize pathogens. Ig diversity is achieved through the enzymatic splicing of gene segments within the genomic DNA of each B cell in a host. The collection...
Source: Life Sciences in Space Research - December 2, 2017 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Estimating Co2 gas exchange in mixed age vegetable plant communities grown on soil-like substrates for life support systems
This study showed that increasing the number of age groups in the conveyor and, thus, increasing the frequency of adding plant waste to the SLS, decreased the range of variations in CO2 concentration in the “plant – soil-like substrate” system. However, the resultant CO2 gas exchange was shifted towards CO2 release to the atmosphere of the plant community with short conveyor intervals. The duration of the conveyor interval did not significantly affect productivity and mineral composition of plants grown on the SLS. (Source: Life Sciences in Space Research)
Source: Life Sciences in Space Research - November 13, 2017 Category: Biology Source Type: research
