323 online
 
Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 33 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing Summarizing
Life Arts   

Exploring Inner Space in Outer Space-- with Biofeedback

By       (Page 1 of 1 pages)   No comments
Author 1
Editor-in-Chief

Rob Kall
Follow Me on Twitter     Message Rob Kall
Become a Fan
  (295 fans)
What motivates an astronaut, an outer space explorer, to spend a lot of time under water in an underwater habitat? The answer is, it's a great way to simulate many aspects of zero gravity living and long term confinement that are experienced in space vehicles and stations.


(Image by Unknown Owner)   Details   DMCA
For decades, NASA has been studying astronaut's physiological responses to being exposed to zero gravity, to living in outer space and to staying in a space vehicles and space stations for extended periods of time. Researchers William Toscano and Pat Cowing have been doing this kind of research for several decades. Some of their most interesting work has involved researching the problem of Zero Gravity illness, which is sort of like car or sea-sickness. It's a common problem among astronauts.

Just recently, Toscano and Cowing have been doing research under water, since the environment provides some useful similarities to working in space. They developed, using off the shelf technology, a wearable outfit that records multiple physiological measurements simultaneously. The technology is ultra miniaturized, using a standard FlexComp Infiniti(tm) physiological encoder, storing the data using flash memory cards. The astronauts, Commander Dave William, a Canadian Physician, and Ron Garin, an American, wore the "gear" throughout the day while living in an NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) undersea habitat, off the shore of Key Largo Florida, 65 feet down, below the surface.

Toscano described the mission, "Our project was called Nemo Nine. It was 22 days long, with 2 astronauts participating. They wore the FlexComp Infiniti(tm) system for three of the mission days. What we were looking for was to look for the effect of isolation, workload and fatigue on the individuals. It was all stored on flash memory cards. We recorded five measurements-- Heart rate and electrocardiogram, Respiration, Skin conductance, hand temperature and finger pulse volume. Throughout the day they had activities and tasks to do."

Toscano explained, "We're using that (the Nemo nine) environment as an analog of a space station. It's a good one. NASA occasionally gets an opportunity to send astronauts down there. Other ideal environments would be south pole studies, people going on long term expeditions which would be akin to long term for space."

New, microminiaturization technologies have enabled the NASA researchers to use commercially produced biomedical devices like the FlexComp Infiniti(tm)to do what used to take a wall full of equipment easily weighing over 1000 pounds. Now, the device, manufactured by Thought Technology a company that is the world's largest provider of medical and consumer biofeedback instrumentation, weighs less than a pound and has built-in data storage using flash memory cards.

Dr. Toscano reported that there were many simultaneous studies going on, including telemedicine, team decision-making, telerobotics, human performance studies, sleep studies looking at sleep wake cycles. He described, "We're looking at stress reactions, so we have basically the timeline of the crew and what they were doing throughout a mission day. We'll also have video and audio information so we can correlate the physiology with what is going on and we've also collected data on them before they went down, so we have normal work environment data.

The scientists, in the necessary tradition of many NASA missions, were not there to operate the equipment. "We had the equipment and shipped it down there, trained them how to use it and off they went. This was worn by astronauts for an eight hour day. We had a training manual, showed them procedures, how to put it on. We had a special suit designed to restrain all the cabling. The cable harness, looked like an undershirt with all the cables," described Toscano. "The data was stored on flash memory cards, they (the astronauts) would change it out each day they recorded. They would swap out the batteries, put on new electrodes, as needed. They took them off during dives," he explained, since they didn't want to deal with sealing the gear, although, Thought Technology DOES provide special equipment specifically designed for use in water by swimmers and rehabilitation therapists working with patients in water.

Toscano commented on the extreme research environment, on the air pressure "at 65 feet is about 2.65 (atmospheres) -- different from at the surface. There were questions of whether the instrument would function, would it work. And it did.

Overall, Toscano reports that they were very pleased with the research project and look forward to further work with the technology. In the past, he and his research partner, Patricia Cowing have developed and patented a biofeedback aided technique for helping astronauts cope with Zero Gravity illness. The process was tested by training astronauts BEFORE they went on a space shuttle mission. This was a case of taking research and turning it into something practical, that worked. Zero Gravity illness in outer space can be very debilitating.

Personally, I could use it for my coastal fishing trips for Bluefish off the New Jersey shore. I'm going to talk to them about giving it a try.

Thought Technology also produces the GSR2, the world's best selling hand held electronic (computerizable) consumer Biofeedback device.
Rate It | View Ratings

Rob Kall Social Media Pages: Facebook Page       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

Rob Kall is an award winning journalist, inventor, software architect, connector and visionary. His work and his writing have been featured in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, CNN, ABC, the HuffingtonPost, Success, Discover and other media.

Check out his platform at RobKall.com

He is the author of The Bottom-up Revolution; Mastering the Emerging World of Connectivity

He's given talks and workshops to Fortune 500 execs and national medical and psychological organizations, and pioneered first-of-their-kind conferences in Positive Psychology, Brain Science and Story. He hosts some of the world's smartest, most interesting and powerful people on his Bottom Up Radio Show, and founded and publishes one of the top Google- ranked progressive news and opinion sites, OpEdNews.com

more detailed bio:

Rob Kall has spent his adult life as an awakener and empowerer-- first in the field of biofeedback, inventing products, developing software and a music recording label, MuPsych, within the company he founded in 1978-- Futurehealth, and founding, organizing and running 3 conferences: Winter Brain, on Neurofeedback and consciousness, Optimal Functioning and Positive Psychology (a pioneer in the field of Positive Psychology, first presenting workshops on it in 1985) and Storycon Summit Meeting on the Art Science and Application of Story-- each the first of their kind. Then, when he found the process of raising people's consciousness (more...)
 

Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Follow Me on Twitter     Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter
Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

A Conspiracy Conspiracy Theory

Debunking Hillary's Specious Winning the Popular Vote Claim

Terrifying Video: "I Don't Need a Warrant, Ma'am, Under Federal Law"

Ray McGovern Discusses Brutal Arrest at Secretary Clinton's Internet Freedom Speech

Hillary's Disingenuous Claim That She's Won 2.5 Million More Votes is Bogus. Here's why

Cindy Sheehan Bugged in Denver

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend