Interest in space habitation has grown dramatically with planning underway for the first human transit to Mars. Despite a robust history of domestic and international spaceflight research, understanding behavioral adaptation to the space environment for extended durations is scant. Here we report the first detailed behavioral analysis of mice flown in the NASA Rodent Habitat on the International Space Station (ISS). Following 4-day transit from Earth to ISS, video images were acquired on orbit from 16- and 32-week-old female mice. Spaceflown mice engaged in a full range of species-typical behaviors. Physical activity was greater in younger flight mice as compared to identically-housed ground controls, and followed the circadian cycle. Within 9–11 days after launch, younger (but not older), mice began to exhibit distinctive circling or ‘race-tracking’ behavior that evolved into a coordinated group activity. Organized group circling behavior unique to spaceflight may represent stereotyped motor behavior, rewarding effects of physical exercise, or vestibular sensation produced via self-motion. Affording mice the opportunity to grab and run in the RH resembles physical activities that the crew participate in routinely. Our approach yields a useful analog for better understanding human responses to spaceflight, providing the opportunity to assess how physical movement influences responses to microgravity.

The hindlimb unloading (HU) model has been used extensively to simulate the cephalad fluid shift and musculoskeletal disuse observed in spaceflight with its application expanding to study immune, cardiovascular and central nervous system responses, among others. Most HU studies are performed with singly housed animals, although social isolation also can substantially impact behavior and physiology, and therefore may confound HU experimental results. Other HU variants that allow for paired housing have been developed although no systematic assessment has been made to understand the effects of social isolation on HU outcomes. Hence, we aimed to determine the contribution of social isolation to tissue responses to HU. To accomplish this, we developed a refinement to the traditional NASA Ames single housing HU system to accommodate social housing in pairs, retaining desirable features of the original design. We conducted a 30-day HU experiment with adult, female mice that were either singly or socially housed. HU animals in both single and social housing displayed expected musculoskeletal deficits versus housing matched, normally loaded (NL) controls. However, select immune and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis responses were differentially impacted by the HU social environment relative to matched NL controls. HU led to a reduction in % CD4+ T cells in singly housed, but not in socially housed mice. Unexpectedly, HU increased adrenal gland mass in socially housed but not singly housed mice, while social isolation increased adrenal gland mass in NL controls. HU also led to elevated plasma corticosterone levels at day 30 in both singly and socially housed mice. Thus, musculoskeletal responses to simulated weightlessness are similar regardless of social environment with a few differences in adrenal and immune responses. Our findings show that combined stressors can mask, not only exacerbate, select responses to HU. These findings further expand the utility of the HU model for studying possible combined effects of spaceflight stressors.

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Spaceflight is a unique environment that includes at least two factors which can negatively impact skeletal health: microgravity and ionizing radiation. We have previously shown that a diet supplemented with dried plum powder (DP) prevented radiation-induced bone loss in mice. In this study, we investigated the capacity of the DP diet to prevent bone loss in mice following exposure to simulated spaceflight, combining microgravity (by hindlimb unloading) and radiation exposure. The DP diet was effective at preventing most decrements in bone micro-architectural and mechanical properties due to hindlimb unloading alone and simulated spaceflight. Furthermore, we show that the DP diet can protect osteoprogenitors from impairments resulting from simulated microgravity. Based on our findings, a dietary supplementation with DP could be an effective countermeasure against the skeletal deficits observed in astronauts during spaceflight.Alterations in the gravity vector and exposure to ionizing radiation can disrupt skeletal homeostasis in mice 1-3 . There are multiple stressors associated with spaceflight, including microgravity and radiation which are known to cause bone loss 4-6 . Decrements in bone mineral density (BMD) have been observed in astronauts from the Mir missions as well as missions to the International Space Station (ISS) 7-9 . While much research has focused on the detrimental effects of microgravity on skeletal tissue, less is known about the impact of spaceflight radiation. Crewed missions have, to this point, primarily remained within low-Earth orbit (LEO). While sources of ionizing space radiation within LEO include galactic cosmic radiation and charged particles from unpredictable solar particle events (SPE) 10,11 , the presence of the Earth's magnetosphere reduces exposure to ionizing space radiation. Missions beyond LEO pose the greatest risk of radiation exposure and is of significant concern for crew health 12-14 . Spaceflight-relevant radiation includes a mix of low-linear energy transfer (LET) species such as protons and helium ions as well as high-LET species such as iron 15,16 . Beyond LEO, for example, astronauts may be exposed to up to 0.7 Sv of ionizing radiation 12,15,17 during a multi-year mission to the Moon or Mars 14,15,18 .On Earth, bone homeostasis is effectively maintained by the controlled remodeling activity of bone-forming osteoblasts and bone-resorbing osteoclasts. However, exposure to low-LET radiation ( 137 Cs or X-ray, 1-2 Gy) leads to a transient increase in the number of osteoclasts, accompanied by an increase in trabecular separation (Tb.Sp) and decrease in trabecular thickness (Tb.Th), overall leading to a reduction in bone volume fraction (BV/TV) [19][20][21][22] . Together, this early increase in bone resorption and decrease in bone formation due to radiation exposure can result in a state of osteopenia, potentially leading to an increased risk of bone fracture 16,23,24 . A possible mechanism of action responsible for these changes in bone homeostasis is the generation o...