Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH) Participation In Polaris Dawn
The Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH) supports innovative human health and performance research by leveraging commercial space opportunities with diverse mission crews and spaceflight providers. Empowered by NASA’s Human Research Program, TRISH is a virtual institute that finds and funds disruptive science and medical technology to reduce health and performance risks in space explorers. The Polaris Dawn crew will participate in a series of experiments, helping scientists advance the understanding of human biology necessary to protect future space explorers.
Crew members will participate in TRISH-sponsored space health and performance research, examples of which are:
– Checking their balance and perception to gauge their sensorimotor adaptation and motion sickness to changes in gravity. The test, designed for NASA astronauts, will compare results before launch and after returning to Earth with the goal of predicting who will need extra help adjusting to space.
– Collecting data on the physiological changes they experience during 5days in space. This helps researchers track body changes and anticipate in order to prevent medical conditions and performance decline.
– Testing their own cognitive performance using a standardized set of tasks also used by NASA astronauts. Spaceflight is stressful and mentally taxing as the body and mind adjust to the spaceflight environment–with daily use, this set of tests can assess changes in crew behavior and brain performance.
– Capturing ultrasound images key for identifying medical problems that could threaten the health of the crew and the success of the mission. Using an Artificial intelligence-equipped device could be a boon for non-medical experts needing to monitor their own organs and veins during space missions. The crew will capture in-flight scans and create a timeline of body changes.
– Testing a gamified medical procedure training platform to test whether the crew can respond to an emergent clinical need without guidance from Earth.
– Monitoring their vision. NASA has identified Space Associated Neuro-Ocular Syndrome (SANS) as a risk to the vision of astronauts on extended missions. The Polaris Dawn crew will test their eye functions, eye movement, and perform retinal imaging at multiple points on the journey.
– Tracking their radiation exposure. The crew will go farther from Earth than any human since the Apollo missions and is expected to be exposed to a high dose of space radiation. Studying the Polaris Dawn crew’s physiologic and performance response to this level of radiation exposure will inform on the risks to astronauts who will journey back to the moon as part of NASA’s Artemis program.
– Collecting multiple biosamples before, during, and after spaceflight to perform a longitudinal, multi-omic analysis of the crew, including genome, epigenome, transcriptome, proteome, microbiome, metabolome, exosome, telomere, single-cell V(D)J immunophenotyping and epitope maps, and spatial transcriptome analysis.
– A key component of the research projects is the archiving and sharing of biomedical results, biobanking, and research data. TRISH has developed EXPAND, a program that enables the seamless intake, archiving, standardization and sharing of coded/de-identified research and biomedical data including biosamples with the end goal of increasing the body of evidence, safety and enhancing human health and performance during spaceflight.
