A water-filled garment to protect astronauts during interplanetary missions tested on board the ISS

Baiocco, G.; Giraudo, Martina; Bocchini, Luca; Barbieri, Sofia; Locantore, Ilaria; Brussolo, Elisa; Giacosa, D.; Meucci, Lorenza; Steffenino, Sara; Ballario, A.; Barresi, B.; Barresi, R.; Benassai, Mario; Ravagnolo, Liliana; Narici, L.; Rizzo, A.; Carrubba, E.; Carubia, Fabrizio; Neri, G.; Crisconio, M.; Piccirillo, Sara Grazia Maria; Valentini, G.; Barbero, S.; Giacci, M.; Lobascio, Cesare; Ottolenghi, A.

doi:10.1016/j.lssr.2018.04.002

Cited by 20 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 20 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Our results show that pigment solutions minimize the impact of an array of spaceflight induced stresses, and that different pigments such as carotenoids and melanins have distinct and separate mitigating effects. These findings indicate that pigment solutions hold promise as biocompatible shields that may be complementary to recent advances in wearable protection for manned spaceflight, such as water-filled garments 67,68 . In future manned missions, pigment solutions may hold the key to protecting astronauts against the harsh environment of space.…”

mentioning

confidence: 83%

Exogenous pigments shield microorganisms from spaceflight-induced changes

Sharma

Smith

Lee

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Research has indicated that pigments commonly produced by microorganisms may be protective against the environmental stresses inherent to spaceflight. However, few studies have directly tested the protective capabilities of microbial pigments applied externally as shielding materials. In this study, liquid cultures of Bacillus subtilis were shielded by various pigment solutions, and solid media cultures of Bacillus subtilis were co-inoculated with the highly pigmented microorganisms Aspergillus niger and Neurospora crassa. These experiments were conducted in a compact, automated payload aboard the International Space Station (ISS) interior for 30 days. Post-flight phenotypic analyses of liquid cultures showed that solutions of carotenoid pigments were effective at minimizing detrimental effects of spaceflight. Elevated growth rate was observed for solid cultures, and distinct morphology changes were identified in both liquid and solid samples and quantified as markers of spaceflight-induced stress. These findings collectively progress our understanding of microbial pigments for the development of space-related applications.

show abstract

mentioning

confidence: 83%

Exogenous pigments shield microorganisms from spaceflight-induced changes

Sharma

Smith

Lee

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…To reduce the specific risks related to low-energy particles, a simple form of protection may be sufficient: Indeed, special glasses and worksuits may protect both the skin and eyes significantly. Despite the fact that the majority of studies concern either extravehicular mobility [ 100 , 101 ] or orthostatic intolerance [ 102 ], a water-filled garment to protect astronauts has been developed recently in the ISS [ 103 ] ( Table 3 ).…”

Section: Countermeasuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Radiation on Earth or in Space: What Does It Change?

Restier-Verlet

El-Nachef

Ferlazzo

et al. 2021

IJMS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

After having been an instrument of the Cold War, space exploration has become a major technological, scientific and societal challenge for a number of countries. With new projects to return to the Moon and go to Mars, radiobiologists have been called upon to better assess the risks linked to exposure to radiation emitted from space (IRS), one of the major hazards for astronauts. To this aim, a major task is to identify the specificities of the different sources of IRS that concern astronauts. By considering the probabilities of the impact of IRS against spacecraft shielding, three conclusions can be drawn: (1) The impacts of heavy ions are rare and their contribution to radiation dose may be low during low Earth orbit; (2) secondary particles, including neutrons emitted at low energy from the spacecraft shielding, may be common in deep space and may preferentially target surface tissues such as the eyes and skin; (3) a “bath of radiation” composed of residual rays and fast neutrons inside the spacecraft may present a concern for deep tissues such as bones and the cardiovascular system. Hence, skin melanoma, cataracts, loss of bone mass, and aging of the cardiovascular system are possible, dependent on the dose, dose-rate, and individual factors. This suggests that both radiosusceptibility and radiodegeneration may be concerns related to space exploration. In addition, in the particular case of extreme solar events, radiosensitivity reactions—such as those observed in acute radiation syndrome—may occur and affect blood composition, gastrointestinal and neurologic systems. This review summarizes the specificities of space radiobiology and opens the debate as regards refinements of current radiation protection concepts that will be useful for the better estimation of risks.

show abstract

“…Beside the on-demand crew consumption, on-board waters are distributed for different purposes, comprising hygiene and cleaning practices, urinal flushing, oxygen generation via electrolysis, life-support systems, and flexible water-based experimental activities (e.g., vegetable and food production systems, animal physiology and behavioral adaptation tests) (Baiocco et al, 2018;Chatani et al, 2015;Massa et al, 2016;Niederwieser et al, 2018;Ronca et al, 2019;Wolff et al, 2018). Wastewaters are continuously collected and recycled at high efficiency level.…”

Section: The Iss Water Cyclementioning

confidence: 99%

Water and Microbial Monitoring Technologies towards the Near Future Space Exploration

Amalfitano¹,

Levantesi²,

Copetti³

et al. 2019

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Space exploration is demanding longer lasting human missions and water resupply from Earth will become increasingly unrealistic. In a near future, the spacecraft water monitoring systems will require technological advances to promptly identify and counteract contingent events of waterborne microbial contamination, posing health risks to astronauts with lowered immune responsiveness. The search for bio-analytical approaches, alternative to those applied on Earth by cultivation-dependent methods, is pushed by the compelling need to limit waste disposal and avoid microbial regrowth from analytical carryovers. Prospective technologies will be selected only if first validated in a flight-like environment, by following basic principles, advantages, and limitations beyond their current applications on Earth. Starting from the water monitoring activities applied on the International Space Station, we provide a critical overview of the nucleic acid amplification-based approaches (i.e., loop-mediated isothermal amplification, quantitative PCR, and high-throughput sequencing) and early-warning methods for total microbial load assessments (i.e., ATP-metry, flow cytometry), already used at a high readiness level aboard crewed space vehicles. Our findings suggest that the forthcoming space applications of mature technologies will be necessarily bounded by a compromise between analytical performances (e.g., speed to results, identification depth, reproducibility, multiparametricity) and detrimental technical requirements (e.g., reagent usage, waste production, operator skills, crew time). As space exploration progresses toward extended missions to Moon and Mars, miniaturized systems that also minimize crew involvement in their end-to-end operation are likely applicable on the long-term and suitable for the in-flight water and microbiological research.

show abstract

A water-filled garment to protect astronauts during interplanetary missions tested on board the ISS

Cited by 20 publications

References 20 publications

Exogenous pigments shield microorganisms from spaceflight-induced changes

Exogenous pigments shield microorganisms from spaceflight-induced changes

Radiation on Earth or in Space: What Does It Change?

Water and Microbial Monitoring Technologies towards the Near Future Space Exploration

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About