Research papers

Exploratory Heterogeneity in Workload–HRV Relationships Across Flight Crews During High-Fidelity Simulation

Understanding how operators adapt to varying task demands in complex systems is central to applied human performance and resilience engineering research.

Informing Rodent Behavior in Space: Gene Expression and Hyper-Emotionality Following Prenatal Stress

As space exploration pushes our boundaries further away from Earth and for longer durations, we will inevitably require the use of multi-generational studies to continue our expansion.

Research to Operations: The Critical Transition

Space Life Sciences Directorate (SLSD) specializes in transitioning technology and knowledge to medical operations. This activity encompasses funding a spectrum of research and technology efforts, such as understanding f…

Validating and Verifying Biomathematical Models of Human Fatigue

Airline pilots experience acute and chronic sleep deprivation, sleep inertia, and circadian desynchrony due to the need to schedule flight operations around the clock.

Structural Diversity in the Inner Ear of Teleost Fishes: Implications for Connections to the Mauthner Cell

A body of literature suggests that the Mauthner cell startle response can be elicited by stimulation of the ear. While we know that there are projections to the M-cell from the ear, the specific endorgan(s) of the ear pr…

Age, splanchnic vasoconstriction, and heat stress during tilting

During upright tilting, blood is translocated to the dependent veins of the legs and compensatory circulatory adjustments are necessary to maintain arterial pressure.

Principles and Guidelines for Duty and Rest Scheduling in Commercial Aviation

The aviation industry requires 24-hour activities to meet operational demands. Growth in global long-haul, regional, overnight cargo, and short-haul domestic operations will continue to increase these round-the-clock req…

Performance of the Research Animal Holding Facility (RAHF) and General Purpose Work Station (GPWS) and other hardware in the microgravity environment

This paper discusses the performance of the Research Animal Holding Facility (RAHF) and General Purpose Work Station (GPWS) plus other associated hardware during the recent flight of Spacelab Life Sciences 1 (SLS-1).

Spacelab Life Sciences 1, development towards successive life sciences flights

A general review is presented of flight data and related hardware developments for Spacelab Life Sciences (SLS) 1 with an eye toward applying this knowledge to projected flight planning.

Amphibian fertilization and development in microgravity

During the year before launch, female frogs will be tested every 3 months for the quantity and quality of eggs produced. Two weeks or more prior to launch, male and female frogs will be transported to the John F.

Managing fatigue in operational settings. 1: Physiological considerations and countermeasures

The authors consider three aspects of managing fatigue in the workplace. They provide a brief overview of important scientific findings related to sleep and circadian physiology that establish the psychobiological founda…

Behavioral consequences of radiation exposure to simulated space radiation in the C57BL/6 mouse: open field, rotorod, and acoustic startle

Two experiments were carried out to investigate the consequences of exposure to proton radiation, such as might occur for astronauts during space flight.

Subjective response of people to simulated sonic booms in their homes

In order to determine the effect of the number of sonic boom occurrences on annoyance, a computer-based system was developed for studying the subjective response of people to the occurrence of simulated sonic booms in th…

Associations between errors and contributing factors in aircraft maintenance

In recent years cognitive error models have provided insights into the unsafe acts that lead to many accidents in safety-critical environments.

Skills, rules and knowledge in aircraft maintenance: errors in context

Automatic or skill-based behaviour is generally considered to be less prone to error than behaviour directed by conscious control. However, researchers who have applied Rasmussen's skill-rule-knowledge human error framew…

Fatigue in operational settings: Examples from the aviation environment

The need for 24-h operations creates nonstandard and altered work schedules that can lead to cumulative sleep loss and circadian disruption.

A laboratory for life sciences research in space

Biological studies hardware for Spacelab flights are described. The research animal holding facility has modular construction and is installed on a single ESA rack.