Project

The Gravity Loading Countermeasure Skinsuit

Rachel Frances Bellisle

Groups

By Rachel Bellisle

Overview:

The Gravity Loading Countermeasure Skinsuit (GLCS or “Skinsuit”) is an intravehicular activity suit for astronauts that has been developed to simulate some of the effects of Earth gravity. The GLCS produces a static load from the shoulders to the feet with elastic material in the form of a skin-tight wearable suit [1],[2] (Figure 1). The GLCS is a potential spaceflight countermeasure, which aims to mitigate physiological effects of microgravity, including spinal elongation, muscle atrophy, and sensorimotor changes. This wearable system is intended to supplement exercise during future missions to the moon and Mars (where current exercise equipment may be too large and bulky for the small spacecraft) and to further attenuate microgravity-induced physiological effects in current ISS mission scenarios.

Several GLCS versions have been developed over the past decade with various design modifications (Figure 2). Previous GLCS experiments, led by MIT and/or international collaborators, have included ground experiments, parabolic flights, International Space Station (ISS) Expedition 44S (Sep 2015, 10 days) and ISS Expedition 50/51 (Oct 2016 to Jun 2017) [3]. These previous studies have primarily studied operational feasibility, loading magnitude, and spinal elongation attenuation [4]. Current work at MIT aims to investigate the GLCS as a countermeasure for muscle atrophy and sensorimotor deterioration [5].

This work aims to characterize the function and physiological effects of the GLCS. Overall, the proposed work would support the goal of the GLCS project in enabling humans to adapt to multiple levels of gravity, bringing us one step closer to long-term space habitation.

Zero-G Flight 2021 & 2022:

The experimental protocol for the 2021 Zero-G flight was developed in the Fall 2020 semester in the MAS.838 course. During the flight, one participant performed arm movements (known to promote postural muscle activation). In parallel to developing an experimental protocol to answer questions about physiology, we also designed and fabricated the next-generation Mk-7 GLCS [5] (Figure 3). For the 2022 Zero-G, two participants performed resistive exercise, including split squats, using simple resistive exercise equipment. For both studies, experiment measurables included electromyography (EMG) and foot pressure, and the participants completed the task with and without the GLCS for comparison to typical 1-G muscle activation patterns and postural control strategies. A 1-G control condition was also collected in the lab at MIT.

Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2) to the International Space Station

The goal of the MIT Skinsuit study on Ax-2 is to characterize the GLCS and its physiological effects during a short-duration low-Earth orbit mission. The new Mk-8 GLCS and accompanying exercise procedure was a technology demonstration and the primary countermeasure to mitigate musculoskeletal and sensorimotor changes for one astronaut crew member, as a technology demonstration during the 8-day mission on the ISS. The project will also demonstrate new features and applications for the suit, exploring the use of a “smart” suit with integrated sensors to monitor the suit’s behavior in flight.

The Team:

Project Lead: Rachel Bellisle

Ph.D. Candidate, Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology

Draper Scholar, The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc.

Principal Investigator: Dava Newman

Apollo Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, MIT AeroAstro

Professor, Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology

Director, MIT Media Lab

Faculty Advisors

Katya Arquilla, Co-Investigator

Boeing Assistant Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, MIT AeroAstro

Lonnie Petersen, Co-Investigator

Charles Stark Draper Professor, Assistant Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics,

MIT AeroAstro and Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology

Andrea Webb, Co-Investigator

Distinguished Scientist, The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc.

Mission Integration

Ariel Ekblaw, Director, MIT Space Exploration Initiative

Sean Auffinger, Mission Integrator, MIT Space Exploration Initiative

Ax-2 Skinsuit Hardware Support

Ferrous Ward, Ph.D. Candidate, MIT AeroAstro (3D Printing Lead)

Jessica Todd, Ph.D. Candidate, MIT AeroAstro and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (Software Lead)

Amy Huynh, Graduate Student, MIT Technology and Policy Program

Nicole McGaa, Undergraduate Student, MIT AeroAstro

Michaela Bellisle, Electrical Engineer Cody Paige, Ph.D. Candidate, MIT AeroAstro

Cody Paige, Ph.D. Candidate, MIT AeroAstro

Akshay Kothakonda, Ph.D. Candidate, MIT AeroAstro

Brandon Koo, Ph.D. Candidate, MIT MechE

Ax-2 Skinsuit Data Collection Support

Golda Nguyen, Ph.D. Candidate, MIT AeroAstro

Brandon Koo, Ph.D. Candidate, MIT MechE

Parabolic Flight Data Collection Support

Allison Porter, Ph.D. Candidate, Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology

Ciarra Ortiz, Undergraduate Student, Georgia Institute of Technology

1-G Data Collection and Analysis Support

Alvin Harvey, Ph.D. Candidate, MIT AeroAstro

Allison Porter, Ph.D. Candidate, Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology

Ciarra Ortiz, Undergraduate Student, Georgia Institute of Technology

Special Thanks To:

- Draper Scholar Program at The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc.

- Graduate and undergraduate students, faculty, and staff at MIT Human Systems Laboratory

- MIT Space Exploration Initiative

- Liz Perlman (Costume Works, Inc., Somerville, MA)

- Ax-2 Payload Support Team at Axiom Space, Inc.

- Johnson Space Center Neuroscience Laboratory

- Fabian Moller (German Sport University Cologne)

- Ministry of Supply (Boston, MA)

- Past and present colleagues and collaborators at RMIT University, Human Aerospace (Australia), Kings College London, and the European Space Agency.

References:

[1] Waldie, J. M., & Newman, D. J. (2011). A gravity loading countermeasure skinsuit. Acta Astronautica, 68, 722–730. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actaastro.2010.07.022

[2] Waldie, J. M., & Newman, D. J. (2014). Gravity-Loading Body Suit.

[3] D. A. Green, J. Attias, P. Carvil, P. W. Carvil, H. Rosado, J. Scott, D. Kendrick, J. Waldie, F. D. Jong, and A. Physiological, “Skinsuit - Operational and Technical Evaluation of Gravity Loading Countermeasure Skinsuit,” tech. rep., 2017. Publication Title: Erasmus Experiment Archive.

[4] R. Bellisle and D. Newman, “Countermeasure suits for spaceflight,” 2020, [Online]. Available: https://ttu-ir.tdl.org/handle/2346/86259.

[5] R. Bellisle, A. Porter, J. Waldie, C. Ortiz, A. Harvey, and D. Newman, “The Mk-7 Gravity Loading Countermeasure Skinsuit: Evaluation and Preliminary Results,” 2022 IEEE Aerospace Conference, 2022.

Research Topics

#robotics #virtual reality #architecture #art #consumer electronics #data #food #health #music #wearable computing #sensors #space #community #biology #technology #wellbeing #zero gravity #chemistry