The document discusses the challenges of long-duration human spaceflight and the need to understand human health risks over periods of 1000 days in space. The NASA Human Research Program aims to provide countermeasures, knowledge, and tools to enable safe space exploration by minimizing risks to human health and performance from hazards like altered gravity, isolation, closed environments, and distance from Earth. While six-month ISS missions provide some data, longer missions are needed to assess physiological and behavioral changes over time and validate countermeasures for medical conditions, deconditioning, and performance issues over multi-year missions like a journey to Mars.

1. Can Humans Survive 1000 Days in Space?
JEFF DAVIS, DIRECTOR, HUMAN HEALTH AND
PERFORMANCE, NASA JSC
MARK SHELHAMER, CHIEF SCIENTIST, NASA HUMAN
RESEARCH PROGRAM, NASA
BOB BAGDIGIAN , CHIEF, ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL AND
LIFE SUPPORT DEVELOPMENT BRANCH, MSFC NASA
JAMES REUTHER, DEPUTY ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR
OF PROGRAMS, STMD NASA

2. Can Humans Survive 1000 Days in Space?
JAMES REUTHER, DEPUTY ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR
OF PROGRAMS, STMD NASA

3. THE SPACE TECHNOLOGY PIPELINE
3
Continues maturation of promising low TRL technologies from CIF, SBIR, etc…
Technology
Development -
• Game Changing
Development Program
• SBIR Program Phase III
Technology Demonstrations
• Technology Demonstration Systems
• Small Spacecraft Technologies
Low TRL
Early Stage
• NASA Innovative Adv Concepts Program
• Space Tech Research Grants Program
• Center Innovation Fund Program
• SBIR Program Phases I & II
Mid TRL
High TRL
New Technology
Partners
• Flight Opportunities Program
• Centennial Challenges
Program

4. HIGH POWER SOLAR ELECTRIC
PROPULSION
4
Cross-cutting SEP development and
demonstration objectives:
• Develop & demonstrate a 25-50 kW class SEP tug
 Extensible to 150-300 kW for deep space human
exploration
 Directly applicable to SMD & other government agency
missions
 First demonstration targeted for the Asteroid Redirect
Mission
• Develop & demonstrate SEP component
technologies that benefit the commercial sector
 Deployable solar arrays with reduced mass and
efficient packaging for improved commercial
satellite affordability and potential ISS retrofitting
 High-power Hall thrusters for all-electric
commercial satellites
4

5. SOLAR ELECTRIC PROPULSION FOR MARS
MISSIONS
5
Major considerations related to using SEP for Mars
missions:
• Very high propellant usage efficiency (specific impulse 2000 to
4000+ s)
• Reduces number of SLS launches needed for human Mars mission
by as much as 50% by splitting crew and cargo transit
• Developing key technologies (arrays, thrusters) to meet emerging
industry needs can provide a stepping stone to scaling up for
exploration missions
• Very low thrust compared to chemical and nuclear thermal options
so trip times are too long for crew transport
Major technology development needs:
• Very large solar array (100+ kW) development / demonstration
• High-power (50-100 kW class) thruster development /
demonstration
• Power processing system development / demonstration
• Propellant tank development / demonstration

6. WOVEN THERMAL PROTECTION SYSTEM
Dry Woven TPS
2” diameter, 1650 W/cm2, 1.3 atm
z
z
z
Heritage
Materials
Woven
Materials
6
• Woven TPS - can tailor the material
composition for a given mission
– Densities ranging from 0.4 to 1.4 g/cc have
been manufactured
• Highly compliant ablative woven TPS
materials containing phenolic resins (dry
woven, no resin infusion)
– Reduces TPS integration challenges
– Addresses common TPS cracking issues
• Woven TPS will reduce mass for future
exploration missions
– Orion compression pads are first application
– Improved performance / mass
– Ability to tailor TPS through the thickness
• Example of successful transition from a
Center Innovation Fund to Game Changing

7. ENTRY SYSTEMS FOR HUMAN MARS
MISSIONS
TODAY: 4.5 m lands 900 kg
7
• 1970s Viking-era entry, descent, and landing technologies are
inadequate for payloads larger than MSL-sized spacecraft
 Rigid aeroshells constrained in size by launch shrouds do not provide enough
surface area to slow down a human-scale Mars lander (20,000-40,000 kg)
 Parachute technology (size and material) is too limited to apply
 Can only access 30-40% of Mars; need to land below “sea level”
• STMD is investing in entry systems to enable human Mars missions
 Hypersonic inflatable aerodynamic decelerator (HIAD)
 Inflatable tori with overlaid thermal protection system
 Flight tested at 3 m scale (IRVE-2, IRVE-3 projects)
 Currently about TRL 4 for human scale
 Adaptive deployable entry and placement technology (ADEPT)
 Mechanically deployed structure with carbon fabric skin
 Flight test of 1 m article planned for FY16
 Currently about TRL 2 for human scale
• Both systems are folded for launch and deployed before Mars entry
to provide an essentially rigid aerodynamic surface and the heating
protection needed for hypersonic entry
HIAD
ADEPT

8. IN SITU RESOURCE UTILIZATION (ISRU)
FOR MARS EXPLORATION
Approach:
• STMD partnered with SMD & AES to
develop & demonstrate an ISRU payload
for Mars 2020 mission
 Successful precursor demonstration
will mitigate risks associated with
relying on ISRU for future Mars’
exploration missions
 MIT-led ISRU demonstration selected
using Mars 2020 Instrument AO
 Will produce oxygen with 99.6% purity
for the equivalent of 50 sols
 STMD / AES will each provide $15M
Overview/Background:
• The in situ production of propellant and
consumable oxygen enables more
affordable and sustainable Mars
exploration
 Reduced Earth-launch mass &
cryogenic storage burden
 Reduced burden on Mars’ Entry,
Descent, and Landing (EDL) systems
 ISRU enables 200mt initial mass to
LEO savings for single Mars mission*
*Aerojet report
8

9. DEEP-SPACE OPTICAL COMMUNICATIONS
(DSOC) ARCHITECTURE
Spacecraft Operations
Deep Space
Network
TM/TC
Operations Center
TM / TC Data
TM / TC
Mars Example
Downlink rate (Mb/s) to 12m at 0.42AU 250
Downlink rate (Mb/s) to 5m at 0.42AU >100
Downlink rate (Mb/s) to 5m at 0.2AU >250
Mass (kg) 25
DC Power (W) 75
SEP, SPE (degrees) 12, 3
Lifetime (years) 5
22 cm Optical Head,
Disturbance Isolation
Opto-Electronics Box
1-m Diameter Existing
Opt. Comm. Telescope
Lab. Uplink5 m Hale Telescope
250 Mb/s
Mars Orbiter Example:
DOT vs Equivalent MRO Ka-band Telecom System
9

10. Can Humans Survive 1000 Days in Space?
JEFF DAVIS, DIRECTOR, HUMAN HEALTH AND
PERFORMANCE, NASA JSC

11. Human Health and Performance
Risk Management
1000 Days in Space
ISS R&D Conference
July 7-9, 2015
Jeffrey R. Davis, MD

12. Hostile
Spaceflight
Environment
Altered Gravity
Radiation
Isolation
Closed Environment
Distance from Earth
Mitigations
NASA Human Health and Performance
Goal: Enable Successful Space Exploration by Minimizing the Risks of Spaceflight
Hazards
Deliverables:
Technologies
Countermeasures
Preventions
Treatments
Spaceflight/Design Reference Missions
Hazards
Risks
Standards
Evidence
Human Risks
Bone & Muscle
loss, Radiation
Exposure, Toxic
Exposure, etc
Medical Ops
Occupational
Surveillance
Environmental
Research
Standards to
Requirements

13. Hazards of Spaceflight
Hazards Drive Human Spaceflight Risks
13
Altered Gravity -
Physiological Changes
Distance from earth
Hostile/
Closed Environment
Space Radiation
Isolation & Confinement
Acute In-flight effects
Long term cancer risk
Balance Disorders
Fluid Shifts
Cardiovascular Deconditioning
Muscle Atrophy
Bone Loss
Drives the need for additional
“autonomous” medical care
capacity – cannot come home for
treatment
Behavioral aspect of isolation
Sleep disorders
Vehicle Design
Environmental – CO2 Levels,
Toxic Exposures, Water, Food
Decreased Immune Function

14. 14
Design Reference Missions Categories
All of the Human Risks are evaluated against the following categories:
DRM Categories Mission
Duration
Gravity
Environment
Radiation
Environment
Earth Return
Low Earth Orbit 6 months Microgravity LEO - Van Allen 1 day or less
1 year Microgravity LEO - Van Allen 1 day or less
Deep Space Sortie 1 month Microgravity Deep Space < 5 days
Lunar Visit/Habitation 1 year 1/6g Lunar 5 Days
Deep Space Journey/
Habitation
1 year Microgravity Deep Space Weeks to
Months
Planetary Visit/Habitation 3 years Fractional Planetary* Months
Examples of Missions that would fall into the DRM Categories:
Low Earth Orbit – ISS6, ISS12, Commercial Suborbital, Commercial Visits to ISS, future commercial platforms in LEO
Deep Space Sortie: MPCV test flights, moon fly around or landing, visits to L1/L2, deep space excursion
Lunar Habitation: Staying on the surface more than 30 Days (less than 30 days would be similar)
Deep Space Habitation: L1/L2 Habitation, Asteroid visit, journey to planets
Planetary Habitation: Living on a planetary surface, MARS
*Planet has no magnetic poles, limited atmosphere

15. Evidence is gathered from in-flight medical and research operations, spaceflight analogs,
terrestrial analogs, and/or animal data. Data must be correlated from NASA medical
(LSAH), research (LSDA), environmental & terrestrial data bases.
NASA/HMTA Human Risks Evidence Base
Medical Data (mandatory)
Medical data generally does not
require informed consent and
may only be used for:
 Medical care by clinician
 Occupational Surveillance
Research Data (voluntary)
• Research data requires
informed consent by the
subject & the data.
• Ground analogs
• Includes animal research
Environmental &
Operational Data
Generation of Metrics to assess Human System Risks
Data gathered to understand the
occupational environment, such
as:
• CO2 levels, acoustic, landing
loads, radiations levels, mission
operations
HMTA Human System Risk Assessment
15
Related terrestrial
incidence, treatment
and research
Terrestrial Data
+¾ of Risk Evidence from Operational
Medical/Environmental/ Occupational
Surveillance Programs
¼ of Risk Evidence from
Research Programs (Focus on
Human System Risks understanding and
countermeasure development)Correlation of data by
subject matter experts
& physicians.

16. Summary of Human Risks of Spaceflight
Grouped by Hazards – 30 Human Risks
16
Altered Gravity Field
1. Spaceflight-Induced Intracranial
Hypertension/Vision Alterations
2. Renal Stone Formation
3. Impaired Control of
Spacecraft/Associated Systems and
Decreased Mobility Due to
Vestibular/Sensorimotor Alterations
Associated with Space Flight
4. Bone Fracture due to spaceflight
Induced changes to bone
5. Impaired Performance Due to Reduced
Muscle Mass, Strength & Endurance
6. Reduced Physical Performance
Capabilities Due to Reduced Aerobic
Capacity
7. Adverse Health Effects Due to Host-
Microorganism Interactions
8. Urinary Retention
9. Orthostatic Intolerance During Re-
Exposure to Gravity
10.Cardiac Rhythm Problems
11.Space Adaptation Back Pain
Radiation
1. Space Radiation Exposure
on Human Health (cancer,
cardio and CNS)
Isolation
1. Adverse Cognitive or
Behavioral Conditions &
Psychiatric Disorders
2. Performance & Behavioral
health Decrements Due to
Inadequate Cooperation,
Coordination,
Communication, &
Psychosocial Adaptation
within a Team
Hostile/Closed Environment-
Spacecraft Design
1. Acute and Chronic Carbon Dioxide Exposure
2. Performance decrement and crew illness due
to inadequate food and nutrition
3. Reduced Crew Performance and of Injury Due
to Inadequate Human-System Interaction
Design (HSID)
4. Injury from Dynamic Loads
5. Injury and Compromised Performance due to
EVA Operations
6. Adverse Health & Performance Effects of
Celestial Dust Exposure
7. Adverse Health Event Due to Altered Immune
Response
8. Reduced Crew Health and Performance Due
to Hypobaric Hypoxia
9. Performance Decrements & Adverse Health
Outcomes Resulting from Sleep Loss,
Circadian Desynchronization, & Work
Overload
10. Decompression Sickness
11. Toxic Exposure
12. Hearing Loss Related to Spaceflight
13. Injury from Sunlight Exposure
14. Crew Health Due to Electrical Shock
Distance from Earth
1. Adverse Health Outcomes
& Decrements in
Performance due to
inflight Medical
Conditions
2. Ineffective or Toxic
Medications due to Long
Term Storage
Concerns
1. Clinically Relevant Unpredicted Effects of Meds
2. Intervertebral Disc Damage upon &
immediately after re-exposure to Gravity

17. Can Humans Survive 1000 Days in Space?
MARK SHELHAMER, CHIEF SCIENTIST, NASA HUMAN RESEARCH
PROGRAM, NASA

18. National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Human Research Program
Can Humans Survive 1000 Days in Space?
Perspective of the NASA Human Research Program
ISS R & D Conference – 9 July 2015
Mark Shelhamer, Sc.D.
Chief Scientist
mark.j.shelhamer@nasa.gov

19. Human Research Program
Human Research Program Goal
The goal of HRP is to provide human health and
performance
countermeasures,
knowledge,
technologies, and
tools
to enable safe, reliable, and productive human
space exploration.
Seat layout for contingency EVA
Example of a study on the effects of
center of gravity on performance
Clay Anderson centrifuges
Nutrition blood samples
during Increment 15
19

20. Human Research Program
Destination - MARS
20

21. Human Research Program
21
Primary Hazards to Humans during
Space Flight
 Decreased gravity
(including gravity transitions & launch/landing loads)
bone, muscle, cardiovascular, sensorimotor, nutrition, immunology
behavior/performance, human factors, clinical medicine
 Isolation/confinement/altered light-dark cycles
behavior/performance
 Hostile/closed environment
(including habitability: atmosphere, microbes, dust,
volume/configuration, displays/controls)
behavior/performance, nutrition, immunology, toxicology,
microbiology
 Increased radiation
immunology, carcinogenesis, behavior/performance, tissue
degeneration, pharmaceutical stability
 Distance from Earth
behavior/performance, autonomy, food systems, clinical medicine

22. Human Research Program
Space Flight Effects on Humans
22
Image from: http://zerog2002.de/bodyreactions.html
• Affects most systems of the body
– Sensorimotor, Cardiovascular, Muscle, Bone,
Immune
• Different time courses and
magnitudes
• Consequences for health and
performance (physical and
behavioral)
• Responses commonly explored
individually
• Systems interact in ways we do
not yet understand
• Adaptation to “space normal”
occurs

23. Human Research Program
MagnitudeofDecrement(ArbitraryUnits)
Time After Launch (Months)
642 8 10 12
Immune, OSaD,
Atherosclerosis
VIIP
Orthostatic
Tolerance
Aerobic
Capacity
Muscle
Bone
Sensorimotor
• Notional view of changes assuming currently known and effective countermeasures used
• Dash size reflects uncertainty in trend
• Individual variability not shown
In-Flight Physiological Changes
Acceptable
Decrement
(based on
current
standards)
trend dynamics unknown

24. Human Research Program
Integrated Path to Risk Reduction
24

25. Human Research Program
Rationale for One-year ISS Missions
• No amount of six-month flights will tell us that we can send people to Mars with a
reasonable expectation of maintaining health, safety, and performance.
– Physiological events with temporal threshold (VIIP)
• What are the critical unknowns for such a mission?
– How many one-year ISS missions needed to provide some degree of confidence that we are
ready for the journey.
• Desire to leverage six-month database.

26. Human Research Program
Three Major Areas of Concern
• Medical events
– Establish likelihood of events with temporal trend
– Characterize response with known medical conditions
• Physiological deconditioning
– Establish efficacy of countermeasures
• Behavior & Performance
– Characterize trends
– Validate countermeasures

27. Human Research Program
Medical Conditions:
Integrated Medical Model
• Establish model of probabilistic risk assessment for most
relevant medical conditions
• Conditions with documented or hypothesized incidence or
severity variation over time
– Behavioral conditions (depression, anxiety, and sleep disturbance)
– Visual Impairment / Intracranial Pressure (VIIP)
– Kidney stones
• Increased urinary calcium load and supersaturation conducive to stone formation.
Risk may be higher for a 12 month mission (vs. a 6 month mission).
• Incidence of post-flight (within 1 year) kidney stone formation appears higher in
long-duration flyers than short duration flyers (3.9% vs. 1.4%). Relevant to post-
landing ops.

28. Human Research Program
• Major areas of concern
– Bone loss
– Aerobic capacity
– Muscle deconditioning
– Cardiovascular fitness
– Sensorimotor function
• Assume best-case countermeasure effectiveness
– Are effects after one year different from those after six months?
• Two-step approach: parallel paths
– Establish 6-month norms (controlled, understood)
– Determine if 1-year responses are outside of those norms
Physiological Risks, Countermeasures

29. Human Research Program
• Behavioral areas susceptible to increased risk over a one year mission:
(1) sleep loss, circadian desynchrony, workload and fatigue
(2) stress, morale and mood changes
(3) cognitive functioning
(4) interpersonal conflicts
(5) motivational challenges
(6) family separation and personal communications
• Temporal trend data not available for all of these measures.
• Desire realistic environment and population to validate countermeasures.
There are correlations between stress, sleep, tiredness, and physical exhaustion that
suggest an underlying physiological factor. Even if stress is compensated and
does not affect performance, it may produce adverse physiological changes
(immune function).
Behavioral Health

30. Human Research Program
• ISS Journal entries on
conflict by mission
quarter
Behavioral Concerns
Interpersonal Conflicts
• ISS Group Interaction
Positivity Ratings by
mission quarter (244
entries)

31. Human Research Program
Stress Ratings Increased in the 3rd and 4th Quarters on 6-mo ISS Missions
(N = 15 astronauts)
Dinges et al. Confidential Reaction Self Test data from ISS:
± SE

32. Human Research Program
One-Year Missions and Twins Study
• Scott Kelly of NASA and Mikhail Kornienko of Roscosmos launched to the International Space Station
on 27 March for a one-year stay, the longest space mission ever assigned to a NASA astronaut
• This one-year mission opportunity will show if observed physiological trends continue as before or if
we are approaching any “cliffs” that will require new treatments while providing new insights
• The Twins Study (Scott and Mark Kelly) is NASA’s first foray into 21st-century omics research and will
examine differential effects on homozygous twin astronauts associated with differences in exposure to
spaceflight factors
• The Twins Study will examine
– Genome, telomeres, epigenome
– Transcriptome and epitranscriptome
– Proteome
– Metabolome
– Physiology
– Cognition
– Microbiome
32

33. Human Research Program
Important to exploration missions
but not resolved by one-year ISS missions
• Radiation effects outside LEO
– Deep-space mission post-ISS
– Understand and accept the risk
• Does time in hypo-gravity halt deterioration
– AG and hypo-g research
• Autonomous operations
– Implement with comm delays on final 1-year mission
• Implications of remoteness
What We Still Won’t Know

34. Can Humans Survive 1000 Days in Space?
BOB BAGDIGIAN , CHIEF, ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL AND
LIFE SUPPORT DEVELOPMENT BRANCH, MSFC NASA

36. EARTH RELIANT

37. EARTH RELIANT
Expendable Filters
Replacement
Equipment
Makeup
Consumables
Environmental Samples
Returned to Earth

38. PROVING GROUND

39. PROVING GROUND
Environmental Samples
Analyzed On-Board
Regenerate Filters
Repair
Equipment
Increase
Consumables
Recovery

40. MARS READY

41. MARS READY
Consumables From
In-Situ Resources
Planetary Protection
(forward & reverse)
Manufacture
Equipment
Autonomous
Environment
Monitoring &
Control