Alexandra Just receives the biological samples from DLR scientist Patrick Lau for flow cytometry testing at the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing.
After spending 186 days in space, European Astronaut Timothy Peake returned to ‘base’, the European Astronaut Center (EAC), in June, to undergo medical checks, initiate his rehabilitation program, participate in scientific experiments, and to conduct PR events. For the three weeks of the ‘Direct Return’, the DLR-Institute of Aerospace Medicine supported the EAC by providing the futuristic and technically highly equipped :envihab facility that served multiple purposes: as comfortable crew quarters for Peake, as headquarters of the ESA staff and as a state-of-the art research laboratory where many of the experiments were conducted with the aid of DLR scientists.
First things first, the most important issue for all astronauts is ensuring the best possible medical health care. Every ESA Astronaut is, therefore, medically tested pre-flight as well as post-flight at the DLR Flight Medicine Clinic. To allow comparison of pre- and post-flight data and to evaluate possible occupational risks and health impacts, all assessments, e.g. MRI-measurements, ECG, fitness-tests and ocular examinations, are performed at the same site with identical medical equipment and procedures.
Acquisition of human physiology data (Baseline Data Collection, BDC) is also an integrated part of the implementation process of space missions that serves as a reference basis for comparison of the measurements performed before, during and after space missions. ESA and DLR-Institute of Aerospace Medicine have a long-established working relationship on executing ESA Human Physiology experiments with astronauts assigned for flights on ISS expeditions.
Spaceflight constitutes multifold unique physiological changes in the human body. Hence, during the three-week-Direct Return of Tim Peake, the DLR-Institute of Aerospace Medicine supported a broad spectrum of post-flight science such as muscle, bone, cardiovascular, brain and eye physiological experiments, pre-selected by space agencies from Europe (ESA), USA (NASA), Japan (JAXA) and Canada (CSA).
The science included amongst others experiments that try to determine whether microgravity makes astronauts prone to develop cartilage degeneration and/or osteoarthritis, or whether the space environment has any influence on our autonomous biological clocks. Other research focuses on determining the efficacy of countermeasure protocol conditions under real microgravity, or deal with ‘neuroplasticity’, researching how (well) the human central nervous system can adapt to microgravity. In support of future research experiments, biological samples were also collected to maintain an archive on the metabolic profiles of the effects of space flight on human physiology. Biomarkers of oxidative and inflammatory stress are, for instance, identified and correlated to arterial and venous blood vessel wall architectural properties as indices of atherosclerosis risk before, during and after long-duration spaceflight. Other research deals with how bone marrow fat after sojourning into microgravity might impact red and white blood cells, or aims to systematically gather physiological data to characterize the risk of microgravity-Induced Visual Impairment/Intracranial Pressure (VIIP) on crewmembers assigned to a six months ISS increment.
All above-mentioned medical and scientific examinations were successfully performed in :envihab, coordinated and supported by DLR scientific, operational and medical staff. Only one single experiment during the Direct Return-experiment was supported by an external lab: The FACS & Imaging Core Facility of the Max-Planck-Institute ‘Biology of Ageing’ provided the analyses of blood samples to reveal the whole picture of changes in intestinal microbiota in response to space travel.
The Direct Return phase now is over, but this does not mean that the examinations involving Tim Peake are over. On the contrary, following a short trip to NASA Johnson Space Center where Tim will undergo some more post-flight testing, we are expecting him back for “R+30” in mid-July for another full week of human physiology experiments and medical checks. Welcome in the life of a returning astronaut…
:envihab
For more information:
:envihab - Future Research for Space and Earth
EAC - European Astronaut Centre
ESA - Astronaut Tim Peake
Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing
NASA - Johnson Space Center