A Year on the International Space Station: Implementing a Long-Duration Biomedical Research Mission

INTRODUCTION: The year-long mission of American astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko included the most complex biomedical experiments ever conducted on the International Space Station—and arguably in human spaceflight—to establish insight into human health risks of interplanetary exploration. Focusing on risk mitigation, NASA conducted investigations that addressed spaceflight health hazards to varying degrees. This pilot mission was initiated to gain further knowledge and monitor the physiological, psychological, and medical effects of long-duration exposure to spaceflight.METHODS: NASA’s Human Research Program and the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Biomedical Problems identified more than 20 biomedical risk-reduction research investigations to be conducted on the two crewmembers before, during, and after their yearlong expedition. A database of results, as well as observations on programmatic resources, was collected to understand essential elements for future spaceflight health studies.RESULTS: Statistical rigor requires additional testing at a length of 1 yr to demonstrate the presence or absence of unacceptable deleterious effects, and to permit extrapolation to longer durations in space. Review of experimental procedures from this mission suggests potential efficiencies for future investigations.DISCUSSION: The Kelly-Kornienko 1-yr mission demonstrated the importance of continuing joint investigations with the adoption of standard measures for rigorous comparisons across disparate populations. It identified improvements to collaborative processes across national and international scientific research programs. Additional studies will inform the development of an integrated applied research methodology for the space station and future interplanetary expeditions.Charles JB, Pietrzyk RA. A year on the International Space Station: implementing a long-duration biomedical research mission. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2019; 90(1):4–11.