Dysregulation of the immune system has been shown to occur during space flight, although the deta... more Dysregulation of the immune system has been shown to occur during space flight, although the detailed nature of the phenomenon and the clinical risks for exploration class missions has yet to be established. In addition, the growing clinical significance of immune system evaluation combined with epidemic infectious disease rates in third world countries provides a strong rationale for the development of field-compatible clinical immunology techniques and equipment. In July 2002 NASA performed a comprehensive field immunology assessment on crewmembers participating in the Haughton-Mars Project (HMP) on Devon Island in the high Canadian Arctic. The purpose of the study was to evaluate mission-associated effects on the human immune system, as well as to evaluate techniques developed for processing immune samples in remote field locations. Ten HMP-2002 participants volunteered for the study. A field protocol was developed at NASA-JSC for performing sample collection, blood staining/processing for immunophenotype analysis, wholeblood mitogenic culture for functional assessments and cell-sample preservation on-location at Devon Island. Specific assays included peripheral leukocyte distribution; constitutively activated T cells, intracellular cytokine profiles and plasma EBV viral antibody levels. Study timepoints were L-30, midmission and R+60. The protocol developed for immune sample processing in remote field locations functioned properly. Samples were processed in the field location, and stabilized for subsequent analysis at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. The data indicated that some phenotype, immune function and stress hormone changes occurred in the HMP field participants that were largely distinct from pre-mission baseline and post-mission recovery data. These immune changes appear similar to those observed in Astronauts following spaceflight. The sample processing protocol developed for this study may have applications for immune assessment during exploration-class space missions or in remote terrestrial field locations. The data validate the use of the HMP as a ground-based spaceflight/planetary exploration analog for some aspects of human physiology.
Abstract The McMurdo Dry Valleys detailed in previous chapters represent one environment for life... more Abstract The McMurdo Dry Valleys detailed in previous chapters represent one environment for life thought to have existed on Mars among many. This chapter illustrates other potential habitats and their significance:(1) highaltitude lakes subjected to rapid climate change in the Andes provide analogy to the Noachian/Hesperian transition on Mars;(2) Rıo Tinto, Spain, where conditions are reminiscent of Meridiani Planum, unravels an underground anaerobic chemoautotroph biosphere that could resemble a modern refuge for life on Mars;(3) the ...
Devon Island, in the Canadian High Arctic (75°22&... more Devon Island, in the Canadian High Arctic (75°22"N, 89°41"W), is the largest uninhabited island on the planet. The climate is that of a polar desert; it is cold, dry, dusty, rocky, and almost void of any vegetation. The eastern part of the island is still covered by an ice cap, a remnant of the Inuitian Ice Sheet system that covered
In comparison to the lunar regolith, asteroidal regoliths appear to be deficient in dust and in a... more In comparison to the lunar regolith, asteroidal regoliths appear to be deficient in dust and in agglutinates, i.e., in particles ≤100 μm across. On asteroid surfaces of high electrical resistiv_ity, such particles may be electrostatically levitated and the smaller size fraction may be preferentially lost. Two electrostatic field production mechanisms commonly considered for the Moon, where dust levitation has been
The two fundamental geologic observations on Mars at the basis of the classical notion that Early... more The two fundamental geologic observations on Mars at the basis of the classical notion that Early Mars was climatically wet and warm are: a) the relatively degraded morphology of most ancient impact structures in the martian highlands compared to fresh-looking impact craters on airless planetary bodies, and b) the existence and quasi ubiquitous distribution of small valley networks in the
The medical issues for an exploratory class mission to Mars are myriad and challenging. They incl... more The medical issues for an exploratory class mission to Mars are myriad and challenging. They include hazards from the space environment, such as space vacuum and radiation; hazards on the planetary surface such as micrometeoroids and Martian dust, and constitutional medical hazards, like appendicitis and tooth abscess. They include hazards in the transit vehicle like foreign bodies and toxic atmospheres, and hazards in the habitat like decompression and combustion events. They also include human physiological adaptation to variable conditions of reduced gravity and prolonged isolation and confinement. The health maintenance program for a Mars mission will employ strategies of disease prevention, early detection, and contingency management, to mitigate the risks of spaceflight and exploration. Countermeasures for altered gravity conditions will allow crewmembers to maintain high levels of performance and nominal physiologic functioning. Despite all of these issues, given sufficient redundancy in on-board life support systems, there are no medical show-stoppers for the first human exploratory class missions.
Impact structures are a rare habitat on Earth. However, where they do occur they can potentially ... more Impact structures are a rare habitat on Earth. However, where they do occur they can potentially have an important influence on the local ecology. Some of the types of habitat created in the immediate post-impact environment are not specific to the impact phenomenon, such as hydrothermal systems and crater lakes that can be found, for instance, in post-volcanic environments, albeit with different thermal characteristics than those associated with impact. However, some of the habitats created are specifically linked to processes of impact processing. Two examples of how impact processing of target materials has created novel habitats that improve the opportunities for colonization are found in the Haughton impact structure in the Canadian High Arctic. Impact-shocked rocks have become a habitat for endolithic microorganisms, and large, impact-shattered blocks of rock are used as resting sites by avifauna. However, some materials produced by an impact, such as melt sheet rocks, can make craters more biologically depauperate than the area surrounding them. Although there are no recent craters with which to study immediate post-impact colonization, these data yield insights into generalized mechanisms of how impact processing can influence post-impact succession. Because impact events are one of a number of processes that can bring localized destruction to ecosystems, understanding the manner in which impact structures are recolonized is of ecological interest. Impact craters are a universal phenomenon on solid planetary surfaces, and so they are of potential biological relevance on other planetary surfaces, particularly Mars.
... Each field season an international group Page 12. 280 TD Barfoot et al. Rover Tent Lake Orbit... more ... Each field season an international group Page 12. 280 TD Barfoot et al. Rover Tent Lake Orbiter Rover Path Fig. ... The UofT ROC6 used ground-penetrating radar along this 734 m path to look for ice deposits (2009). of scientists visits to collect sam-ples and take measurements. ...
Dysregulation of the immune system has been shown to occur during space flight, although the deta... more Dysregulation of the immune system has been shown to occur during space flight, although the detailed nature of the phenomenon and the clinical risks for exploration class missions has yet to be established. In addition, the growing clinical significance of immune system evaluation combined with epidemic infectious disease rates in third world countries provides a strong rationale for the development of field-compatible clinical immunology techniques and equipment. In July 2002 NASA performed a comprehensive field immunology assessment on crewmembers participating in the Haughton-Mars Project (HMP) on Devon Island in the high Canadian Arctic. The purpose of the study was to evaluate mission-associated effects on the human immune system, as well as to evaluate techniques developed for processing immune samples in remote field locations. Ten HMP-2002 participants volunteered for the study. A field protocol was developed at NASA-JSC for performing sample collection, blood staining/processing for immunophenotype analysis, wholeblood mitogenic culture for functional assessments and cell-sample preservation on-location at Devon Island. Specific assays included peripheral leukocyte distribution; constitutively activated T cells, intracellular cytokine profiles and plasma EBV viral antibody levels. Study timepoints were L-30, midmission and R+60. The protocol developed for immune sample processing in remote field locations functioned properly. Samples were processed in the field location, and stabilized for subsequent analysis at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. The data indicated that some phenotype, immune function and stress hormone changes occurred in the HMP field participants that were largely distinct from pre-mission baseline and post-mission recovery data. These immune changes appear similar to those observed in Astronauts following spaceflight. The sample processing protocol developed for this study may have applications for immune assessment during exploration-class space missions or in remote terrestrial field locations. The data validate the use of the HMP as a ground-based spaceflight/planetary exploration analog for some aspects of human physiology.
Abstract The McMurdo Dry Valleys detailed in previous chapters represent one environment for life... more Abstract The McMurdo Dry Valleys detailed in previous chapters represent one environment for life thought to have existed on Mars among many. This chapter illustrates other potential habitats and their significance:(1) highaltitude lakes subjected to rapid climate change in the Andes provide analogy to the Noachian/Hesperian transition on Mars;(2) Rıo Tinto, Spain, where conditions are reminiscent of Meridiani Planum, unravels an underground anaerobic chemoautotroph biosphere that could resemble a modern refuge for life on Mars;(3) the ...
Devon Island, in the Canadian High Arctic (75°22&... more Devon Island, in the Canadian High Arctic (75°22"N, 89°41"W), is the largest uninhabited island on the planet. The climate is that of a polar desert; it is cold, dry, dusty, rocky, and almost void of any vegetation. The eastern part of the island is still covered by an ice cap, a remnant of the Inuitian Ice Sheet system that covered
In comparison to the lunar regolith, asteroidal regoliths appear to be deficient in dust and in a... more In comparison to the lunar regolith, asteroidal regoliths appear to be deficient in dust and in agglutinates, i.e., in particles ≤100 μm across. On asteroid surfaces of high electrical resistiv_ity, such particles may be electrostatically levitated and the smaller size fraction may be preferentially lost. Two electrostatic field production mechanisms commonly considered for the Moon, where dust levitation has been
The two fundamental geologic observations on Mars at the basis of the classical notion that Early... more The two fundamental geologic observations on Mars at the basis of the classical notion that Early Mars was climatically wet and warm are: a) the relatively degraded morphology of most ancient impact structures in the martian highlands compared to fresh-looking impact craters on airless planetary bodies, and b) the existence and quasi ubiquitous distribution of small valley networks in the
The medical issues for an exploratory class mission to Mars are myriad and challenging. They incl... more The medical issues for an exploratory class mission to Mars are myriad and challenging. They include hazards from the space environment, such as space vacuum and radiation; hazards on the planetary surface such as micrometeoroids and Martian dust, and constitutional medical hazards, like appendicitis and tooth abscess. They include hazards in the transit vehicle like foreign bodies and toxic atmospheres, and hazards in the habitat like decompression and combustion events. They also include human physiological adaptation to variable conditions of reduced gravity and prolonged isolation and confinement. The health maintenance program for a Mars mission will employ strategies of disease prevention, early detection, and contingency management, to mitigate the risks of spaceflight and exploration. Countermeasures for altered gravity conditions will allow crewmembers to maintain high levels of performance and nominal physiologic functioning. Despite all of these issues, given sufficient redundancy in on-board life support systems, there are no medical show-stoppers for the first human exploratory class missions.
Impact structures are a rare habitat on Earth. However, where they do occur they can potentially ... more Impact structures are a rare habitat on Earth. However, where they do occur they can potentially have an important influence on the local ecology. Some of the types of habitat created in the immediate post-impact environment are not specific to the impact phenomenon, such as hydrothermal systems and crater lakes that can be found, for instance, in post-volcanic environments, albeit with different thermal characteristics than those associated with impact. However, some of the habitats created are specifically linked to processes of impact processing. Two examples of how impact processing of target materials has created novel habitats that improve the opportunities for colonization are found in the Haughton impact structure in the Canadian High Arctic. Impact-shocked rocks have become a habitat for endolithic microorganisms, and large, impact-shattered blocks of rock are used as resting sites by avifauna. However, some materials produced by an impact, such as melt sheet rocks, can make craters more biologically depauperate than the area surrounding them. Although there are no recent craters with which to study immediate post-impact colonization, these data yield insights into generalized mechanisms of how impact processing can influence post-impact succession. Because impact events are one of a number of processes that can bring localized destruction to ecosystems, understanding the manner in which impact structures are recolonized is of ecological interest. Impact craters are a universal phenomenon on solid planetary surfaces, and so they are of potential biological relevance on other planetary surfaces, particularly Mars.
... Each field season an international group Page 12. 280 TD Barfoot et al. Rover Tent Lake Orbit... more ... Each field season an international group Page 12. 280 TD Barfoot et al. Rover Tent Lake Orbiter Rover Path Fig. ... The UofT ROC6 used ground-penetrating radar along this 734 m path to look for ice deposits (2009). of scientists visits to collect sam-ples and take measurements. ...
Noctis Landing, a proposed human Landing Site and Exploration Zone in West Valles Marineris, Mars... more Noctis Landing, a proposed human Landing Site and Exploration Zone in West Valles Marineris, Mars, presents hydrated minerals attesting to a complex aqueous history and opportunities for future human exploration.
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