Research Database

The Gravity Loading Countermeasure Skinsuit is an intravehicular activity suit for astronauts that has been developed to simulate some of the effects of Earth’s gravity and mitigate some of the physiological effects of microgravity, including spinal elongation, muscle atrophy, and sensorimotor changes. This wearable system is intended to supplement exercise during future missions to the Moon and Mars and to further attenuate microgravity induced physiological effects in future low-Earth orbit mission scenarios. The purpose of this study is to characterize the Skinsuit and its physiological effects on a short-duration low-Earth orbit mission.

Non-intrusive yet effective health monitoring is needed for future space exploration missions as well as for management of chronic diseases on Earth. This project from POLSA and ESA aims to develop wearable biomonitors using MXene nanomaterials (2D nanomaterials made of inorganic compounds). The project will assess six different devices flown on the mission, investigating the function and environmental stability of the materials.

MedChecker (Ax-1) demonstrates software that uses image recognition to identify medications from personal medical kits and test medical kits aboard the International Space Station. This augmented reality (AR) tool could enable crew members to quickly administer appropriate medications without input from medical professionals. Results could support increased self-sufficiency on future space exploration missions.

The experiment aims to determine the direct and delayed post-flight effects on neural stem cells after long-term microgravity exposure and investigate if the delayed effects are the result of genetic changes emerging during microgravity or to secreted components in the medium during the flight. Elucidating delayed effects of microgravity may contribute to the development of new protocols for microgravity exploitation in biomedicine.