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Project Title:  Metabolic Assessment of Suited Mobility using Functional Tasks Reduce
Fiscal Year: FY 2016 
Division: Human Research 
Research Discipline/Element:
HRP HHC:Human Health Countermeasures
Start Date: 09/30/2014  
End Date: 10/01/2015  
Task Last Updated: 04/30/2016 
Download report in PDF pdf
Principal Investigator/Affiliation:   Norcross, Jason  M.S. / KBR/NASA Johnson Space Center 
Address:  2400 NASA Pkwy 
 
Houston , TX 77058-3711 
Email: Jason.norcross-1@nasa.gov 
Phone: 281-483-7114  
Congressional District: 36 
Web:  
Organization Type: NASA CENTER 
Organization Name: KBR/NASA Johnson Space Center 
Joint Agency:  
Comments:  
Co-Investigator(s)
Affiliation: 
McFarland, Shane  M.S. NASA Johnson Space Center 
Project Information: Grant/Contract No. Internal Project 
Responsible Center: NASA JSC 
Grant Monitor: Norsk, Peter  
Center Contact:  
Peter.norsk@nasa.gov 
Unique ID: 10027 
Solicitation / Funding Source: 2013 HERO NNJ13ZSA002N-Crew Health OMNIBUS 
Grant/Contract No.: Internal Project 
Project Type: GROUND 
Flight Program:  
TechPort: No 
No. of Post Docs:  
No. of PhD Candidates:  
No. of Master's Candidates:  
No. of Bachelor's Candidates:
No. of PhD Degrees:  
No. of Master's Degrees:  
No. of Bachelor's Degrees:  
Human Research Program Elements: (1) HHC:Human Health Countermeasures
Human Research Program Risks: (1) EVA:Risk of Injury and Compromised Performance Due to EVA Operations
Human Research Program Gaps: (1) EVA-101:Determine limitations of EVA performance and physiological metrics shortly post-landing on a planetary surface (with compromised physiology based on flight duration).
Task Description: Existing methods for evaluating extravehicular activity (EVA) suit mobility and verifying requirements have typically relied on measurement techniques such as motion capture and joint torque measurements looking at several isolated joint range of motions. These methods are straightforward and can be clearly defined, but they have little to do with how well a crewmember can actually perform in an EVA suit. EVA tasks often rely on the movement of several joints concurrently to complete the task. This proposal seeks to evaluate alternate methods of evaluating suited mobility through measurement of metabolic rate and time to completion of functional tasks.

The product of this research will be inputs to suit mobility requirements, possibly new suit requirements based on metabolic assessment of functional task, and risk characterization inputs for the Integrated Research Plan (IRP) gap EVA 7.

Traditional joint torque and isolated joint range of motion measurements may be quantifiable and measurable, but they do not provide information that describes how the EVA suit as a whole allows the crewmember to function. We propose that by focusing on crewmember physiological performance of functional tasks, we can define metrics that verify that a suit is meeting suit mobility requirements.

Research Impact/Earth Benefits: An end result of this research may be a functional requirement and verification process for spacesuit mobility enabling more effective exploration extravehicular activities (EVAs).

Task Progress & Bibliography Information FY2016 
Task Progress: Existing methods for evaluating extravehicular activity (EVA) suit mobility have typically focused on isolated joint range of motion or torque, but these techniques have little to do with how well a crewmember functionally performs in an EVA suit.

PURPOSE: To evaluate suited mobility at the system level through measuring metabolic cost (MC) of functional tasks.

METHODS: Six male subjects completed 2-3 trials of 5 functional tasks (walk, side step, stair climb, and upper body and full body object relocations) in each of 3 different space suits including 2 prototype planetary EVA suits, the Mark III (64 kg) and Rear Entry I-suit (REI, 43 kg), and a modified intravehicular activity suit (Demonstrator, 27 kg) with enhanced mobility for contingency EVA. All tasks were performed in 1g. Rate of carbon dioxide (CO2) production was determined by measuring suit inlet flow and outlet CO2 concentration. Respiratory exchange rate was assumed to be 0.85 for the conversion to kcal. Mixed-effects regression methods were used to compare metabolic cost across the three different space suits, incorporating random intercept terms to accommodate the within-subjects experimental design, and random variance terms to accommodate the observed heterogeneity of variance among the three suits. Five separate models were evaluated; one per functional task.

RESULTS: The MC of all functional tasks was significantly higher in the Demonstrator suit, averaging 33-62% more depending on task. The Mark III and REI suits elicited similar MC, except in response to the side step and stair climb tasks. In these tasks, MC was significantly lower in the REI relative to the Mark III.

DISCUSSION: Although the Demonstrator is the lightest space suit evaluated here, it required the highest MC to complete functional tasks, suggesting poor relative functional mobility. Differences between the Mark III and REI were evident on tasks that required vertical travel, with REI suit having lower MC for side step and stair climb. When normalizing MC results to system mass (subject + suit), then MC per kg favors the Mark III; therefore, these small differences in MC at 1g may not be as evident on the moon or Mars.

The method of quantifying and comparing suited mobility and performance as a function of metabolic cost should continue to be evaluated as a possible replacement or supplement for traditional isolated-joint range of motion/torque evaluations. In addition, it potentially offers a means of developing requirements more tied to functional, complex motions and a method for developing a single scoring metric should be further investigated.

Bibliography: Description: (Last Updated: 02/21/2024) 

Show Cumulative Bibliography
 
Abstracts for Journals and Proceedings Norcross JR, McFarland SM, Ploutz-Snyder R. "Metabolic assessment of suited mobility using functional tasks." American College of Sports Medicine 63rd Annual Meeting, Boston, MA, May 31-June 4, 2016.

American College of Sports Medicine 63rd Annual Meeting, Boston, MA, May 31-June 4, 2016. Hypoxia/Altitude/Dive/Space Physiology Session, Poster 211. , Jun-2016

Papers from Meeting Proceedings McFarland SM, Norcross JR. "Development of an Objective Space Suit Mobility Performance Metric Using Metabolic Cost and Functional Tasks." 46th International Conference on Environmental Systems, Vienna, Austria, July 10-14 2016.

46th International Conference on Environmental Systems, Vienna, Austria, July 10-14 2016. Paper ICES-2016-278. , Jul-2016

Project Title:  Metabolic Assessment of Suited Mobility using Functional Tasks Reduce
Fiscal Year: FY 2015 
Division: Human Research 
Research Discipline/Element:
HRP HHC:Human Health Countermeasures
Start Date: 09/30/2014  
End Date: 09/30/2015  
Task Last Updated: 08/19/2015 
Download report in PDF pdf
Principal Investigator/Affiliation:   Norcross, Jason  M.S. / KBR/NASA Johnson Space Center 
Address:  2400 NASA Pkwy 
 
Houston , TX 77058-3711 
Email: Jason.norcross-1@nasa.gov 
Phone: 281-483-7114  
Congressional District: 36 
Web:  
Organization Type: NASA CENTER 
Organization Name: KBR/NASA Johnson Space Center 
Joint Agency:  
Comments:  
Co-Investigator(s)
Affiliation: 
McFarland, Shane  M.S. NASA Johnson Space Center 
Project Information: Grant/Contract No. Internal Project 
Responsible Center: NASA JSC 
Grant Monitor: Norsk, Peter  
Center Contact:  
Peter.norsk@nasa.gov 
Unique ID: 10027 
Solicitation / Funding Source: 2013 HERO NNJ13ZSA002N-Crew Health OMNIBUS 
Grant/Contract No.: Internal Project 
Project Type: GROUND 
Flight Program:  
TechPort: No 
No. of Post Docs:  
No. of PhD Candidates:  
No. of Master's Candidates:  
No. of Bachelor's Candidates:
No. of PhD Degrees:  
No. of Master's Degrees:  
No. of Bachelor's Degrees:  
Human Research Program Elements: (1) HHC:Human Health Countermeasures
Human Research Program Risks: (1) EVA:Risk of Injury and Compromised Performance Due to EVA Operations
Human Research Program Gaps: (1) EVA-101:Determine limitations of EVA performance and physiological metrics shortly post-landing on a planetary surface (with compromised physiology based on flight duration).
Task Description: Existing methods for evaluating extravehicular activity (EVA) suit mobility and verifying requirements have typically relied on measurement techniques such as motion capture and joint torque measurements looking at several isolated joint range of motions. These methods are straightforward and can be clearly defined, but they have little to do with how well a crewmember can actually perform in an EVA suit. EVA tasks often rely on the movement of several joints concurrently to complete the task. This proposal seeks to evaluate alternate methods of evaluating suited mobility through measurement of metabolic rate and time to completion of functional tasks.

The product of this research will be inputs to suit mobility requirements, possibly new suit requirements based on metabolic assessment of functional task, and risk characterization inputs for the Integrated Research Plan (IRP) gap EVA 7.

Traditional joint torque and isolated joint range of motion measurements may be quantifiable and measurable, but they do not provide information that describes how the EVA suit as a whole allows the crewmember to function. We propose that by focusing on crewmember physiological performance of functional tasks, we can define metrics that verify that a suit is meeting suit mobility requirements.

Research Impact/Earth Benefits: An end result of this research may be a functional requirement and verification process for spacesuit mobility enabling more effective exploration extravehicular activities (EVAs).

Task Progress & Bibliography Information FY2015 
Task Progress: Data collection on this research task was completed in June 2015. For the first time, we now have repeated measures of metabolic cost on six subjects performing functional tasks in 3 different prototype spacesuits. This data will be used to compare performance across spacesuits, task, and subjects. The first cut at data analysis is underway with continuing versions after various internal stakeholder reviews.

The plan for results is to present at the 2016 Human Research Program along with another national conferences and to prepare and submit a journal manuscript as well.

Bibliography: Description: (Last Updated: 02/21/2024) 

Show Cumulative Bibliography
 
Abstracts for Journals and Proceedings Norcross JR, McFarland SM. "Moving Towards Metabolic Assessment of Suited Mobility Using Functional Tasks." Presented at the 2015 NASA Human Research Program Investigators’ Workshop, Galveston, TX, January 13-15, 2015.

2015 NASA Human Research Program Investigators’ Workshop, Galveston, TX, January 13-15, 2015. , Jan-2015

Project Title:  Metabolic Assessment of Suited Mobility using Functional Tasks Reduce
Fiscal Year: FY 2014 
Division: Human Research 
Research Discipline/Element:
HRP HHC:Human Health Countermeasures
Start Date: 09/30/2014  
End Date: 09/30/2015  
Task Last Updated: 11/20/2014 
Download report in PDF pdf
Principal Investigator/Affiliation:   Norcross, Jason  M.S. / KBR/NASA Johnson Space Center 
Address:  2400 NASA Pkwy 
 
Houston , TX 77058-3711 
Email: Jason.norcross-1@nasa.gov 
Phone: 281-483-7114  
Congressional District: 36 
Web:  
Organization Type: NASA CENTER 
Organization Name: KBR/NASA Johnson Space Center 
Joint Agency:  
Comments:  
Co-Investigator(s)
Affiliation: 
McFarland, Shane  M.S. NASA Johnson Space Center 
Project Information: Grant/Contract No. Internal Project 
Responsible Center: NASA JSC 
Grant Monitor: Norsk, Peter  
Center Contact:  
Peter.norsk@nasa.gov 
Unique ID: 10027 
Solicitation / Funding Source: 2013 HERO NNJ13ZSA002N-Crew Health OMNIBUS 
Grant/Contract No.: Internal Project 
Project Type: GROUND 
Flight Program:  
TechPort: No 
No. of Post Docs:  
No. of PhD Candidates:  
No. of Master's Candidates:  
No. of Bachelor's Candidates:  
No. of PhD Degrees:  
No. of Master's Degrees:  
No. of Bachelor's Degrees:  
Human Research Program Elements: (1) HHC:Human Health Countermeasures
Human Research Program Risks: (1) EVA:Risk of Injury and Compromised Performance Due to EVA Operations
Human Research Program Gaps: (1) EVA-101:Determine limitations of EVA performance and physiological metrics shortly post-landing on a planetary surface (with compromised physiology based on flight duration).
Task Description: Existing methods for evaluating EVA suit mobility and verifying requirements have typically relied on measurement techniques such as motion capture and joint torque measurements looking at several isolated joint range of motions. These methods are straightforward and can be clearly defined, but they have little to do with how well a crewmember can actually perform in an EVA suit. EVA tasks often rely on the movement of several joints concurrently to complete the task. This proposal seeks to evaluate alternate methods of evaluating suited mobility through measurement of metabolic rate and time to completion of functional tasks.

The product of this research will be inputs to suit mobility requirements, possibly new suit requirements based on metabolic assessment of functional task, and risk characterization inputs for the IRP gap EVA 7.

Traditional joint torque and isolated joint range of motion measurements may be quantifiable and measurable, but they do not provide information that describes how the EVA suit as a whole allows the crewmember to function. We propose that by focusing on crewmember physiological performance of functional tasks, we can define metrics that verify that a suit is meeting suit mobility requirements.

Research Impact/Earth Benefits:

Task Progress & Bibliography Information FY2014 
Task Progress: New project for FY2014.

Bibliography: Description: (Last Updated: 02/21/2024) 

Show Cumulative Bibliography
 
 None in FY 2014