As record numbers of civilians head into space and scientists improve their techniques for collecting data on these brave test subjects, we may be entering a renaissance in human spaceflight research.
A sign that a renaissance is imminent came earlier this week when the journal Nature published a series of papers detailing the physical and mental changes experienced by the four-member Inspiration4 crew nearly three years ago. In collaboration with SpaceX, the mission launched on September 15, 2021, and returned to Earth three days later.
During the mission, the crew experienced extensive molecular changes, dysregulated immune systems, and mild cognitive decline. However, researchers can only analyze more than 100,000 health-related data points. This is because a crew of four was able to collect it reliably in the first place.
This is a bigger accomplishment than we think. The Inspiration4 crew received much of their training through SpaceX, which provided the Dragon capsule needed to traverse orbit. But their preparation is still a far cry from that of NASA astronauts aboard the ISS, who regularly perform health tests on their own. These include ultrasounds, cognitive tests, biopsies, blood and saliva tests, skin swabs, and sensorimotor tests.
“The first result (of the research) is that we can do research with individuals in space,” Dr. Dorit Donoviel said in a recent interview. Dr. Donoviel is a co-author of one of the papers published in Nature and an associate professor at Baylor University's Center for Space Medicine. She is also the Executive Director of the NASA-funded research consortium Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH). TRISH conducts and funds cutting-edge research to improve human safety in space.
“To be honest, I wasn't sure if we could collect a reasonable amount of data, if it would be actionable, if regular people who had never encountered scientific research would be able to do something about it. “We will be able to really analyze it,” she continued, referring to her Inspiration4 mission.
In some obvious ways, the Inspiration4 crew is far from ordinary. The mission's leader, Jared Isaacman, is a billionaire who founded a payment processing company at the age of 16. Hayley Arcenaux is a member of the world-famous St. Mary's Church. He is a physician assistant at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Sian Proctor is a pilot with a PhD who teaches geology at university level. and Christopher Sembroski, a former U.S. Air Force journeyman who joined his current employer, Blue Origin, after a long career as an aerospace engineer.
Nonetheless, they still came to Inspiration4 as spaceflight novices. This meant TRISH researchers had to devise a suite of tests that could be performed with minimal training. The Inspiration4 crew also wore Apple Watches, and the capsule was equipped with environmental sensors that researchers were able to correlate with other test results. Dr Donoviel said correlating the data was “unusual” but gave researchers unique insight into how changes in a confined environment affect things like heart rate and cognitive ability.
Overall, researchers are trying to move toward digitizing tests and making data collection more passive to lower the cognitive overhead for individual astronauts. (NASA astronauts also take cognitive tests, but they do so using pencil and paper, Dr. Donoviel said.)
Gathering such information will be invaluable as the number of civilians heading to space increases. This almost certainly appears to be the case within the next decade. Researchers will be able to better understand the impact of spaceflight on people who do not fit the mold of the typical NASA astronaut: male, white, and in the top percentile for physical and cognitive performance. But they can only do so if future space tourists are willing to collect data.
More data could mean we can better understand how spaceflight affects women and men, or help us understand how future space tourists with pre-existing conditions fare in a weightless environment. The results of Inspiration4 are particularly promising for space tourism. TRISH's paper, based on data from that mission, found that short-duration missions did not pose significant health risks. These latest preliminary findings add to existing data suggesting that long-term stays in space – in this case 340 days – may not be as dangerous as once thought.
So far, commercial service providers ranging from Axiom Space to SpaceX to Blue Origin have been much more willing to work with TRISH and have agreed to standardize and integrate data collected from their respective missions, Dr. Donoviel said.
“They are all competing for these people (as customers), but this allows them to contribute to a common knowledge base,” she added.
This is just the beginning. The increase in non-governmental spaceflight missions raises key questions related to the norms, ethics, and regulation of human research in space. More civilians are likely to head into space than ever before, but will they be interested in becoming test subjects for further scientific research? Would a private astronaut paying $50 million for a luxurious space tourism experience want to spend time in orbit performing ultrasounds on himself or meticulously measuring temporary cognitive decline?
if; Probably not. Last year, Donoviel co-published an article in Science calling, among other things, for the development of a set of principles to guide commercial spaceflight missions. One of the principles called for by the author is social responsibility. Essentially, the idea is that private astronauts have a higher social responsibility to advance this research.
“If you're going to go to space, you're going to rest on your laurels for all the public money that made it possible to get there. Taxpayers have now paid for all the space capabilities that allow you to go into space. Therefore, you owe the results of your research to the taxpayers,” Dr. Donoviel argued. She added that advances in wearable technology have only reduced the burden on research participants. As well as the Apple Watch, there have been technologies such as the Biobutton device, which continuously collects many vital signs or sweat patches.
“We won’t make you miserable. We won't prick you with needles. We won't make you do an ultrasound. “We will just have you wear the BioButton and apply a sweat patch.”
