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Human Spaceflight Performance: Bootstrapping the intersection of Biometrics and Artistic Expression through planetary mission analogue EVAs.
Abstract
Human spaceflight activities often compartmentalize projects by domain, but it is hypothesized that data sets gathered within interdisciplinary frameworks can produce the richest outcomes. This research investigates the intersection of projects native to both hemispheres of the brain to offer a new methodology for proposing research projects focused on using planetary mission analogue extravehicular activities (EVA). These simulated, multi-permutation, EVAs are critical for preparing humans for missions to the Moon or Mars. Minimal investment is required to train a crew in an extreme environment compared to actual spaceflight and locations can enlighten and influence our exploration plans ranging from how we design life support equipment, tools, and assess workload to human behaviour, joy, and play, i.e. our culture. Collaboration by the authors has occurred at the Mars Desert Research Station (USA), with follow on work at LunAres Moon/Mars Research Station (Poland), and with the Mars Academy USA NEAMAE Project (Nepal). Biometric tracking of astronauts is a well-understood medical discipline, but astronaut workload is being further investigated to understand how the physical parameters of an EVA (terrain slope, duration, and consumables) contribute to long-duration mission planning. Artistic expression in this work is highlighted by "Performing Astronautics", which places art practice and big-data immersive visualisation tools in modern astronautics, exploration, and extreme performance sites. These projects were brought together through the use of common technology including biomedical devices, video and motion recording equipment. The qualitative data is maximized through the context of interdependent, layered, and complex interdisciplinary mission scenario simulations, providing higher fidelity insights into the impact and significance of the performance data in question. The simulated EVAs, survival training, and mission scenarios are opportunities to build new technology innovations to solve complex problems through an experimental process under relevant constraints. Support for human spaceflight may wax and wane and vary between nations, but with analogue missions, private or public, the crew becomes the platform themselves: implementing and expanding research data collection and capabilities by innovating within the complexity of a bootstrapped mission environment. This paper will discuss the multidiscipline approach, highlight data results from the investigations, and make recommendations for how this approach can be assimilated into transdisciplinary exploration strategies.
... Barnes and I examined tools for visualisation/ representations of the data to support future work on the astronaut dance analysis and notation, as well as augment the choreographic-performance process itself to draw attention to our innovative tool-supported translocated movement instruction [43] [44]. Bootstrapping a RoM study [45], we used an algorithm to quantify results by overlaying a range of movement model of the dynamic gestures in the airlock from static cameras in the intense lighting. The machine learning identified the human in the spacesuit frame-by-frame. ...
Nine contemporary art and cultural research projects were integrated within a 15-day isolated and confined lunar analogue mission simulation. The mission architecture, uniquely customised and curated for the specific parameters of the LunAres Moon/Mars Station in Poland, 2018, also played to the strengths and interests of the transdisciplinary SPECTRA crew. As mission commander, responsible for crew selection, cohesion and project curation, my practice focused on human expression and performance, and the challenges of broadcast and communication. For the duration of the SPECTRA mission, I collaborate with the Monash Immersive Visualisation Platform [MIVP] and various remote partners including Lucy Electric LLC and Space Garden Company. MIVP teams produced tools for spatial awareness during simulated EVAs in terrestrial analogue sites, and post-processing large data transmission between global sites for affective visualisation in the CAVE2 and the Monash Future Control Room. Together we designed tactical laboratories for experimental arts to support performance within extreme operational isolated confined environments. Artefacts included immersive media, mixed reality, human-robotic interaction design, and new systems for live art and translocation communication and interdisciplinary human performance research published in Live, and VR formats. Outcomes were real and speculative, poetic and practical with high technical cultural value and human factors benefits during and post-mission. The success of the SPECTRA mission demonstrated ways that the cultural and technical cooperation embedded in the lunar space arts program could give value to the arts and science goals of missions today. Our inspiration was the Apollo programme. While primarily about space exploration, it also represented a meeting of political, technological and ontological paradigms through a global media spectacle, to become a significant moment in cultural exploration. Apollo broadcast and communication achievements for example, conjured inspirational and practical knowledge useful for future lunar mission architectures and the lunar analogue SPECTRA mission.
Analog space missions in Poland include international scientific, technological, and business projects designed and realized by a private research company Analog Astronaut Training Center Ltd. (AATC) devoted to the future Moon and Mars exploration. Growing experience in educational aspect of the training as well as continuous development of the habitat and its professional space science laboratory equipment correspond to increased interest of educational organizations, universities, and individual students. We serve unique practical platform for space engineering, space master, and even space doctoral theses. In addition to a wide range of training courses offered for future astronauts, for example, diving, skydiving, rocket workshops, and stratospheric missions, AATC provides a private laboratory to simulate the space environment. It carries out scientific experiments focused on biology and space medicine, as well as addressing several multidisciplinary issues related to the Moon and Mars exploration, including space mining. The main goal of each our analog simulation is to get publishable results, what means that our analog astronauts obtain not only certification of completion of the training but also ability to continue studies and to perform it individually. This chapter summarizes methodology used by us, didactic tools, and obtained results for both educational and scientific analog simulations.
While the world is entering a new era of space exploration and technology, some developing countries are left underrepresented in the space arena. The Moon Village Association-Participation of Emerging Space Countries initiative gives opportunities to the under-represented countries to realize their potential to contribute to the space industry and help them initiate projects that are both relevant and practical within their potential. Nepal is also one of those countries which does not have a strong space program. However, Nepal is making some progress in the space industry with the help of subject matter experts and engineering students. Nepal has some organizations that are working to help kickstart the space sector of the country. Nepalese Space Research Association (NESRA) is a private non-profit organization dedicated to promoting space sciences and technology in Nepal. NESRA organizes various technical workshops and national conferences such as the National Space Meet of Nepal since 2018 to discuss about the importance of the space industry, how it touches our everyday lives and why should it be incorporated for our nation's development, analog astronaut missions in collaboration with international organizations to help astronauts from all around the world to come to Nepal and make use of its unique landscape and environmental conditions to advance aerospace science and research. Two of the most prestigious engineering colleges in Nepal have included aerospace engineering in their programs. But there are very few tangible projects that can enable space enthusiasts to implement what they learn in class into real life. We also lack proper outreach programs for both boys and girls in schools to motivate them to pursue a career in the space field. In this research paper, we have outlined projects which will promote the growth of the space sector in Nepal by utilizing Nepal’s unique geographical features and promote the country’s contribution to the New Space industry. Analog astronaut base in Nepal, one among the projects discussed in the paper, will provide a unique opportunity to rigorously test design, and facilitate research and development, which will potentially help improve operations on extra-terrestrial destinations. NESRA has also put together some policy recommendations for Nepal to consider in order to foster space activities in the country.
While the world is entering into a new era of space exploration and technology, there are some developing countries that are left underrepresented in the space arena. The Moon Village AssociationParticipation of Emerging Space Countries initiative gives opportunities to these countries to realize their potential to contribute to the space industry and help them initiate projects that are both relevant and practical within their potential. Nepal is also one of those countries that does not have a strong space program. However, Nepal is making some progress in the space industry with the help of subject matter experts and engineering students. Nepal has some organizations who are willing to advance the space sector of the country. Nepalese Space Research Association (NESRA) is a private non-profit organization dedicated to promoting space sciences and technology in Nepal. NESRA organizes various technical workshops and events like the National Space Meet of Nepal on an annual basis which further emphasizes on how space touches our everyday lives and why should it be incorporated for our nation’s development, Analog astronaut missions in collaboration with international organizations to help astronauts from all around the world to come to Nepal and make use of its unique landscape and environmental conditions to advance aerospace science and research. Two of the most prestigious engineering colleges in Nepal
have included Aerospace Engineering to their programs. But there are very few tangible projects that can enable the space enthusiasts to implement what they learn in class into real life. We also lack proper outreach programs for both boys and girls in schools to motivate them to pursue a career in the space field. In this research paper, we have outlined research projects which will promote the growth of the space sector in Nepal by utilizing Nepal’s unique geographical features and promote its contribution to the New Space industry. Analog astronaut base in Nepal, one among the projects discussed in the paper, will provide a unique opportunity to rigorously test design, and facilitate research and development, which will potentially help improve operations on extra-terrestrial destinations. We have also discussed the possible next steps for the government of Nepal to take in order to develop a policy which holds the potential to help new space actors of the country to flourish and help the country kick off its space program.
Nine contemporary art and cultural research projects were integrated within a 15-day isolated and confined lunar analogue mission simulation. The mission architecture, uniquely customised and curated for the specific parameters of the LunAres Moon/Mars Station in Poland, 2018, also played to the strengths and interests of the transdisciplinary SPECTRA crew. As mission commander, responsible for crew selection, cohesion and project curation, my practice focused on human expression and performance, and the challenges of broadcast and communication. For the duration of the SPECTRA mission, I collaborate with the Monash Immersive Visualisation Platform [MIVP] and various remote partners including Lucy Electric LLC and Space Garden Company. MIVP teams produced tools for spatial awareness during simulated EVAs in terrestrial analogue sites, and post-processing large data transmission between global sites for affective visualisation in the CAVE2 and the Monash Future Control Room. Together we designed tactical laboratories for experimental arts to support performance within extreme operational isolated confined environments. Artefacts included immersive media, mixed reality, human-robotic interaction design, and new systems for live art and translocation communication and interdisciplinary human performance research published in Live, and VR formats. Outcomes were real and speculative, poetic and practical with high technical cultural value and human factors benefits during and post-mission. The success of the SPECTRA mission demonstrated ways that the cultural and technical cooperation embedded in the lunar space arts program could give value to the arts and science goals of missions today. Our inspiration was the Apollo programme. While primarily about space exploration, it also represented a meeting of political, technological and ontological paradigms through a global media spectacle, to become a significant moment in cultural exploration. Apollo broadcast and communication achievements for example, conjured inspirational and practical knowledge useful for future lunar mission architectures and the lunar analogue SPECTRA mission.
Imagination is our window into the future. Led by each generation of artists and scientists, it is through their explorations and inventions that we push towards the edges of possibility. Aerospace developments are no exception and like other areas of human endeavor we are witnessing the increased use of robots as the technological tools for humans to make our visions of the future a reality. Remembering that you can architect the future, what lunatic ideas can we conceive, believe and achieve? Presenting The Agency of Human-Robotic Lunatics (2017) a live keynote performance set underwater and on the Moon that premiered at Robotronica 2017. We saw the artist-astronaut's live performance blend with VR mapping of historical lunar orbital reconnaissance imaging data, and augmented reality artifacts from a real spacewalk simulation underwater during Project Moonwalk. Project Moonwalk develops and tests technologies and training procedures for future missions to the Moon. Through the use of an autonomous subject tracking robotic camera system, the Cinema Swarm, the artist-astronaut articulated the range of human-robotic and human-aquatic interactions unique to Project Moonwalk. The parallel design of human-robotic performance protocols undersea and human-cinematic robot performance onstage inspired new modes of trans-disciplinary dialogue to understand affective visualization applications in astronautics. The technical concepts led to the Spatial Performance Environment Command Transmission Realities for Astronauts SPECTRA (2018) experiments that further expanded the protocols of confined/isolated Lunar Station analogue mission simulations [Lunares 3 Crew] with transmission of LiDAR imaging and the choreographers' moves for an artist-astronaut's interpretation on the analogue Crater. The SPECTRA experiments demonstrated a direct impact on the astronaut's range of spatial awareness, orientation, geographic familiarization, and remote and in-situ operational training for amplifying performance capabilities on EVA. The significance of these new approaches is the widening of the definition of both technical and cultural activities in astronautics. Outcomes also signal new research and impact pathways for the artist, astronaut and avatar in space exploration and discovery.
We present human performance experiments and cultural engagement activities on EVA openly as new opportunities for examining interactions with our bodies, perceptions and the environment through virtual reality. Play as a research-through performance strategy helps us better explore, and adapt, to the new environment (serving the individual), it is a useful mode for supporting positive crew performance, cohesion and wellbeing (serving the mission), and a technical method for inspiring passive players (on site, or on Earth) to imagine a new world (serving the crew, mission and public). By streaming or post-processing 360° video data off-site audiences can experience the imaginative and technical parameters of planetary surface analogue simulation missions for example. From everyday yet nonetheless spellbinding phenomena such as blowing bubbles on Mars, the virtual reality capture interactions with MDRS analogue crew allows for the predictive analysis of physical and psycho-social and cultural behaviours of future crew on Mars in a range of scenarios. These cultural EVA interaction designs, and research-through-performance outcomes build on prior work to further demonstrate the benefits of creative and expressive playful processes in space-related environments including analogue simulations, in preparation for discovery in spaceflight. The 360° format further allows us to speculate on the application of this technology across three platforms: firstly the application of play and performance for enhancing mission training and extrapolating complex science on a human-scale; secondly, the application of immersive visualisation platforms and virtual reality to contribute new knowledge on performance and interactivity in extreme environments; and thirdly to speculate on the long-range technological application for reinforcing the human-factors benefits of a shared playful experience of good-old fashioned earthly fun.
This article presents an experience-based research effort on human-systems integration (HSI) verification principles for commercial space transportation (CST). CST HSI safety, efficiency, and comfort are analyzed with respect to four critical areas: (1) design and layout of displays and controls (we assume that displays and controls are computer based), (2) mission planning, (3) restraint and stowage, and (4) human factors in vehicle operations. HSI is analyzed using most recent approaches in human-centered design, which integrates technology, organization, and people from the very beginning of the design process and all along the life cycle of systems, including manufacturing, delivery, training, operations, and dismantling. CST HSI verification principles for the four critical areas are provided in the form of recommendations structured along with the five concepts of the AUTOS pyramid.
A gunfight between police and a gang of men led by the self-styled “Captain Moonlite”, a.k.a. George Scott, occurred on 16th November 1879 at a farmhouse near Wantabadgery Station in the colony of New South Wales. The skirmish resulted in the deaths of two bushrangers and one police officer. As a result, Captain Moonlite and Thomas Rogan were hung in Sydney’s Darlinghurst Gaol on 20 January 1880 for the murder of Constable Edward Webb-Bowen. Culpability for firing the fatal shot, however, has remained a source of controversy. Information obtained from an analysis of historical records was used to guide an archeological excavation at the scene of the shooting in which Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) technology was employed to produce a digital (3D) terrain model of the siege location. Utilizing the terrain model, the relative positions of Moonlite, Webb-Bowen, and the other gang members were established with possible projectile trajectories plotted. This, in combination with inquest evidence from a gun maker and the medical practitioner who examined Constable Webb-Bowen’s wound, indicates that the most likely shooter was Gus Warnicke, aged 15 years, the youngest member of the gang, who was also killed in the exchange of fire.
HCI is increasingly interested in supporting people's physically active lifestyle. Adventure is part of this lifestyle, and to contribute an HCI perspective on adventure, we present an autoethnographical account of an expedition via Nepal to Mt. Everest. During this expedition, on the 25th and 26th April 2015, two devastating earthquakes struck the region. We believe we can learn from such extreme experiences and therefore reflect on this epic adventure through a set of themes to articulate two dimensions (expected-unexpected and instrumental-experiential) in order to identify four roles for adventure-technology: as coach, rescuer, documentarian and mentor. Our work aims to provide HCI designers with an initial conceptual lens to embrace adventure, and more generally, to expand our knowledge of supporting people's physically active lifestyle.
Abstract and Pdf of full paper are both available online. Interested readers may go directly to the American Journal of Play website :
http://www.journalofplay.org/sites/www.journalofplay.org/files/pdf-articles/8-2-article-microgravity-playscapes.pdf
Enjoy the read!
This article considers the artistic exploration of embodiment at the frontiers and edges of space. With a focus on both outer space and virtual space, the article explores the practices employed by artists who have taken on a virtual body as a vehicle to explore the virtual space of virtual worlds and those artists aiming to free their physical bodies of gravity and experience weightlessness in the artistic exploration of outer space. Perhaps the myths and realities of both astronauts (or those who have experienced their bodies in zero gravity) and avatars are one and the same - that of bodies travelling in unknown spaces and time. The article aims to reveal the common threads of experiences of embodiment and space drawing together issues of the weightless, the virtual and the immaterial body.
This glossary aims to clarify some of the key concepts associated with participatory action research.
The focus of this paper is to investigate how the design of visual feedback on full body movement affects the quality of the movements. Informed by the theory of embodiment in interaction design and media technology, as well as by the Laban theory of effort, a computer application was implemented in which users are able to project their movements onto two visuals ('Particle' and 'Metal') We investigated whether the visual designs influenced movers through an experiment where participants were randomly assigned to one of the visuals while performing a set of simple tasks. Qualitative analysis of participants' verbal movement descriptions as well as analysis of quantitative movement features combine several perspectives with respect to describing the differences and the change in the movement qualities. The qualitative data shows clear differences between the groups. The quantitative data indicates that all groups move differently when visual feedback is provided. Our results contribute to the design effort of visual modality in movement-focused design of extended realities.
The United States space program has been without a launch vehicle for human spaceflight since 2011. That was when the space shuttle Atlantis returned on its final flight. Since then, NASA has relied on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft to take its astronauts to the International Space Station. However, if all goes to plan this could soon change, as two private companies are working with NASA to launch the first astronauts into orbit. The companies, SpaceX and Boeing, are building crew capsules and rockets, designing space suits, and training astronauts to fly these new vehicles into space.
As humans venture deeper into space more issues related to operations will become apparent. While the perils of dust particles may not be widely recognized, it is one of the major issues astronauts will face on the surface of the Moon and Mars. Dust particles present a problem for both astronaut health and equipment as revealed during the Apollo era lunar surface missions. Dust particles cling to spacesuits and field gear, which upon ingress would begin circulating throughout the spacecraft or habitat. An astronaut's health is compromised by the dust particle's potential to embed in the lungs and cause respiratory illnesses. The extreme abrasiveness and granularity of the particles make it near impossible to completely shield a spacecraft or habitat from dust related damage. NASA's Glenn Research Center (GRC) collaborated with Crew 188 at the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in Utah to measure how much dust entered the habitat during a series of extravehicular activities (EVAs), or surface excursions. A NASA GRC developed multistage filter system, coined the Scroll Filter System, was tested, for its effectiveness in removing dust that entered the airlock and habitat after the EVAs. An optical particle counter measured the ambient airlock particulates five times including: before the start of operations; after the crew left for EVA; in the middle of the EVA with the settled air; before the crew entered the airlock after EVA; and finally, after the crew simulated re-pressurization and suit brushing off in the airlock. Data was also collected in several of the working environment locations around MDRS and outside the habitat in the wind. Data collected from this research will help establish filter equipment for life support systems and prescribed operations for astronaut transition from a planetary surface into a desired clean habitat. Measurements may aid in updating a baseline expected dust load for a surface habitat and further facilitate the mitigation of astronaut's exposure to dust particles on the surface of celestial bodies.
Human expression and connection fuels our evolutionary humanity, curiosity and passion. So how far can we go? Pell is designing modes for following the body's natural edge to the abyss of space. New works including the parallel design of human-robotic performance protocols undersea and human-cinematic robot performance onstage, have inspired new modes of trans-disciplinary dialogue to understand affective visualization applications in performing astronautics. Technical concepts derived through play and performance on EVA (extra vehicular activities or spacewalks), have led to the development of technical configurations supporting the Spatial Performance Environment Command Transmission Realities for Astronauts SPECTRA (2018). Various SPECTRA experiments on Moon/Mars analogue missions have expanded protocols, for example the confined/isolated Lunar Station analogue mission simulations [Lunares 3 Crew] with transmission of LiDAR imaging and the choreographers' moves for an artist-astronaut's interpretation on the analogue Crater. Pell has demonstrated that interactions with SPECTRA systems have a direct impact on the artist-astronaut's range of spatial awareness, orientation, geographic familiarization, and remote and in-situ operational training for amplifying performance capabilities on EVA. The significance of these new approaches is the widening of the definition of both technical and cultural activities in astronautics through play and performance. Other research from cinematic robotics, and mixed realities including virtual reality, LiDAR projects and big data immersive visualisations platforms, to an astronaut dance is about designing systems for improved performance and cultural engagement for exploring the critical pathways, discourse and cultural practice surrounding space as inspiration for new works of art, and new ways of working with art and space, during a unique mission simulation. These opportunities also support safe forums for reflexive analysis of our human ambitions, and indeed our assumptions, about a human return to the Moon, and future extra-terrestrial culture. SPECTRA tools translate visions for architecting a new era of spaceflight. Outcomes also signal new research and impact pathways for the artist, astronaut and avatar in space exploration and discovery.
Using the framework of Critical Metaphor Analysis (Charteris‐Black 2004), this paper analyzes metaphorical production at an analog research campus—the Mars Desert Research Station. This analogy to the potential reality of human existence on Mars offers an opportunity to study language use as speakers “make sense” of their experiences in a simulated physical and social unknown. This process is key to understanding how metaphor functions to “wor(l)d‐build” by facilitating the cognitive processes that bridge human imagination and emergent reality. This research demonstrates that metaphor is not always about physical experience, but can be shaped by imagination. Subtle shifts in conceptions and expression, such as those prevalent in this study, are symptomatic of larger processes of knowing and potentially inhibiting knowledge about experience.
Beside how to get to Mars and how to live on Mars (see the last part on this), there is also the question of how to conduct science experiments from the surface of Mars. Like all space agencies in the world, people at ESA start to think also about that aspect and more particularly how to conduct geology, biology and astrophysical experiments from the surface of the Moon and of Mars. This is not a simple question as we need to adapt and to optimize the existing scientific tools and instruments to enable good and productive science research from these extra-terrestrial planetary surfaces. Several aspects are changing with respect to an Earth-like environment: gravity-levels, atmosphere compositions, temperature ranges, humidity ranges, radiation exposure, electrostatic and abrasive dust environment, unknown bacterial environment (if existing), distance from Earth, human handling in EVA mode, etc. The list is quite long. This is one of the aspect that the project EuroGeoMars is trying to investigate at ESA, among others like assessing the development of scientific protocols and techniques in geology, astronomy and biology research in extra-terrestrial planetary conditions.
For the earth-bound artist, simply imagining having an extended microgravity experience and orbital perspective is a delicious phantasmagorical feat, but the chance to embrace the astronaut 2.0 of the commercial spaceflight era is fast becoming a reality (Armstrong 2014: 131). As a live artist I have gained valuable insights by working as a commercial diver and simulation astronaut, and I am now training for suborbital flight (Pothier 2014: 121). The aim of my body of work is to develop effective research strands and successful partnerships that will address the urgent need for knowledge of changes in human expression caused and inspired by these extreme environmental interactions. The underexplored bodily transformation beyond the impact of the Earth’s environment inspires new directions in my work from sea, to summit, to space. Performing Astronautics (2017–18) builds on my ongoing experimental and emerging aquatic arts practice (Pell 2014: 98). Its ambition is to first address the challenge of translating first-person tacit knowledge embedded in the astronautic body (Garan 2015) and connecting this with existing theoretical understandings of space-based embodiment from an Earth-based logic (Pell and Mueller 2016) (grounded, pedestrian, linear) and sea-based sensitivity (buoyant, hydrous, flowing) (Pothier 2014: 123) and then, by connecting performing arts practice with astronautics, externalizing how space impacts the human body/mind cadence to alter motion, rhythm, and perception of time/place spatiality in new ways. The opportunity to harness the oftenintangible qualities of microgravity experience into an Earthly practice proposes to start to build somatic or corporeal literacy of the environmental impact of outer space on contemporary performance. New strategies for space adaptation, greater opportunities for personal expression and degrees of freedom, and interdisciplinary knowledge transfer for future mission performance may also arise.
In extra-terrestrial
settlements of the future, liberty
will be aligned with one’s ability to act with spontaneity and forethought from a position of psychological safety, away from censorship and surveillance. Though humans are often perceived to be the vulnerable link in space systems, this chapter discusses an aspect to sustainable new settlement that is rarely mentioned: how art making can address wellbeing and the nature of isolation through an emphasis on inner experiences and self-determinism. Through the lens of a first-hand experience within a space analogue, this text explores networks of relations generated from shared practices within a confined space in an extreme environment. As the links between art and liberty
are evaluated, imaginative works are positioned as acts of free will, offering an intimate connection to an alternative reality, one that links freedom to failure. In a constrained, unfamiliar future world, art making can nourish and promote notions of freedom, build autonomy
, strengthen communities and help shape new cultural identities. Finally, in such a place, for humans to really inhabit a role in a new world, this chapter suggests that creative
practices in future extra-terrestrial
settlement need to be clearly prioritised and mandated as transitional space, occupying a significant role as part of and apart from daily life.
This book addresses one of the most exciting and innovative developments within higher education: the rise in prominence of the creative arts and the accelerating recognition that creative practice is a form of research. The book considers how creative practice can lead to research insights through what is often known as practice-led research. But unlike other books on practice-led research, it balances this with discussion of how research can impact positively on creative practice through research-led practice. The editors posit an iterative and web-like relationship between practice and research. Essays within the book cover a wide range of disciplines including creative writing, dance, music, theatre, film and new media, and the contributors are from the UK, US, Canada and Australia. The subject is approached from numerous angles: the authors discuss methodologies of practice-led research and research-led practice, their own creative work as a form of research, research training for creative practitioners, and the politics and histories of practice-led research and research-led practice within the university. The book will be invaluable for creative practitioners, researchers, students in the creative arts and university leaders. Key Features. The first book to document, conceptualise and analyse practice-led research in the creative arts and to balance it with research-led practice. Written by highly qualified academics and practitioners across the creative arts and sciences. Brings together empirical, cultural and creative approaches. Presents illuminating case histories of creative work and practice-led research. © in this edition, Edinburgh University Press, 2009.
One of the most fascinating aspects of “space psychology” may be the fact that from the beginning it has drawn heavily upon research on environments whose significant features were in some way considered to be analogous, similar, or equivalent to space vehicles. Obviously, there was no way to avoid this: after all, planning for all of the aspects of spaceflight had to occur before anyone had any actual experience in space. I remember, for instance, participating in North Atlantic Treaty Organization and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) symposia on long-duration missions back in the mid-1960s (e.g., Suedfeld, 1968).
This dissertation concerns the role of place in scientific practice. Ideas of place, I argue, shape and are shaped by science. I specifically look at the community of planetary scientists who, though they cannot step foot on the objects they study, transform planets into places. This is an ethnographic work that draws on 18 months of fieldwork during which time I encountered several different communities of planetary scientists. At MIT, I worked alongside astronomers looking for planets around other stars. These "exoplanet" astronomers transformed numerical counts of photons into complex worlds with atmospheres and weather. Data visualizations characterized the work of a community learning to see unseen planets in specific, place-based ways. I also traveled with an astronomer to a Chilean observatory where she studied the night sky hoping to find a "habitable planet." Many other astronomers share this goal and have designed various ways to detect a planet like Earth. The importance of these projects signifies that exoplanet astronomers are more interested in finding planetary kin - planets that are familiar places - than exotic aliens. To determine how the planetary places created by exoplanet astronomers differ from those in our own Solar System, I spent time at the NASA Ames Research Center with a group of computer scientists who create high resolution and three-dimensional maps of Mars. These maps reflect the kind of place Mars is today: it is available to everyone to explore, it is displayed such that you can imagine standing on the surface, and it is presented as geologically dynamic in ways similar to Earth. Even though these maps help give Mars a sense of place, Martian science is still stymied by the inability to send humans to its surface. Instead, planetary scientists travel to terrestrial sites deemed to be "Mars-like" to approximate performing geologic fieldwork on Mars. I went to one of these locations to see how, during these outings, Mars and Earth become entwined as scientists forge connections between two planetary places. These diverse scientific activities, I conclude, are transforming our view of the cosmos. Outer space is becoming outer place.
Space suit simulators are used for extravehicular activities (EVAs) during Mars analog missions. Flight planning and EVA productivity require accurate time estimates of activities to be performed with such simulators, such as experiment execution or traverse walking. We present a benchmarking methodology for the Aouda.X space suit simulator of the Austrian Space Forum. By measuring and comparing the times needed to perform a set of 10 test activities with and without Aouda.X, an average time delay was derived in the form of a multiplicative factor. This statistical value (a second-over-second time ratio) is 1.30 and shows that operations in Aouda.X take on average a third longer than the same operations without the suit. We also show that activities predominantly requiring fine motor skills are associated with larger time delays (between 1.17 and 1.59) than those requiring short-distance locomotion or short-term muscle strain (between 1.10 and 1.16). The results of the DELTA experiment performed during the MARS2013 field mission increase analog mission planning reliability and thus EVA efficiency and productivity when using Aouda.X. Key Words: Extravehicular activity (EVA)-Space suit mobility-Flight planning-Aouda.X-Suited versus unsuited performance-Productivity-Resource optimization-Analog missions-Human factors-Time delay. Astrobiology 15, xxx-xxx.
Future piloted space exploration missions will focus more on science than engineering, a change which will challenge existing concepts for flight crew tasking and demand that participants with contrasting skills, values, and backgrounds learn to cooperate as equals. In terrestrial space flight analogs such as Desert Research And Technology Studies, engineers, pilots, and scientists can practice working together, taking advantage of the full breadth of all team members' training to produce harmonious, effective missions that maximize the time and attention the crew can devote to science. This paper presents, in a format usable as a reference by participants in the field, a successfully tested crew interaction model for such missions. The model builds upon the basic framework of a scientific field expedition by adding proven concepts from aviation and human space flight, including expeditionary behavior and cockpit resource management, cooperative crew tasking and adaptive leadership and followership, formal techniques for radio communication, and increased attention to operational considerations. The crews of future space flight analogs can use this model to demonstrate effective techniques, learn from each other, develop positive working relationships, and make their expeditions more successful, even if they have limited time to train together beforehand. This model can also inform the preparation and execution of actual future space flights.
Bone density loss and muscle atrophy are among the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) highest concerns for crew health in space. Countless hours are spent maintaining an exercise regimen aboard the International Space Station (ISS) to counteract the effect of zero-gravity. Looking toward the future, NASA researchers are developing new compact and innovative exercise technologies to maintain crew health as missions increase in length and take humans further out into the solar system. The X1 Exoskeleton, initially designed for assisted mobility on Earth, was quickly theorized to have far-reaching potential as both an in-space countermeasures device and a dynamometry device to measure muscle strength. This lower-extremity device has the ability to assist or resist human movement through the use of actuators positioned at the hips and knees. Multiple points of adjustment allow for a wide range of users, all the while maintaining correct joint alignment. This paper discusses how the X1 Exoskeleton may fit NASA's on-orbit countermeasures needs.
Data from recent Mars missions suggest that Mars almost certainly had abundant liquid water on its surface at some time in the past. As a result, Mars has emerged as a key solar system target that could have harbored some form of life in the past, and which could perhaps still possess remnants of life in brine-containing permafrost. As Mars lost its atmosphere it became cold and dry. Any remaining water on the surface may have formed saline brine pockets within the permafrost. These brine pockets may either be an “oasis” for an extant Martian biota, or the last refuge of an extinct Martian biota. Eventually, these brine pockets would have dried to form evaporites. Evaporites are deposits that result from the evaporation of saline water, which on earth represent primarily halite (NaCl), gypsum, (CaSO42H2O), and anhydrite (CaSO4). Evaporites that contain bacterial and algal assemblages exist on earth today and are well known in the fossil record. The most likely organism type to survive in a brine or evaporite on earth is a halophile. The objective of this study was to determine the potential of microbes to survive in frozen evaporites. Washed mid-log phase and stationary phase cultures of Haloarcula-G (a species isolated by us during a previous study) and Halobacterium salinarum were either suspended in brine (25% NaCl solution), dried, and then exposed to −20 or −80 °C. For comparison, cultures of Deinococcus radiodurans, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas fluorescens were treated similarly, except they were resuspended in 0.5% NaCl solution. Also, to mimic a brine pocket samples of washed mid-log phase cells of each organism were placed in an aqueous solution of 25% NaCl, or in their respective nutrient medium containing 25% NaCl. Periodically, samples of the cells were removed and tested for survival. Data from these experiments suggest that halophiles survive better than non-halophiles under low temperature conditions. These observations would suggest that halophiles might survive in evaporites contained in permafrost.
Introduction: Medical requirements for the future crew exploration vehicle (CEV), lunar surface access module (LSAM), advanced extravehicular activity (EVA) suits, and Lunar habitat are currently being developed within the exploration architecture. While much is known about the vehicle and lunar surface activities during Apollo, relatively little is known about whether the hardware, systems, or environment impacted crew health or performance during these missions. Also, inherent to the proposed aggressive surface activities is the potential risk of injury to crewmembers. The Space Medicine Division at the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) requested a study in December 2005 to identify Apollo mission issues relevant to medical operations impacting crew health and/or performance during a lunar mission. The goals of this project were to develop or modify medical requirements for new vehicles and habitats, create a centralized database for future access, and share relevant Apollo information with various working groups participating in the exploration effort.
Quantified astronaut task performance will lead to enhanced training,
more efficient crew operations, and optimized mission planning. In order
to systematically address the relationships between the astronaut, tasks
to be accomplished, and environment, analytical models were developed in
conjunction with pressurized space suit experiments and state of the art
robotic technology. A joint angle and torque database was compiled for
the Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU space suit), with a novel
measurement technique using both human test subjects and an instrumented
robot. Using data collected in the experiment, a mathematical hysteresis
modeling technique was used to predict EMU joint torques from joint
angular positions. The hysteresis model was then applied to
extravehicular activity (EVA) operations by mapping out the reach and
work envelopes for the EMU. Suited astronaut range of motion limits and
locomotion were also explored, yielding quantifiable results about the
limitations astronauts would face if the current EMU, or an EMU-like
suit, was used for a planetary exploration mission. With better
understanding of astronaut performance we can look ahead to future
missions and propose both improvements to the current space suit as well
as revolutionary new designs for partial gravity locomotion space suits.
Concepts have been developed for a Bio-Suit System that could
revolutionize human space exploration by providing enhanced astronaut
EVA locomotion and life support based on the concept of providing a
`second skin' capability for astronaut performance. The Bio-Suit System
would provide life support through mechanical counterpressure where
pressure is applied to the entire body through a tight-fitting suit with
a pressurized helmet for the head. This ongoing research is aimed at
radical advances in our ability to understand, simulate, and predict
capabilities of suited astronauts in a variety of scenarios.
Humankind's innate curiosity makes us wonder whether life is or was present on other planetary bodies such as Mars. The EuroGeoMars 2009 campaign was organized at the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) to perform multidisciplinary astrobiology research. MDRS in southeast Utah is situated in a cold arid desert with mineralogy and erosion processes comparable to those on Mars. Insight into the microbial community composition of this terrestrial Mars analogue provides essential information for the search for life on Mars: including sampling and life detection methodology optimization and what kind of organisms to expect. Soil samples were collected from different locations. Culture-independent molecular analyses directed at ribosomal RNA genes revealed the presence of all three domains of life (Archaea, Bacteria and Eukarya), but these were not detected in all samples. Spiking experiments revealed that this appears to relate to low DNA recovery, due to adsorption or degradation. Bacteria were most frequently detected and showed high alpha- and beta-diversity. Members of the Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes and Gemmatimonadetes phyla were found in the majority of samples. Archaea alpha- and beta-diversity was very low. For Eukarya, a diverse range of organisms was identified, such as fungi, green algae and several phyla of Protozoa. Phylogenetic analysis revealed an extraordinary variety of putative extremophiles, mainly Bacteria but also Archaea and Eukarya. These comprised radioresistant, endolithic, chasmolithic, xerophilic, hypolithic, thermophilic, thermoacidophilic, psychrophilic, halophilic, haloalkaliphilic and alkaliphilic micro-organisms. Overall, our data revealed large difference in occurrence and diversity over short distances, indicating the need for high-sampling frequency at similar sites. DNA extraction methods need to be optimized to improve extraction efficiencies.
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