Investigator
Guide
Space Life Sciences
Investigator's Guide
Gilles Clément
International Space University
Strasbourg, France
Investigator
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How to Fly an Experiment
Spacelab experiment cycle. Document ESA/NASA
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Research Announcements
• International Space Life
Sciences Research
Announcement (ILSRA)
– Issued about every 18
months
– Includes space and
simulation (bed rest)
research
– http://www.esa.int/SPE
CIALS/HSF_Research/i
ndex_0.html
• Continuously open
Research Announcement
of Opportunity
– Sounding rockets
– Ground-based facilities
– Parabolic flight
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Countermeasure Development
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Scientific Method
• 1 Define the question
• 2 Gather information and
resources
• 3 Form hypothesis
• 4 Perform experiment and
collect data
• 5 Analyze data
• 6 Interpret data and draw
conclusions that serve
as a starting point for
new hypotheses
• 7 Publish results
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Experimental Design
• Dependent variable – A variable
that changes in response to the
independent variable
– Valid
– Relevant
– Practical
– Reliable
• Independent variable – A variable
that can be manipulated or changed
– Time scale (adaptation)
– Conditions, e.g. upright vs. supine
– Groups, e.g. males vs. females
• Subjects
– Number (replication & variability)
– Selection criteria
– Informed consent
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Experimental Design (cont'd)
• Data analysis
– Collection & Compilation
• Excel spreadsheets
– Reduction
• Graphs
– Statistical tests
– Final figures
• Interpretation of results
– Validate or not the hypothesis
– Limitations of the study
• Conclusion
– Summary
– Suggestions for future studies
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Scientific Method
• Observation – A constant feature of scientific inquiry
• Description – Information must be reliable, i.e. repeatable
as well as relevant to the inquiry
• Prediction/Formulating Hypothesis – Information must
be valid for observations past, present, and future of given
phenomena, i.e., "one shot" phenomena do not give rise to
the capability to predict, nor to the ability to repeat an
experiment.
• Control – Actively and fairly sampling the range of
possible occurrences is the best way to control or
counterbalance the risk of empirical bias
• Falsifiability, or the elimination of plausible alternatives –
This is a gradual process that requires repeated
experiments by multiple researchers who must be able to
replicate results in order to corroborate them
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Flight Experiment Flow Process
3-12 months
Select
For
Definition
Feasability
Review
&
Science
Merit
Proposal
Submission
Concept Definition
•Preliminary science
requirements
•Feasability analysis
•Approach (e.g. hardware,
resources, procedures)
•Assess maturity of approach
•Identify required studies to
ensure feasability
12-24 months
Experiment Development
•Design, develop, manufacture
experiment unique hardware
•Mission documentation
•Verify experiment interfaces
and procedures
•Crew training
•Logistics for launch
Requirements Definition
•Experiment requirements
•Risk reduction studies
•Biocompatibility
•Procedures development
•Cost estimates & schedule
Select
Flight
Candidate
12-24 months
Operations and Data Analysis
•Pre-, in-, and post-flight data
acquisition
•Data analysis
•Data archiving (after one year)
•Publication of results
•Post-flight symposia
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Experiment Design
• Applied Research
– Evaluation of operational issues
(e.g., countermeasures)
– Many flights; 10<N<20 subjects
– Hardware and protocol
extremely simple
• Fundamental Research:
– 1-4 flights or increments; 2<N<8 subjects
– Require control studies for small N data set:
• Well-defined dependent variable
(i.e. valid, reliable, relevant, practical)
• Comparison of astronautsʼ pre-flight data with those of
control group on Earth
• Repetition of preflight tests for variance analysis
• Multiple post-flight tests to establish return to baseline
– Protocol “integrated” with other experiments
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Constraints
• Crew time is the most precious resource
• Activities require more time to be performed in 0-g
– Some activities take about 40% longer in space
than on the ground (e.g., large equipment set-up)
– Some activities may require extra operators
(e.g., dissections or hazardous operations,
rotating chair)
– As a result, 2.4 hrs of crew time on the ground
correspond to 4 hrs of crew time in 0-g
• Non-human species/specimens
– A finite number of animals or specimens is available
– This limited number often requires the development of
elaborate and detailed sharing plans to maximize their use
• Sharing plans are needed for some investigations on human
subjects (e.g., volume of blood draw is limited)
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ISS Crew Time
• Expedition work day (typical)
– Pre-sleep + Sleep + Post-sleep + Meals = 10.4 hrs
– Total work = 13.6 hrs
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Postflight Data Collection
• Space Shuttle Entry Day
– Crew to be awake 8-14 hrs before landing (3 hrs for postsleep activity, 4 hrs for de-orbit prep., 1 hr from de-orbit to
landing). Maximum wake time: 18 hrs
– Wheel-stop to clinic: 1-2 hr
– Medical exam: 0.5 hr
– Visit+meal+shower: 1 hr
– If BDC exceeds 4 hrs,
crew must have 1-hr break
• Soyuz Entry Day
Crew Transfer Vehicle. Photo NASA
– Crew spends up to 10 hrs in Soyuz
– Medical exam on landing site: 1.5 hr
– Transfer to clinic (including meal+visit+rest): 6 hrs
– First measurements at R+20 hrs; duration not to exceed
two hours, with crew in supine or sitting position
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Walk-Around
Photos
NASA
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Experiment Requirements
• Do you need power? How much? In association with what
activity?
• Do you need cooling or any other thermal requirement?
Air? Water? When? In association with what activity?
• Does the crew need to do something to/for your experiment?
When? How long will it take?
• Will you need to talk with the crew or have them be able to
talk with you? Will you need to send commands? (S-band)
• Will you need to receive telemetry? What type? What rate?
(Ku-band)
• Do you need video? Whatʼs the source and destination?
What quality (frame rate) do you require? Can it be recorded
or does it need to be sent down live? If itʼs recorded, how
long before you need to see it?
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Experiment Integration
• Weight / Volume — as small and compact as possible
• Simple and intuitive to use — training will be limited
• Power / Data needs — add immensely to complexity; nonpowered or battery-operated if possible
• Long shelf-life, "bullet-proof"
technology desired
• Supports identified standard
— meets laboratory data
analysis capability (e.g.,
provides useful information)
• Modular — easy to replace
and upgrade components
• Think zero-g !
Medical equipment testing during parabolic flight
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Experiment Development
• Hardware selection and certification:
– Identify potential hazards to the crew
or to the vehicle
– Describe measures taken to eliminate
or minimize those risks
• Experimental protocol must be approved
by committee on human/animal research
policy and procedures (IRB—Institutional
Review Board; CPHS—Committee for
the Protection of Human Subjects)
• Inform the candidate crewmembers about
the rationale of the research and the
associated risk (Informed Consent)
• Brief the crew operator about the science
and suggest appropriate changes in the
flight protocol to maximize data return
Photo NASA
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Crew Training Overview
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Mission Documentation
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Example of Shuttle Daily Activity Plan
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Example of Shuttle Hourly Activity Plan
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Document ESA
Spacelab Module Configuration
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Example of Experimental Procedure
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Increment 19 US Lab Overview
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Increment 19 Columbus Overview
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Increment 19 JEM Overview
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Planning – Definitions
• Plan – a high-level timeline,
with activities tied to a particular day
• Schedule – a detailed timeline,
with activities tied to a particular time of day
• Partner – entity involved in ISS operations,
including NASA, Roscosmos (Russia),
ESA, JAXA, and CSA
• Control Center – central location for each
Partner, including Mission Control Center
Houston (MCC-H), Payload Operations
Integration Center (POIC), Mission Control
Center – Moscow (MCC-M), Columbus
Control Center (Col-CC), and Space Station
Integration and Promotion Center (SSIPC)
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Who is Involved in Planning?
User
User
User
User
Payload
Facility
Facility
Developer
Partner
ESA
Col-CC
NASA
POIC
JAXA
SSIPC
NASA
POIC
ISS
Payload
ISS
Integrated
NASA
MCC-H
Roscosmos
MCC-M
• Define Science Requirements
• Provide payload planning requirements
• Provide expertise on payload/experiment ops
• Provide integrated facility planning requirements
• Provide expertise on facility operations
• Integrate sub-rack payload requirements and
provide interface to planning
• Provide payload planning requirements for payload facilities
that operate in another Partnerʼs segment
• Integrate payload planning requirements for segment
• Develop segment payload planning products
• Integrate segment payload planning products
• Provide ISS payload planning products
• Manage payload resources among Partners
• Integrate system and payload planning products
• Provide integrated ISS planning products
Note: ESA, JAXA, Roscosmos, and NASA MCC-H also provide system planning products
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Planning – Review
• Planning requirements
– A set of “activities” that define a payloadʼs operation
– Temporally related activities are grouped into sequences
• Planning products are produced pre-increment
– On-board Operations Summary (OOS) – a high-level plan
of the increment
– Increment-specific Execute Planning Groundrules and
Constraints (Gr&C) – a compilation of payload planning
constraints
• Planning products are produced during the increment
and are updated in real time
– Weekly Look-ahead Plan (WLP) 7-day detailed schedule
– Short-Term Plan (STP) 1-day detailed crew schedule
– On-board STP (OSTP) the on-board version of the STP
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Pre-Increment Planning – On-board Operations Summary
How to Read Page 1 of the OOS
Starts Mon.
of launch
week.
16 orbits/day
Title
Date
GMT
Theme of
the Day
Beta angle
or Minimum
angle
between the
orbit plane
and the sun.
Planned daily
activities and #
of occurrences.
Total # hours
planned
payload
activity.
Total
for
any
crew
Planned
attitude
Time stamp for
printed data.
Visiting
vehicle
info.
Activities not scheduled due to
crew time constraints.
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Pre-Increment Planning – On-board Operations Summary
How to Read Page 2 of the OOS – Unattended payload page
Planned
daily
activities
and # of
occurrences
Notable Ground Activities
(s/w loads, system outages, etc.)
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Increment Planning Products
• Three planning products are produced each week during
the increment operations
– Weekly Look-ahead Plan (WLP) – a 7-day detailed
schedule of crew and unattended operations, began on
Monday 2 weeks prior to execution and completed on
that Friday.
– Short Term Plan (STP) – a 1-day detailed schedule of
crew and unattended operations, completed 6 days
prior to the day of execution
– On-board STP (OSTP) – the on-board version of the
STP, viewable in OSTP Viewer (OSTPV). The OSTP is
maintained for the execution day and 5 days in
advance for the crew and Flight Control Teams to view
the current and upcoming daysʼ timelines. The crew
can update and annotate the OSTP during execution.
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Weekly Look-ahead Plan (WLP)
• What is it?
– 7-day detailed timeline of ISS activities
– Includes TDRS predictions
– Each day is shown on one page
(sometimes two days per page,
as shown in example)
– Limited unattended activities are displayed
– Developed during the week starting
Monday two weeks prior to execution
week
– Published on Friday of the week two
weeks prior to execution week
– After the WLP is finalized, changes are
incorporated during STP development
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Example of Weekly Look-ahead Plan
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Example of WLP with 6 crew
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Short-Term Plan (STP)
• What is it?
– 1-day detailed timeline of ISS activities
– 2 pages (crew and unattended) for
each 8-hour period
– Developed one week prior to execution
day (E)
– Some changes (add, delete or change
duration) from Final WLP require a
Planning Product Change Request
(PPCR)
– Preliminary STP is published at E-7
days for Flight Control Team review
– Final STP is published after Flight
Director approval at E-6 days
– Changes to the STP are made in
OSTPV during real-time re-planning
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CT & GMT for
start of plot page.
Example of Short-Term Plan
How to Read Page 1 of the STP
Orbital day/night
Orbit # started
at FGB launch
and will be
reset when it
reaches 4000.
16 per day
VHF includes all
Russian ground
site passes. For
clarity, all sites
are lumped into
the single band.
TDRSS Coverage
Crew Activity
Section
Other notable
system activities.
Ground activities at MCC-H
(s/w loads, system outages, etc.)
All activities EXCEPT payloads
Requiring S/Ku-band.
Activities occurring in the Russian Segment.
Time stamp for
printed data.
Title bar
including
version
and date.
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Example of Short-Term Plan (cont'd)
For unattended
payload activities only
Express
Rack
Activities
Shows when
HRF is
powered and
active and
when HRF PC
is being used.
For all
payload
activities not
in a facility
(HRF, ER,
MSG…)
How to Read Page 2 of the STP
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On-board Short Term Plan (OSTP)
• What is it?
– Version of the STP viewable by the
crew and ground in OSTP Viewer
(OSTPV)
– Rolling timeline which includes 5 days
in the future plus current day and past
days
– After STP is finalized, it is up-linked
five days prior to execution for the
crew to view in OSTPV
– OSTP is updated at least daily to
incorporate the latest changes
– All changes from Final STP require a
written and approved Operation
Change Request (OCR)
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Example of On-board Short-Term Plan
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OSTP Viewer
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OSTP Viewer
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OSTP Viewer
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Activity Window
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Mission Control Center
Shuttle Flight Control Room
ISS Flight Control Room
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Communication Systems
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Reading Material
• Carey W (2001) The International Space Station European Users
•
•
•
•
•
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Guide. Noordwijk: European Space Agency, UIC-ESA-UM-001
Clément G (2005) Fundamentals of Space Medicine. Dordrecht:
Springer
ESA (1979) Spacelab Users Manual. Paris: European Space
Agency, DP/ST(79)3
International Space Life Sciences Working Group (2001) Space Life
Sciences and Space Sciences Experiments Information Package.
Joels KM, Kennedy GP (1982) The Space Shuttle Operatorʼs
Manual. New York, NY: Ballantine Books
Longdon N (1983) Spacelab Data Book. Paris: ESA Technical
Publications Branch, ESA BR-14
NASA (1986) STS Investigatorsʼ Guide. Huntsville, AL: Marshall
Spaceflight Center, PMS-021
NASA (2000) Experiment Document. Format and Instructions for
Human Flight Research Experiments. Houston, TX: NASA Johnson
Space Center, Biomedical Systems Test and Project Management