NASA Utilization of the International Space Station and the Vision for Space Exploration

Abstract

In response to the U.S. President's Vision for Space Exploration (January 14, 2004), NASA has revised its utilization plans for ISS to focus on (1) research on astronaut health and the development of countermeasures that will protect our crews from the space environment during long duration voyages, (2) ISS as a test bed for research and technology developments that will insure vehicle systems and operational practices are ready for future exploration missions, (3) developing and validating operational practices and procedures for long-duration space missions. In addition, NASA will continue a small amount of fundamental research in life and microgravity sciences. A critical strategy for optimizing use of ISS during assembly is to focus on getting suitable human physiological data on crewmembers, so that information from each human "subject" living on orbit can be used to better understand the effects of spaceflight on human physiology. Biological sample collection and return requires relatively little upmass and downmass, but has high potential payoff of information for planning future exploration missions. The new ISS Medical Project (ISSMP) will be developing and focusing human research on understanding typical physiology on long-duration missions and developing an integrated suite of countermeasures for the negative effects of spaceflight on human health. Major systems will soon be tested on ISS, starting with an oxygen generation system in 2006-2007 and followed by a water recovery system. Testing of these systems early will improve our ability to design and operate closed-loop life support systems for future exploration. They will also facilitate expansion to a crew of six, which will provide more crewtime for utilization of NASA and international partner research facilities. The ongoing experience of operating ISS is also important for developing and validating operations procedures for future explorations missions. There have been significant research accomplishments that are important for achieving the Exploration Vision. Some of these have been formal research payloads, while others have come from research based on the operation of International Space Station (ISS). We will review a selection of these experiments and results, as well as outline some of ongoing and upcoming research. The ISS represents the only microgravity opportunity to perform on-orbit long-duration studies of human health and performance and technologies relevant for future long-duration missions planned during the next 25 years. Even as NASA focuses on developing the Orion spacecraft and return to the moon (2015-2020), research on and operation of the ISS is fundamental to the success of NASA's Exploration Vision.

Microbe-I: fungal biota analyses of the Japanese experimental module KIBO of the International Space Station before launch and after being in orbit for about 460 days

“…The ISS is a closed manned system exposed to microgravity and space radiation. It has HEPA filters to remove contaminants from the cabin atmosphere (12), and is cleaned weekly with a vacuum cleaner and 0.4% benzalkonium chloride antiseptic towelettes (BZK Antiseptic Towelette; PDI, New York, NY, USA). Cultures and FE-SEM observations were negative in all orbital samples.…”