Researchers at the IMBP elaborated on the intricacies of space medicine, which unlike clinical medicine, studies the healthy body and its reactions to extreme factors. The tour was organized by the “Scientific Russia” portal within the “Science and Universities” national project.
Year-Long Isolation
The tour detailed the SIRIUS-23 isolation experiment, which was launched last November. Within the experiment, six participants simulate a year-long lunar mission in a ground-based facility. The research seeks to learn about the impact of long isolation on people’s behavior.
“A spaceship is an artificial habitat with a small crew. Psychological factors also contribute to the success of the mission. Given that any space flight is an expensive activity, it is necessary to calculate all the risks. Isolation experiments are aimed at studying these very risks,” said Victoria Kirichenko, surgeon and junior researcher at the Operational Control Department of Medical Supply of space flights, a SIRIUS-21 project participant.
“We are studying new psychological techniques, for example, relaxation techniques, including by using virtual reality (VR) systems,” she added.
Weightlessness Simulation
The “Dry Immersion” stand at the IMBP is a weightlessness model. A person is immersed in a water bath lined with a special film, thus creating a non-supporting space. The body begins to respond to such an environment as if were in space. Scientists then study how the body adapts to it, how proper rehabilitation should be carried out and how the psyche reacts to a new environment.
When it comes to the practical application of the outcomes, dry immersion baths are used in cosmetology as a relaxing element or for the rehabilitation of children with cerebral palsy.
Artificial Gravity
Short-radius centrifugation (SRC) is another promising experiment at the IMBP, which allows scientists to create artificial gravity in space flight conditions.
Such centrifuges are used at the Cosmonaut Training Center in order to familiarize cosmonauts with overloads and teach them how to operate a spaceship under similar overloads.
Another goal of reproducing the gravitational pull is to introduce another type of physical activity for cosmonauts, along with regular workouts.