ASGSB 1999 Annual Meeting Abstracts

LIFE IN EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS: HOW WILL HUMANS PERFORM ON MARS? D. J. Newman. Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, MIT, Cambridge, MA.

The objective of a human exploration mission to Mars is to search for the evidence of life. How will transitioning from 1G to microgravity to 3/8G then back to microgravity and finally returning to Earth’s 1G environment affect astronaut physical performance? What are the appropriate physiological countermeasures to ensure that planetary astronauts can egress their spacecraft and perform useful work in their locomotion spacesuits during their 600-day stay on the surface of Mars in a 3/8G environment? During the six-month long flight from Earth to Mars, astronauts will undergo 20-30% muscle atrophy and lose bone at the rate of 1-2% per month.

Scientific studies conducted onboard the Mir space station to measure astronaut microgravity intravehicular activity (IVA) and simulated Martian gravity extravehicular activity (EVA) are discussed. Astronauts are seen to adopt seven characteristic microgravity motions whilst floating in the weightless environment, moving by using their fingers, arms, and toes rather than using their legs to walk as in conventional Earth-based locomotion. Experiments performed on suspension systems, underwater, and parabolic flight reveal astronaut locomotion strategies for the 3/8G environment of Mars whereby crewmembers return to their bipedal nature, but are found to lope rather than walk or run. These experimental results help establish a partial gravity performance database and motivate the design of a future revolutionary spacesuit. Martian spacesuit designs that incorporate biologically inspired technologies are envisioned to propel the physiologically deconditioned astronauts over the Martian terrain.

(Supported by NASA: NAG5-3990, NAG9-1003, NAG9-1089, NAS1-18690 and NSBRI.)

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