Russian Countermeasure Systems for Adverse Effects of Microgravity on Long-Duration ISS Flights.

INTRODUCTION: The system of countermeasures for the adverse effects of microgravity developed in the USSR supported the successful implementation of long-duration spaceflight (LDS) programs on the Salyut and Mir orbital stations and was subsequently adapted for flights on the International Space Station (ISS). From 2000 through 2010, crews completed 26 ISS flight increments ranging in duration from 140 to 216 d, with the participation of 27 Russian cosmonauts. These flights have made it possible to more precisely determine a crew-member's level of conditioning, better assess the advantages and disadvantages of training processes, and determine prospects for future developments.

Overview of the Liulin type instruments for space radiation measurement and their scientific results.

Ionizing radiation is recognized to be one of the main health concerns for humans in the space radiation environment. Estimation of space radiation effects on health requires the accurate knowledge of the accumulated absorbed dose, which depends on the global space radiation distribution, solar cycle and local shielding generated by the 3D mass distribution of the space vehicle. This paper presents an overview of the spectrometer-dosimeters of the Liulin type, which were developed in the late 1980s and have been in use since then. Two major measurement systems have been developed by our team. The first one is based on one silicon detector and is known as a Liulin-type deposited energy spectrometer (DES) (Dachev et al., 2002, 2003), while the second one is a dosimetric telescope (DT) with two or three silicon detectors. The Liulin-type instruments were calibrated using a number of radioactive sources and particle accelerators. The main results of the calibrations are presented in the paper. In the last section of the paper some of the most significant scientific results obtained in space and on aircraft, balloon and rocket flights since 1989 are presented.

[The BION-M1 project: overview and first results].

Biosatellite BION-M1 was launched on April 19 and landed on May 19, 2013. The mission program was largely a continuation of the earlier flown 11 BION projects, FOTON-M2 and FOTON-M3. The biosatellite was inhabited by a great variety of living organisms used for experiments and studies in gravitational physiology, gravitational biology, biotechnology, astrobiology and radiation biology, dosimetry and spectrometry. This was the first time in the history of national biology and physiology when male mice C57bl/6 were chosen for a long-term space experiment focused upon molecular biology investigations. Unfortunately, because of technical failures during the flight a part of the animals were lost. However, the major objectives were attained through reconsideration of biomaterial division among investigators and completion of virtually the total scope of investigations.

[Russian system of countermeasures: the present and future].

The paper considers the fundamental principles of the Russian countermeasures system validated successfully in multiple long-term missions to the Russian space stations. The system adopted on the ISS Russian segment is detailed. In particular, it is pinpointed that physical training of cosmonauts was adjusted to the demands of the stages of ISS assembly and utilization. The locomotion training performed with departures from the flight documentation (ODFs) is described. The concluding section of the paper lays out the picture of vistas for the system of countermeasures in future exploration missions.

[Calculation of radiation loads in a space station compartment with a secondary shielding].

Doses from space ionizing radiation were estimated using a model of ISS cosmonaut's quarters (CQ) outfitted with secondary shielding ("Protective shutter" (PS) as part of experiment MATRYOSHKA-R). Protective shutter is a "blanket" of water-containing material with mass thickness of - 6 g/cm2 covering the CQ exterior wall. Calculation was performed specifically for locations of experimental dosimetry assemblies. Agreement of calculations and experimental data reaching accuracy - 15% proves model applicability to estimating protective effectiveness of secondary shielding in the present-day and future space vehicles. This shielding may reduce radiation loading onto crewmembers as an equivalent dose by more than 40% within a broad range of orbit altitudes equally during the solar minimum and maximum.