Future
space exploration will challenge NASA to answer many critical
questions about how humans can live and work for extended
missions away from Earth. The Johnson Space Center (JSC)
Flight Analogs Project (FAP) provides NASA with a ground-based
research platform to complement spaceflight investigations.
Flight analogs can be used to simulate the effects of
little or no gravity on the human body. By eliciting on
Earth physiologic responses similar to those experienced
by the human body in space, scientists can test and refine
theories and procedures to deepen our understanding and
develop countermeasures to protect humans from the effects
of space travel. The use of ground analogs, such as bed
rest, is essential to these efforts because access to
the resources required to conduct studies in space is
very limited and the expense of flight studies is significantly
greater. Flight analog testing will become more and more
critical to NASA to validate countermeasures,  given
the few opportunities to use flight platforms such as
the Shuttle and limited International Space Station (ISS)
crew members per Expedition. The FAP is one way NASA will
answer the challenges and issues related to space exploration,
ensuring astronaut safety and productivity on extended
missions to the Moon and Mars.
Image right: Bed rest subject
at University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) Galveston
enjoying a movie.
Project Objectives
In the FAP bed rest investigations, volunteers spend
many days in a controlled research environment in the
Flight Analog Research Center (FARC) located within
the General Clinical Research Center (GCRC) at the University
of Texas Medical Branch (Galveston, Texas). The subjects
lie in bed in a head-down tilt configuration at
6 degrees, with the head lower than the feet. This head-down
tilt elicits physiologic changes similar to those seen
in astronauts in microgravity. Medical and scientific
tests are run on the subjects during the 11 to 15 days
prior to bed rest and the 14 days afterward as well
as a 90-day period in which they remain in bed.
The pre-bed rest period is used to gather baseline
data against which the bed rest data will be compared.
The post-bed rest period is used to monitor recovery
from bed rest and also to collect data to compare to
before and during bed rest. Following bed rest, subjects
are asked to return at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months for measurements.
Researchers monitor how the subjects' bodies change
over the course of the study and how quickly they recover
once they are allowed to resume normal activities. Two
primary goals of the studies are (1) to determine which
systems in the body react to the simulated limited gravity
environment in the same manner that the astronauts'
bodies change in space and (2) to develop new and novel
ways of preventing the adverse changes seen in the flight
analogs. The methods used to prevent these adverse changes
are called countermeasures and if successful, they will
lead the way to new methods of counteracting the adverse
effects of space travel on our astronauts.
Service Objectives
The Flight Analogs Project provides a facility that will
provide NASA the long-term capability for conducting
standardized bed rest studies. FA/BRRP also establishes
collaborations with institutions sponsored by the National
Institutes of Health (NIH) and supported at General Clinical
Research Centers (GCRCs).
 The
FAP also provides opportunities for international participation
in support of U.S. space exploration goals. This approach
decreases the cost and increases the benefits of this
research for all ISS International Partners. The expenses
for facilities and support staff for the studies are
shared by all of the participating agencies. Coordination
of multinational efforts eliminates duplication of effort
among International Partners and ensures that limited
funds will produce maximum benefits. Coordinated multinational
efforts increase the likelihood that effective countermeasures,
as well as new products or prescriptions for treatment
of human conditions on Earth, will be developed. Data
sharing among international research teams provides
all investigators with a wider context within which
to interpret their own data. NASA benefits from the
extensive experience of International Partners, as several
partner agencies have extensive experience in performing
bed rest studies, particularly long-term studies.
Education Objectives
The FAP will provide opportunities for graduate students
and individuals receiving post-doctoral training
to learn the techniques and protocols of bed rest experiments
so that they will be well prepared to eventually contribute
as principal investigator or co-investigator to studies
intended to facilitate attainment of NASA's objectives.
The FAP also will provide opportunities for new and
established investigators at institutions supporting
GCRCs to participate in data collection, learn the procedures
and protocols of bed rest campaigns, and enhance bed
rest campaigns.
Life Sciences Research
Laboratories
 These
are the research laboratories in the Human Adaptation
and Countermeasures Division at the JSC. The laboratories
have responsibility for medical assessment and conducting
scientific research to ensure the health and safety
of all crew members. Volunteer subjects participating
in bed rest studies perform many tests that are identical
to tests that astronauts complete before and after spaceflight.
During bed rest studies, these tests are called Standard
Measures. Additional investigator tests also may be
performed on the bed rest subjects. The data collected
in the Standard Measures tests are provided to the FAP
and shared with the science investigators. JSC laboratories
participating in the bed rest campaigns include:
- Bone
- Cardiovascular
- Clinical
- Exercise Physiology
- Immunology
- Neurosciences
- Nutritional Biochemistry
- Pharmacotherapeutics
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