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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1990

Reproduction in the space environment: Part I. Animal reproductive studies

Mankind's exploration and colonization of the frontier of space will ultimately depend on men's and women's ability to live, work, and reproduce in the space environment. This paper reviews animal studies, from microorganisms to mammals, done in space or under space-simulated conditions, which identify some of the key areas which might interfere with human reproductive physiology and/or embryonic development. Those space environmental factors which impacted almost all species included: microgravity, artificial gravity, radiation, and closed life support systems. These factors may act independently and in combination to produce their effects. To date, there have been no studies which have looked at the entire process of reproduction in any animal species. This type of investigation will be critical in understanding and preventing the problems which will affect human reproduction. Part II will discuss these problems directly as they relate to human physiology.

Review, Tutorial↗
NASA NTRS1990

Reproduction in the space environment: Part II. Concerns for human reproduction

Long-duration space flight and eventual colonization of our solar system will require successful control of reproductive function and a thorough understanding of factors unique to space flight and their impact on gynecologic and obstetric parameters. Part II of this paper examines the specific environmental factors associated with space flight and the implications for human reproduction. Space environmental hazards discussed include radiation, alteration in atmospheric pressure and breathing gas partial pressures, prolonged toxicological exposure, and microgravity. The effects of countermeasures necessary to reduce cardiovascular deconditioning, calcium loss, muscle wasting, and neurovestibular problems are also considered. In addition, the impact of microgravity on male fertility and gamete quality is explored. Due to current constraints, human pregnancy is now contraindicated for space flight. However, a program to explore effective countermeasures to current constraints and develop the required health care delivery capability for extended-duration space flight is suggested. A program of Earth- and space-based research to provide further answers to reproductive questions is suggested.

Review, Tutorial↗
NASA NTRS1992

Human reproductive issues in space

A review of reproductive functioning in animal species studied during space flight demonstrated that most species were affected significantly by the absence of gravity and/or the presence of radiation. These two factors induced alterations in normal reproductive functioning independently of, as well as in combination with, each other. Based on animal models, several potential problem areas regarding human reproductive physiology and functioning in the space environment were identified. While there are no current space flight investigations, the animal studies suggest priorities for future research in human reproduction. Such studies will be critical for the successful colonization of the space frontier.

Santy, Patricia A.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Experimental reproduction of space weathering of C-type asteroids by He exposure: irradiation-energy and physical-property dependence

Visible and near-infrared observations of C-type asteroid 162173 Ryugu suggest that the surface color variation seems to have resulted from a surface-correlated process which changed the color from blue to red, but the mechanism for the change is not yet identified. Space weathering is one possible mechanism responsible for the color variation, but the spectral changes of C-type asteroids from space weathering are not yet fully understood. We have carried out He exposure experiments on hydrous carbonaceous chondrites in order to understand the irradiation-energy and the physical-property dependence of space weathering of C-type asteroids. He exposure to different porosities of the same meteorite samples results in different behavior of spectral changes. In addition, the meteorite samples with the same porosity and the same surface roughness show different spectral changes when the samples are exposed to He ions with different energies. Therefore, our experiments indicate that spectral changes by space weathering of C-type asteroids depend not only on the asteroid types but also on the physical properties of the regolith surface and the solar-wind He energy.

Michael E Zolensky↗
DOE OSTI2023

Reproduction drives changes in space use and habitat selection in a highly adaptable invasive mammal

Abstract For ungulates, it is not well understood how the interaction between habitat and reproduction affects movement behavior, space use, and habitat selection. We used known parturition (farrowing) data to validate First Passage Time (FPT) movement analysis to identify wild pig (Sus scrofa) parturition events from data collected with GPS collars. We examined home range and habitat selection during three physiologically distinct time periods in the reproductive cycle: late-gestation; farrowing; and neonate-care period. Sows exhibited a behavioral change 1-2 days prior to farrowing, suggesting FPT analysis can reliably identify parturition events for wide-ranging species that have a focused birthing area. Home range was smallest during the farrowing period, likely reflective of nest building, parturition, and protection of neonates. Home range size during the neonate-care period was intermediate between the late-gestation and farrowing periods, indicative of offspring care that may restrict maternal movement. Across all periods, sows avoided developed areas that have sparse canopy and ground cover and are associated with human activities. During late-gestation, sows avoided pine forests that have an open understory and less vegetative cover. During late-gestation and neonate-care, sows selected bottomland hardwood forests, habitat associated with ample food, cover, and water. During farrowing and neonate-care periods, sows selected upland hardwood forests, habitat with high quality food and cover for neonates. The physiological requirements of reproduction drive female habitat selection and spatial scale of movement patterns associated with parturition. Our study contributes to delineation of the appropriate scale at which to analyze movement data to provide insight about where individuals chose to place their home range, how much space to use, and how they use resources on the landscape to maximize reproductive success and fitness.

Zoology↗
NASA NTRS1987

A strategy for space biology and medical science for the 1980s and 1990s

A guideline is provided for developing NASA's long-term mission plans and a rational, coherent research program. Ten topical areas for research are addressed: developmental biology, gravitropism in plants, sensorimotor integration, bone and mineral metabolism, cardiovascular/pulmonary function, muscle remodeling, nutrition, human reproduction, space anemia, and human behavior. Scientific goals, objectives, and required measurements and facilities for each of the major areas of space biology and medicine are identified and described along with primary goals and objectives for each of these disciplines. Proposals are made concerning the use of scientific panels to oversee the implementation of the strategy, life sciences' need for continuous access to spaceflight opportunities, the advantages of a focused mission strategy, certain design features that will enhance spaceflight experimentation, and general facilities. Other topics that are considered include mission planning, crew selection and training, and interagency and international cooperation.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1997

Reproductive Ontogeny of Wheat Grown on the MIR Space Station

The reproductive ontogeny of 'Super-Dwarf' wheat grown on the space station Mir is chronicled from the vegetative phase through flower development. Changes in the apical meristem associated with transition From the vegetative phase to floral initiation and development of the reproductive spike were all typical of 'Super Dwarf' wheat up to the point of anthesis. Filament elongation, which characteristically occurs just prior to anthesis and moves the anthers through the stigmatic branches thus facilitating pollination, did no1 xcur in the flowers of spikes grown on Mir. While development of spikes on tillers typically occurs later :han that of spikes on the main stem, all flowers appear to be arrested at the same developmental point.

Bubenheim, David L.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Studies Toward Birth and Early Mammalian Development in Space

Successful reproduction is the hallmark of a species' ability to adapt to its environment and must be realized to sustain life beyond Earth. Before taking this immense step, we need to understand the effects of altered gravity on critical phases of mammalian reproduction, viz., those events surrounding pregnancy, birth and the early development of offspring. No mammal has yet undergone birth in space. however studies spanning the gravity continuum from 0 to 2-g are revealing insights into how birth and early postnatal development will proceed in space. In this presentation, I will report the results of behavioral studies of rat mothers and offspring exposed from mid- to late pregnancy to either hypogravity (0-g) or hypergravity (1.5 or 2-g).

Ronca, April E.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Behavioral biology of mammalian reproduction and development for a space station

Space Station research includes two kinds of adaption to space: somatic (the adjustments made by an organism, within its lifetime, in response to local conditions), and transgenerational adaption (continuous exposure across sequential life cycles of genetic descendents). Transgenerational effects are akin to evolutionary process. Areas of a life Sciences Program in a space station address the questions of the behavioral biology of mammalian reproduction and development, using the Norway rat as the focus of experimentation.

Alberts, J. R.↗
NASA NTRS1991

USSR Space Life Sciences Digest, issue 29

This is the twenty-ninth issue of NASA's Space Life Sciences Digest. It is a double issue covering two issues of the Soviet Space Biology and Aerospace Medicine Journal. Issue 29 contains abstracts of 60 journal papers or book chapters published in Russian and of three Soviet monographs. Selected abstracts are illustrated with figures and tables from the original. A review of a book on environmental hygiene and a list of papers presented at a Soviet conference on space biology and medicine are also included. The materials in this issue were identified as relevant to 28 areas of space biology and medicine. The areas are: adaptation, aviation medicine, biological rhythms, body fluids, botany, cardiovascular and respiratory systems, developmental biology, digestive system, endocrinology, equipment and instrumentation, genetics, habitability and environment effects, hematology, human performance, immunology, life support systems, mathematical modeling, metabolism, musculoskeletal system, neurophysiology, nutrition, personnel selection, psychology, radiobiology, reproductive system, space biology and medicine, and the economics of space flight.

Stone, Lydia Razran↗
NASA NTRS1988

USSR Space Life Sciences Digest, Issue 18

This is the 18th issue of NASA's USSR Life Sciences Digest. It contains abstracts of 50 papers published in Russian language periodicals or presented at conferences and of 8 new Soviet monographs. Selected abstracts are illustrated with figures and tables from the original. A review of a recent Aviation Medicine Handbook is also included. The abstracts in this issue have been identified as relevant to 37 areas of space biology and medicine. These areas are: adaptation, aviation medicine, biological rhythms, biospherics, body fluids, cardiovascular and respiratory systems, cytology, developmental biology, endocrinology, enzymology, equipment and instrumentation, exobiology, gastrointestinal system, genetics, gravitational biology, group dynamics, habitability and environmental effects, hematology, human performance, immunology, life support systems, man-machine systems, mathematical modeling, metabolism, microbiology, musculoskeletal system, neurophysiology, nutrition, operational medicine, perception, personnel selection, psychology, radiobiology, reproductive biology, space biology and medicine, and space industrialization.

Hooke, Lydia Razran↗
NASA NTRS2017

Developmental Research in Space: Predicting Adult Neurobehavioral Phenotypes via Metabolomic Imaging

As human habitation and eventual colonization of space becomes an inevitable reality, there is a necessity to understand how organisms develop over the life span in the space environment. Microgravity, altered CO2, radiation and psychological stress are some of the key factors that could affect mammalian reproduction and development in space, however there is a paucity of information on this topic. Here we combine early (neonatal) in vivo spectroscopic imaging with an adult emotionality assay following a common obstetric complication (prenatal asphyxia) likely to occur during gestation in space. The neural metabolome is sensitive to alteration by degenerative changes and developmental disorders, thus we hypothesized that that early neonatal neurometabolite profiles can predict adult response to novelty. Late gestation fetal rats were exposed to moderate asphyxia by occluding the blood supply feeding one of the rats pair uterine horns for 15min. Blood supply to the opposite horn was not occluded (within-litter cesarean control). Further comparisons were made with vaginal (natural) birth controls. In one-week old neonates, we measured neurometabolites in three brain areas (i.e., striatum, prefrontal cortex, and hippocampus). Adult perinatally-asphyxiated offspring exhibited greater anxiety-like behavioral phenotypes (as measured the composite neurobehavioral assay involving open field activity, responses to novel object, quantification of fecal droppings, and resident-intruder tests of social behavior). Further, early neurometabolite profiles predicted adult responses. Non-invasive MRS screening of mammalian offspring is likely to advance ground-based space analogue studies informing mammalian reproduction in space, and achieving high-priority multigenerational research that will enable studies of the first truly space-developed mammals.

Schorn, Julia M.↗
NASA NTRS2017

Developmental Research in Space: Predicting Adult Neurobehavioral Phenotypes via Metabolomic Imaging

As human habitation and eventual colonization of space becomes an inevitable reality, there is a necessity to understand how organisms develop over the life span in the space environment. Microgravity, altered CO2, radiation and psychological stress are some of the key factors that could affect mammalian reproduction and development in space, however there is a paucity of information on this topic. Here we combine early (neonatal) in vivo spectroscopic imaging with an adult emotionality assay following a common obstetric complication (prenatal asphyxia) likely to occur during gestation in space. The neural metabolome is sensitive to alteration by degenerative changes and developmental disorders, thus we hypothesized that that early neonatal neurometabolite profiles can predict adult response to novelty. Late gestation fetal rats were exposed to moderate asphyxia by occluding the blood supply feeding one of the rats pair uterine horns for 15min. Blood supply to the opposite horn was not occluded (within-litter cesarean control). Further comparisons were made with vaginal (natural) birth controls. In one-week old neonates, we measured neurometabolites in three brain areas (i.e., striatum, prefrontal cortex, and hippocampus). Adult perinatally-asphyxiated offspring exhibited greater anxiety-like behavioral phenotypes (as measured the composite neurobehavioral assay involving open field activity, responses to novel object, quantification of fecal droppings, and resident-intruder tests of social behavior). Further, early neurometabolite profiles predicted adult responses. Non-invasive MRS screening of mammalian offspring is likely to advance ground-based space analogue studies informing mammalian reproduction in space, and achieving high-priority.

rodent development spacefligh↗
NASA NTRS1991

Embryogenic plant cells in microgravity

In view of circumstantial evidence for the role of gravity (g) in shaping the embryo environment, normal embryo development may not occur reliably and efficiently in the microgravity environment of space. Attention must accordingly be given to those aspects of higher plant reproductive biology in space environments required for the production of viable embryos in a 'seed to seed to seed' experiment. It is suggested that cultured cells can be grown to be morphogenetically competent, and can be evaluated as to their ability to simulate embryogenic events usually associated with fertilized eggs in the embryo sac of the ovule in the ovary.

Krikorian, Abraham D.↗
NASA NTRS1990

USSR Space Life Sciences Digest, issue 28

This is the twenty-eighth issue of NASA's Space Life Sciences Digest. It contains abstracts of 60 journal papers or book chapters published in Russian and of 3 Soviet monographs. Selected abstracts are illustrated with figures and tables from the original. The abstracts in this issue have been identified as relevant to 20 areas of space biology and medicine. These areas include: adaptation, aviation medicine, botany, cardiovascular and respiratory systems, developmental biology, endocrinology, enzymology, equipment and instrumentation, hematology, human performance, immunology, life support systems, mathematical modeling, musculoskeletal system, neurophysiology, personnel selection, psychology, radiobiology, reproductive system, and space medicine.

Stone, Lydia Razran↗
NASA NTRS1988

USSR Space Life Sciences Digest, issue 15

This is the 15th issue of NASA's USSR Space Life Sciences Digest. It contains abstracts of 59 papers published in Russian language periodicals or presented at conferences and of two new Soviet monographs. Selected abstracts are illustrated with figures and tables from the original. An additional feature is a review of a conference devoted to the physiology of extreme states. The abstracts included in this issue have been identified as relevant to 29 areas of space biology and medicine. These areas are adaptation, biological rhythms, biospherics, body fluids, botany, cardiovascular and respiratory systems, endocrinology, enzymology, equipment and instrumentation, exobiology, genetics, habitability and environment effects, human performance, immunology, life support systems, mathematical modeling, metabolism, microbiology, musculoskeletal system, neurophysiology, nutrition, operational medicine, perception. personnel selection, psychology, radiobiology, reproductive biology, and space biology and medicine.

Hooke, Lydia Razran↗
NASA NTRS1986

USSR Space Life Sciences Digest, issue 6

This is the sixth issue of NASA's USSR Space Life Sciences Digest. It contains abstracts of 54 papers recently published in Russian language periodicals and bound collections and of 10 new Soviet monographs. Selected abstracts are illustrated with figures and tables from the original. Additional features include a table of Soviet EVAs and information about English translations of Soviet materials available to readers. The topics covered in this issue have been identified as relevant to 26 areas of aerospace medicine and space biology. These areas are adaptation, biospherics, body fluids, botany, cardiovascular and respiratory systems, developmental biology, endocrinology, enzymology, exobiology, genetics, habitability and environment effects, health and medical treatment, hematology, human performance, immunology, life support systems, mathematical modeling, metabolism., microbiology, morphology and cytology, musculoskeletal system, neurophysiology, nutrition, perception, personnel selection, psychology, radiobiology, reproductive biology, and space medicine.

Hooke, L. R.↗