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| Digital Astronaut Simulates Human Body in Space |
 Predicting the effects of spaceflight on the human body can be very challenging. Humans have not spent enough time in reduced gravity to accurately determine the risk of health problems for future exploration missions. As NASA plans for longer, more physically demanding missions, mission planners need to better understand how human physiology is altered during spaceflight to establish health and safety requirements for these new missions. NASA’s Glenn Research Center is leading the development of the Digital Astronaut Project to better determine physiological changes due to space flight and how these changes affect the risk of exploration missions. Glenn was selected to lead this project because of the center’s longstanding expertise in creating finite element and fluids structure interaction simulations. The project team at Glenn has partnered with Johnson Space Center and the University of Mississippi Medical Center in this effort. As part of the Human Research Program, the Digital Astronaut will eventually become a detailed computer model of the entire human body that can be used to predict the effects of spaceflight on each body system. All body systems, such as the cardiovascular and vestibular systems, will be simulated at the level of detail required to understand the effects of spaceflight. Glenn has already started developing detailed models of bone loss and kidney stone formation that will be included as part of the Digital Astronaut. As an ongoing part of these simulations, the Digital Astronaut will reflect the effects of reduced gravity so the body’s reaction to spaceflight can be determined. Then, health problems can be studied to see how the body would respond in a reduced gravity environment. Glenn’s efforts in developing the Digital Astronaut will help determine the safety of astronauts during future missions to the moon and Mars. The computer model of the human body will also be useful to the medical community because it will aid in understanding disease, perhaps leading to improvements in pharmaceuticals, surgical procedures and treatments. The Digital Astronaut may also become a beneficial teaching aid in medical schools.
Contacts at NASA Glenn Research Center Project Manager: DeVon Griffin Devon.W.Griffin@nasa.gov 216-433-8109 Deputy Project Manager: Jerry Myers Jerry.G.Myers@nasa.gov 216-433-2864 Technical Lead: Mohammad Kassemi |
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