NASA EPSCoR: Efficacy of Countermeasures to Cardiovascular Deconditioning in Men and Women During Simulated Moon Explorations

The long-term goal of our proposed project is to develop an easily administered countermeasure that would mitigate human cardiovascular consequences of physiological adaptations to micro gravity during extended duration missions to the moon and eventually Mars. Based on results from our recent studies at NASA Ames and JSC, we propose to test, in collaboration with JSC and Ames investigators, 1) a human model of space flight-induced cardiovascular deconditioning using a hypovolemia protocol, 2) the efficacy of compression stockings with spatially distributed pressure as a countermeasure to cardiovascular deconditioning, 3) a model of the deconditioned cardiovascular response to the first day of lunar activity and 4) a model of deconditioned cardiovascular responses to the g profiles experienced in a lunar mission using NASA Ames' 20G Centrifuge. The educational component of the proposed research involves support for two graduate students per year and a continuation of our outreach program for undergraduate and high school students with special emphasis on the recruitment of women and minorities.