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Questions and Answers:
Professor Dava Newman, SM '89 PhD '92 How are you applying your earlier work on the dynamics of human performance in space to current problems in extravehicular activity, i.e. space walks? Using the engineering fundamentals of control and dynamics we are able to model astronaut performance during microgravity and partial gravity (lunar and Martian) extravehicular activity (EVA) tasks. Currently, we have a 40 degree-of-freedom model that can be programmed to replicate typical astronaut motions and the systems with which they interact (i.e., satellites, payloads, space station, shuttle). How do the computation models you are developing to simulate astronaut motion build on your in-flight experiments? While flying my experiment on the Russian Mir space station (1996-1998) to quantify astronaut intravehicular activity (IVA), we amassed a very extensive database on astronaut activities during long duration space missions (> 4 months). Our computational models are verified by comparing the experimental data we collect during actual space flight. We have also extended our EVA and spacesuit work to incorporate a life-sized robot, which acts as a surrogate astronaut, here in the lab at MIT. The $1 million robot is currently on loan to me from NASA and we can program it to mimic human motions. The advantage with the robot, M. Tallchief is the name I gave it, is that we can measure the torque required for any motion. My students are wonderful, but I still haven't had any volunteers to have torque sensors surgically imbedded in their elbow or knee joints! In your Space Biomedical Engineering and Life Support course, what do students find the most difficult to anticipate about living and working in space? In general, I find that we all have difficulty truly appreciating the wonderful freedom of microgravity motions. We've evolved and developed here on Earth in a 1G force field, therefore, all of our bones, muscles, and organs are optimized for performance on Earth. The best analogy might be scuba diving here on Earth, but without the hydrodynamic viscosity. When freely floating about in microgravity we need to adapt to this new environment and it seems to take about one month before astronauts really have their 'microgravity sea legs'. In my course, we cover how the musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, and neurovestibular systems adapt to the weightless environment of space as well as space suit design, exercise, and artificial gravity.
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Institute of Technology