Orientation and Movement in Unusual Force Environments

1993 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 134-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
James R. Lackner

A manned space mission to Mars might take as long as 1 year each way. Consequently, artificial gravity is being considered as a way of preventing the debilitating effects of long-duration exposure to microgravity on the human hotly. The present article discusses some of the problems associated with adapting to the rotation levels that might be used to generate artificial gravity. It also describes how exposure to background-force levels greater or less than the 1-G force of Earth gravity affects orientation and movement control. The primary emphasis of the article is that human movement and orientation control are dynamically adapted to the 1-G force background of Earth and that accommodation to altered force levels or to rotating environments requires a wide range of adaptive changes.

1982 ◽  
Vol 26 (7) ◽  
pp. 615-615
Author(s):  
James L. Knight

Entry of non-alphanumeric information into computer graphics systems is frequently accomplished by moving a drawing implement over the surface of a digitizing tablet. These tablets are commercially available in a wide range of sizes. Therefore, an important question from both ergonomic and economic standpoints concerns the optimum size for the digitizing tablet. To answer this question, models of human movement control were applied to the graphic operator's task. An experiment was conducted to obtain appropriate model parameter values and to empirically evaluate the resulting predictions of the generated models. A combination of task analysis and movement control modelling thus allowed selection of an optimum digitizing tablet size for a range of computer-graphics entry tasks. Details and results of this methodology will be presented.


2016 ◽  
Vol 120 (12) ◽  
pp. 1449-1457 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. I. Pagel ◽  
A. Choukèr

Human psychology and physiology are significantly altered by isolation and confinement. In light of planned exploration class interplanetary missions, the related adverse effects on the human body need to be explored and defined as they have a large impact on a mission's success. Terrestrial space analogs offer an excellent controlled environment to study some of these stressors during a space mission in isolation without the complex environment of the International Space Station. Participants subjected to these space analog conditions can encounter typical symptoms ranging from neurocognitive changes, fatigue, misaligned circadian rhythm, sleep disorders, altered stress hormone levels, and immune modulatory changes. This review focuses on both the psychological and the physiological responses observed in participants of long-duration spaceflight analog studies, such as Mars500 or Antarctic winter-over. They provide important insight into similarities and differences encountered in each simulated setting. The identification of adverse effects from confinement allows not only the crew to better prepare for but also to design feasible countermeasures that will help support space travelers during exploration class missions in the future.


2020 ◽  
pp. 301-323
Author(s):  
Natalya I. Kikilo ◽  

In the Macedonian literary language the analytic da-construction used in an independent clause has a wide range of possible modal meanings, the most common of which are imperative and optative. The present article offers a detailed analysis of the semantics and functions of the Macedonian optative da-construction based on fiction and journalistic texts. The first part of the article deals with the specificities of the optative as a category which primarily considers the subject of a wish. In accordance with the semantic characteristics of this category, optative constructions are used in those discourse text types where the speakers are explicitly designated (the most natural context for the optative is the dialogue). The analysis of the Macedonian material includes instances of atypical usage of the optative da-construction, in which the wish of the subject is not apparent and thereby produces new emotional tonalities perceptible to the reader of a fiction/journalistic text. The study describes Macedonian constructions involving two different verb forms: 1) present tense form (da + praes) and 2) imperfective form (da + impf). These constructions formally designate the hypothetical and counterfactual status of the optative situation, respectively. Thus, the examples in the analysis are ordered according to two types of constructions, which reflect the speaker’s view on the probability of the realisation of his/her wish. Unrealistic wishes can be communicated through the present da-construction, while the imperfective construction denotes situations in which the wish can be realised in the future. The second part of the article is devoted to performative optative da-constructions, which express formulas of speech etiquette, wishes and curses. The analysis demonstrates that these constructions lose their magical functions, when used outside of the ritual context, and begin to function as interjections.


2013 ◽  
Vol 305 (2) ◽  
pp. R164-R170 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Xu ◽  
J. K. Shoemaker ◽  
A. P. Blaber ◽  
P. Arbeille ◽  
K. Fraser ◽  
...  

Limited data are available to describe the regulation of heart rate (HR) during sleep in spaceflight. Sleep provides a stable supine baseline during preflight Earth recordings for comparison of heart rate variability (HRV) over a wide range of frequencies using both linear, complexity, and fractal indicators. The current study investigated the effect of long-duration spaceflight on HR and HRV during sleep in seven astronauts aboard the International Space Station up to 6 mo. Measurements included electrocardiographic waveforms from Holter monitors and simultaneous movement records from accelerometers before, during, and after the flights. HR was unchanged inflight and elevated postflight [59.6 ± 8.9 beats per minute (bpm) compared with preflight 53.3 ± 7.3 bpm; P < 0.01]. Compared with preflight data, HRV indicators from both time domain and power spectral analysis methods were diminished inflight from ultralow to high frequencies and partially recovered to preflight levels after landing. During inflight and at postflight, complexity and fractal properties of HR were not different from preflight properties. Slow fluctuations (<0.04 Hz) in HR presented moderate correlations with movements during sleep, partially accounting for the reduction in HRV. In summary, substantial reduction in HRV was observed with linear, but not with complexity and fractal, methods of analysis. These results suggest that periodic elements that influence regulation of HR through reflex mechanisms are altered during sleep in spaceflight but that underlying system complexity and fractal dynamics were not altered.


SIMULATION ◽  
1964 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. R-9-R-23
Author(s):  
Edward E. Markson ◽  
John L. Stricker

Space mission simulator programs may be divided into two broad categories: (1) training tools (quali tative devices often simulating a continuous mission), and (2) laboratory tools (quantitative devices treating the mission in phases, each phase being programmed separately to obtain optimum scaling). This paper describes the development of an analog program capable of continuously simulating an entire lunar mission in six degrees of freedom with high resolu tion throughout. The reported work logically traces the program development through the equations of motion, the guidance and control equations, and the analog mechanization. The translation equations are de veloped using a modified form of Encke's method; two reference origins are utilized at the two points of primary interest—the landing site and the target vehicle—such that the displacements are approach ing a minimum in the regions where the highest reso lution is required. The variables are rescaled as this region is approached to obtain maximum accuracy. Relays, stepping switches and diode gates are used for rescaling and to re-reference origins. A particular Euler angle sequence is selected based on matrix validity criteria applied to the mission. A previously reported guidance technique is shown to be appli cable to all phases of the mission. It is concluded that the method demonstrated in this paper leads to minimum computer loading for simulating a manned space mission without program discontinuities. Supporting data include an analog- computed trajectory representative of a long-dura tion mission, which is compared in detail with a digital solution.


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