ISS Crew Boosts Brain Health Research Before Cargo Launch

Prime Highlights

ISS astronauts are prioritizing priority vision and brain tests in microgravity.
Russian Progress 92 cargo ship launching Thursday with essential supplies aboard.

Key Fact

NASA and Axiom Mission 4 crew astronauts are relying on cutting-edge gear to track blood flow and neural activity.
Progress 92 is bringing more than 1,300 kg of fuel, supplies, and scientific equipment to the ISS.

Key Background

ISS astronauts are probing space-age brain health science in great detail in a quest to discover how microgravity affects blood flow and brain activity. The experiments are done under the pressure of an impending critical cargo shipment looming before them, which creates the poignancy of needing to conduct continuous space medicine research.

NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers operates Drain Brain 2.0, an experiment with neck and chest electrodes to measure the way the blood pounds from the heart to the brain. The experiment is critical in determining the danger to blood clots and other vascular conditions that form in space.

Meanwhile, Axiom Mission 4 astronaut Tibor Kapu is taking the Cerebral Hemodynamics test. Researchers monitor blood circulating within brain arteries with Doppler ultrasound, providing them with information on how spaceflight is impacting neurological health. Veteran astronaut Peggy Whitson helps facilitate the process so that precise data can be gathered.

In another test, known as B Complex, Ayers, along with Takuya Onishi and Anne McClain, applies near-infrared scanners to take high-resolution images of the optic nerve. It tries to quantify whether B-vitamin supplements calm vision issues that normally afflict astronauts on long-duration missions.

Station’s multicultural team are also working on other innovative projects. Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla and Polish astronaut Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski use brain-computer interface technology to demonstrate by tracking neural activity with a Bluetooth head cap. These practices are just one part of sustained emphasis on astronaut mental health and cognitive function.

At the same time, Russia’s Roscosmos space agency will send the Progress 92 spacecraft from Baikonur Cosmodrome. The cargo ship will transport vital supplies such as foodstuffs, fuel, and scientific hardware and will dock in the Poisk module of the station on Saturday. The flight will enable continued scientific experiments and maintenance of continuous operations on the orbiting laboratory.