Title: Design, Development and Verification of Life Sciences Experiments
Abstract: A prime objective of the Life Sciences Flight Experiments Program is to conduct a continuing and coordinated program of biomedical research in space which supports the goals of NASA's Life Sciences. To accomplish this objective NASA has developed an effective NASA-industryacademic team to design, develop, test, and operate Life Sciences payloads for Space Shuttle flights. Ames Research Center, the prime NASA center responsible for development of nonhuman life sciences experiments, works closely with Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center and NASA Headquarters' Life Sciences Division in the development of scientifically balanced payloads. Johnson Space Center has responsibility for human experiment development, pre-level IV payload assembly and verification, program man agement and mission management of Life Sciences Missions. { Life Sciences experiments designated for flight aboard Space!abs 1,2, and 3 are in final stages of development and verification. Those slated for flight aboard the first Spacelab entirely dedicated to Life Sciences experi ments, LS-1, are undergoing a final NASA selec tion process. Ames and JSC facilities preparations and GSE required to support training and individual ex periment, rack-level and dedicated Spacelab verification are on schedule. Reflyable life sciences laboratory equipment (LSLE) required for the early missions is being developed and certified for flight and, across the program, challenges resulting from pressing scientific questions, resource limitations, competition for skilled personnel, and situations resulting from a lengthy time span since the Apollo and Skylab flights are being addressed in a variety of ways. PROGRAM BACKGROUND Goals. Goals which have been established for the overall NASA Life Sciences Program within which resides the Space Shuttle Life Sciences Flight Experiments Program (LSFEP) include the following: Ensure human health, safety, and effective performance in space Utilize the space environment to further knowledge in medicine and biology Utilize space technology and the space en vironment for application to terrestrial medicine and biological problems Understand the origin and distribution of life in the universe The first goal, and to a lesser extent the second, has had the greatest influence upon development of the LSFEP and its experiments to date. Both short and long term physiologi cal changes have been observed in crewmen du ring and after space flight that must be bet ter understood in the Space Shuttle era and as flight durations increase. An example of a troublesome physiological response whose mech anism is not completely understood is space motion sickness which occurs frequently upon onset of the weightless environment. Crew comfort and performance can suffer for a mat ter of days depending upon the severity of the response seriously impacting the success of a seven or ten day Shuttle mission, .A variety of other hormonal and chemical changes are al so triggered soon after launch and are accom panied by fluid redistribution within the body, progressive cardiovascular deconditioning and muscle atrophy. Longer term exposures to zero gravity during Soviet and U.S. flights have revealed changes
Publication Year: 1981
Publication Date: 1981-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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