The ILL denotes the lowest lumbar vertebra, which does not always represent L5. A well-formed, complete S1-2 intervertebral disk is associated with LSTVs, but alteration in LSIVDA is not. LSTVs are associated with anomalous vertebral numbering.

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The United States Space Station will employ robotic systems in conjunction with crewmember Extravehicular Activity (EVA). The control methods and corresponding crew interfaces for these systems are currently in development. Both teleoperation and autonomous operation are being pursued to provide either low -level control or high -level supervision of robotic tasks.The Flight Telerobotic Servicer (FTS) will be launched during the Station assembly process and will be teleoperated to perform a variety of assembly, maintenance, and servicing tasks.The EVA Retriever is a free -flying autonomous robot designed for retrieval of a drifting crewmember or piece of equipment inadvertently detached from the Station. These two robotic systems exemplify the choices which must be made in designing the robot control method.Teleoperation and autonomy are the ends of a spectrum of possible control modes. In choosing a design point along this dimension, the complexity of the robotic task must be considered along with the technologies required to support either teleoperation or autonomous performance of the task. Requirements of the crew operators and the workloads to be imposed on them must be weighed during selection and design of the control method. Safety considerations will also constrain the design.Space Station operations will be enhanced by optimization of each robot's control method with respect to its mission.

The United States Vision for Space Exploration calls for sending robots and humans to explore the Earth's moon, the planet Mars, and beyond. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is developing a set of design reference missions that will provide further detail to these plans. Lunar missions are expected to provide a stepping stone, through operational research and evaluation, in developing the knowledge base necessary to send crews on long duration missions to Mars and other distant destinations. The NASA Exploration Systems Directorate (ExSD), in its program of bioastronautics research, manages the development of technologies that maintain human life, health, and performance in space. Using a systems engineering process and risk management methods, ExSD's Human Support Systems (HSS) Program selects and performs research and tecbnology development in several critical areas and transfers tbe results of its efforts to NASA exploration mission/systems development programs in the form of developed technologies and new knowledge about tbe capabilities and constraints of systems required to support buman existence beyond Low Earth Orbit. HSS efforts include the areas of advanced environmental monitoring and control, extravehicular activity, food tecbnologies, life support systems, space buman factors engineering, and systems integration of all these elements. The HSS Program provides a structured set of deliverable products to meet the needs of exploration programs. These products reduce the gaps that exist in our knowledge of and capabilities for human support for long duration, remote space missions. They also reduce the performance gap between the efficiency of current space systems and the greater efficiency that must be achieved to make human planetary exploration missions economically and logistically feasible.In conducting this research and technology development program, it is necessary for HSS technologists and program managers to develop a common currency for decision making and the allocation of funding. A high level assessment is made of both the knowledge gaps and the system performance gaps across the program's technical project portfolio. This allows decision making that assures proper emphasis areas and provides a key measure of annual technological progress, as exploration mission plans continue to mature.