Item Details

title

QUANTIFYING MUSCULOSKELETAL CHANGES DUE TO LONGDURATION SPACEFLIGHT AND INJURY RISK PREDICTIONS IN LUNAR TERRAIN VEHICLE (LTV) DURING EXTRA-VEHICULAR ACTIVITIES (EVAs)

author

Poveda, Luis

abstract

Prolonged microgravity exposure due to long-duration spaceflight pose a number of risks on astronauts and their performance during missions. The unweighting of the skeletal muscles results in muscle tissue atrophy and fat infiltration, detrimental effects on muscle strength and endurance, etc. Thoracolumbar musculature changes with spaceflight are a growing concern as these muscles provide spinal stability, appropriate posture, loadbearing support and gait enablement. This study uses medical imaging from crewmembers in long-duration ISS missions to quantify pre-to-post flight thoracolumbar muscle-specific size and composition changes. We found significant size decreases in the quadratus lumborum muscle and lean muscle tissue content in the paraspinal muscles. There were significant changes in fat infiltration of the transversospinalis and quadratus lumborum muscles. Treadmill exercise had a tendency to reduce fat content in the paraspinal and quadratus lumborum muscles, while counteracting muscle build-up only in the paraspinal muscles. Findings from this study will help assess an astronaut’s health and performance, and improve current in-flight countermeasures for future lunar and Mars missions. For future lunar missions, The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is considering an upright posture on the LTV to maximize vehicle ingress and egress time efficiency. However, the effects of a non-traditional posture on the irregular lunar surface with varying slope angles on astronaut kinematics and injury risks remains unknown. This study aims to predict astronaut injury risk and kinematics throughout the execution of lunar EVAs. For humankind exploration beyond low-Earth orbit (LEO) to be a success, it is crucial to better understand the effects of the hazards of outer space on the human body. All body injury metrics were below NASA’s injury tolerance limits, but compressive forces were highest in the lumbar (250-550N lumbar, tolerance: 5300N) and lower extremity (190-700N tibia, tolerance: 1350N) regions. There was a strong association between the magnitudes of body injury metrics and LTV resultant linear acceleration (10/13 injury metrics significant; ρ=0.70-0.81)

subject

Injury

Microgravity

Moon

Rover

Spaceflight

contributor

Weaver, Ashley A (advisor)

Gayzik, Scott F (committee member)

date

2023-09-08T08:35:23Z (accessioned)

2023 (issued)

degree

Biomedical Engineering (discipline)

embargo

2028-09-05 (terms)

2028-09-05 (liftdate)

identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/10339/102609 (uri)

language

en (iso)

publisher

Wake Forest University

type

Thesis