"Virtual flight": physiologist - about the third stage of the international space experiment SIRIUS

- The other day, at the site of the Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the third stage of the international experiment SIRIUS - Scientific International Research in Unique Terrestrial Station ("International scientific research at a unique ground station") started.

What is this program and why was it developed?

- This is a joint project of the Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences and NASA.

The main goal of the project is to prepare a scientific and practical basis for deep space flights.

The project consists of several stages.

To date, two of them have been completed.

Now the third is being implemented - an eight-month isolation.

And we hope that in the coming years we will conduct several year-long experiments.

- SIRIUS-

- Virtual reality technologies will be used more actively.

For example, special stands will be used that simulate lunar gravity.

Also, new equipment will be introduced related to rovers (a device for exploring the planet, designed to move on a solid surface. -

) and spacecraft control (docking and similar operations).

• Oleg Blinov and Ekaterina Karjakina help Victoria Kirichenko get used to controlling a virtual robot

• © Oleg Voloshin / IBMP

- What results did you achieve in the first two experiments conducted in 2017 and 2019?

- Data were obtained on the state of the human body during adaptation to isolation conditions in a pressurized facility with an artificial habitat. It cannot be said that a single result was obtained. Data were obtained in various areas (for example, in psychology or physiology). On the one hand, each new experiment adds some data to the old ones obtained earlier. On the other hand, in every experiment we have something new. For example, in one experiment it is impossible to see what is the reaction of immunity to a long stay in space. Therefore, everything goes in stages. In the 2019 experiment, it was revealed that the influence of factors associated with space flight on the immunity system is realized even at the stage of antigen presentation (one of the key processes during which the components of the innate immunity system,such as macrophages and dendritic cells, stimulate the immune response of the acquired immune system by presenting (presenting) the captured antigen to T-lymphocytes. -

).

- How did you select the participants in the

21

-

We have a multi-stage selection. At the first stage, those wishing to participate in the experiment send their questionnaires. However, not everyone is contacted by our employees. It happens that a person sends a questionnaire and it becomes clear that he is not suitable. Then the conditions are explained to those who pass the first stage. And many even leave at the second stage, because they do not understand how difficult it can be for a person during a long isolation. For example, someone cannot quit their job, someone believes that it is possible to work remotely using some kind of Internet technology. Candidates come to the third stage of selection in person. We carry out certain medical and psychological procedures. After all the stages, we get the composition of the main and backup crews. In the future, the special commission is already making a final decision, based on the testimony of doctors and psychologists.

A person from the relevant field can become a participant.

He must have an engineering or medical education, and also serve in the army (if he is a man).

If a person does not have a higher education or his specialty is not a priority for space flight (for example, a marketer), then he is not suitable.

First of all, the participants will be involved in the implementation of the scientific program.

The program contains over 70 experiments in various fields (psychology, psychophysiology, biochemistry, microbiology, sanitary hygiene, immunity, metabolism, operational and technical tasks, etc.).

This is all very time consuming.

In their free time, if they stay, the crew can read books or play board games. 

- Are you interested in

experiments

- This experiment, in partnership with NASA, is of interest to the entire space community.

We are implementing programs presented by the European Space Agency, German, French, etc. Two people from the United States and one from the United Arab Emirates arrived to participate in the experiment.

In the 2021 experiment, we are collaborating for the first time with the Muhammad bin Rashid Space Center.

• Scheme of the ground-based experimental complex of the Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences

• © IBMP

- All crew members will be in isolation for a long time.

Could it happen that someone will break down and refuse to participate in the experiment?

What other problems might the participants face?

- Yes, it can happen.

We had such precedents.

Any participant can leave the experiment at any time without giving a reason.

Also, the participants may have problems of interaction within the team or difficulties with the implementation of the scientific program.

Technical difficulties associated with the function of the life support systems of the complex may also occur.

- Is there enough data now to organize a real interplanetary expedition?

- If we are talking about a virtual flight to the moon, then the main goal is not to

to make the trip as comfortable and safe as possible for the crew, and to become pioneers.

A real flight requires more data to be fully confident that it will be safe and productive for humans.

- The next experiment

-22 is

- We hope that after this experiment (SIRIUS-21) will be implemented

one-year mission.

Its goals are roughly the same: conducting experiments in the interests of space biology and medicine.

Obtaining data for compiling statistics.

Thanks to the data obtained after the year-long expedition, we will be able to evaluate and compare them with the ISS data and subsequently plan a real space flight.