Table 3.
Study demographics
| Study | N (M/F) | Age (yr) | Body mass (kg) | Category | Description | Suited condition | Gravity condition | Pace | Actual intensity | Task fail |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ade et al.29 | 70 (39 M/31 F) | 23 ± 5 | Not reported | Task circuit |
Material transport field test (all participants): 10x (1) Material loading- loaded 10 × 10 kg simulated core samples into a 2-wheeled cart designed to simulate the modular equipment transporter used by the Apollo 14 astronauts (2) Material transport- pushed cart across a 54 m level track (3) Material unloading- removed the simulated core samples and returned them to a table Device operations field test (24 participants): 5x (1) Valve and bolt manipulation-turned 4 valves + bolts (5 cm) against a resistance which was provided by springs. (2) Hose couplings- connected and disconnected 4 × 7.6 cm fire hose couplings (3) Balance beam walk - traversed a 10 cm wide x 3.66 m long balance beam (4) Equipment drag-pulled a weighted sled 18 m with a rope |
Shirtsleeve (athletic apparel) | 1 g | As fast as possible | Not reported |
Material transport field test: 19/70 (27%) Device operations field test: Not reported |
| Ade et al.30 | 21 (10 M/11 F) | 26 ± 7 | 76.0 ± 15.7 | Task circuit |
Field test (10 m between each task): (1) Ladder climb (2) Agility cones (3) Stair climb (4) Lateral climb (5) Equipment lift - moved 2 × 4.5 kg boxes from waist to eye level and 2 × 9 kg boxes from floor to waist level and back (6) Step-entry lateral movement with 40 cm hurdles and ducked under chest-level poles |
Shirtsleeve (athletic apparel) | 1 g |
Lunar: 20 mL/kg/min Martian: 30 mL/kg/min |
Lunar: ~19 mL/kg/min (~44% VO2pk) Martian: ~28 mL/kg/min (~65% VO2pk) |
Lunar: All completed Martian: 6/21 (28%); could only complete 65% of the Martian test |
| Ryder et al.34 | 60 (32 M/28 F) | 37 ± 7 (24–52) | 75 ± 13.3 | Task circuit |
(1) Capsule egress: supine to stand, ladder deploy, lift and push the un-deployed life raft (13.6 kg) and 2 crew survival packs (6.4 kg each), climb out of the hatch (2) Ambulation and supply transfer (1.5 km walk + 30 (10.9 kg) crew transfer bag carries 5 m) (3) Rescue drag (mannikin (75 kg) rolled onto rescue sled, dragged 50 m) (4) Hill climb and descent (2020 m (2–8% grade)) |
Five external load conditions in the weighted suit | 1 g | As fast as possible | Not reported |
Capsule egress: 2/290 trials Ambulation/ transfer: 7/290 trials Rescue drag: 2/290 trial Hill climb: 28/283 trials |
| Ryder et al.33 |
20 (10 M/10 F) 6 (Shuttle Crew; 4 M/2 F) |
36 ± 10 (25–54) | 68.8 ± 14 | Task circuit |
(1) Seated egress and walk (once from upright, once from supine + obstacle course) (2) Recovery from fall to stand (prone to standing) (3) Hatch opening test (peak force turning wheel for 3–5 s; then turn wheel at 50% max torque for 20 s) (4) Passive ladder climb test (40 rungs) (5) Object translation (pick up and move tools, equipment, samples- 2.7–9 kg over 2.4 m) |
Three external load conditions in the weighted suit per group | 1 g | As fast as possible | Not reported | Not reported |
| Taylor et al.36 | 8 (5 M/3 F) | 34.9 ± 3.7 | 72.9 ± 8.3 | Task circuit |
(1) Hatch opening: Biodex upper extremity wheel attachment (2) Hand drilling: Biodex lateral rotating pinch attachment (3) Construction wrenching: Biodex upper extremity wrench attachment (4) Inclined walk: 0.8 km on a treadmill (angle of inclination 1° every 2 min until it reached 5 degrees, decline at the same rate down to 0°) (5) Sample collection: collect 9 medicine balls arranged in two successive rows at 3 and 6 m from a designated starting position; retrieve and deposit in a storage rack (6) Emergency crewmember drag: drag a 54 kg dummy across 13.5 m (8.5 m straight, 90 degree turn, 5 m drag) |
Equipped with weighted backpack plus distributed weights (48 kg) to simulate the NDX-2 space suit (ankle = 0.07 kg, chest 11.34 kg, waist = 9.07 kg, wrist = 2.29 kg, backpack = 15.88 kg) | 1 g | As fast as possible |
Hatch opening: VO2: 24.8 ± 4.4; RPE: 6 9 ± 2.3 Hand drilling: VO2: 18.5 ± 3.0; RPE: 5.5 ± 2.1 Construction wrenching: VO2: 28.3 ± 6.3; RPE: 6.8 ± 1.9 Inclined walk: VO2: 32.3 ± 6.6; RPE: 6.3 ± 2.0 Sample collection: VO2: not reported; RPE: 4.3 ± 1.5 Emergency drag: VO2: not reported ; RPE: 4.8 ± 1.7 |
Not reported |
| Ade et al.28 |
71 (40 M/31 F) |
23 ± 5 | 73.8 ± 15.7 | Task circuit |
Physical abilities field test (15 rounds): (1) Ladder climb (12 ft ladder, 10 rungs) (2) Agility cones, forward and backward movement through 6 vertical poles 6 ft apart (3) Stair climb, 4.5 m set of stairs, each step 25 cm rise (4) Lateral climb (5) Box lift, 2 × 4.5 kg boxes from waist to eye level, then 2 × 9 kg boxes from floor to waist (6) Step over task, moved laterally and stepped over 40 cm high hurdles and ducked under chest-level poles |
Shirtsleeve (athletic apparel) | 1 g | As fast as possible | Not reported | Not reported |
| Standalone task | 10 km Walkback | |||||||||
| Alexander et al.31 | 15 (5 M/ 10 F) | 47 ± 4 | 90 ± 23 | Standalone task | Capsule egress test: seated supine, roll over, move 2 × 5 kg bags 1 m, release and attach rope ladder to floor, carry 2 packages through top hatch, exit capsule through top hatch | Shirtsleeve (athletic apparel) | 1 g | As fast as possible | VO2 reached 72 ± 25% of relative VO2pk | No failures |
| Norcross et al.39 | 6 (6 M) |
46.8 ± 4.3 (40–51) |
81.4 ± 7.8 | Standalone tasks | Treadmill ambulation (POGO) | POGO: shirtsleeve with PLSS backpack mock-up [18 kg] + gimbal support system [41 kg] | 1/6 g | Self-paced walking and running |
Unsuited: 8.8–16.6 mL/kg/min Suited: 16.7-29.3 mL/kg/min |
Not reported |
| 3/8 g |
Unsuited: 11–12.1 mL/kg/min Suited: 27.6-35.7 mL/kg/min |
|||||||||
| 10 km walkback (0% grade treadmill) | Mark III suit (MKIII) | 1/6 g | Self-paced walking and running |
Avg %VO2pk: 50.8 ± 6.1% (45–61%) Avg speed: 1.74 ± 0.22 m/s (6.3 km/h) Avg VO2: 2.0 ± 0.3 L/min Total energy expenditure: 944.2 ± 70.5 kcal RPE: 11.8 ± 1.6 |
All completed within 2 h | |||||
| Sutterfield et al.35 | 45 (20 M/25 F) | 39 ± 10 | 79 ± 20 | Standalone tasks |
(1) 1500 m treadmill traverse (constant speed 0.85 m/s; on track with synthetic rocks and pebbles to simulate Mars surface) followed by 30 × 10 lb bag carries for 10 m each (2) 2000 m up/down Hill climb (0–8% grade; 55–99 m/min or 3.3–5.9 km/h) carrying 5.5 kg body bar on ascent, no bar on descent |
Shirtsleeve (athletic apparel) | 1 g | Low intensity: 17–20 mL/kg/min |
Hill climb: 20 ± 2.3 mL/kg/min (~56% VO2pk) Surface Traverse: 24.0 ± 1.8 mL/kg/min (~67% of VO2pk) |
Hill climb: 6/45 (13%) Surface Traverse: 6/45 (13%) |
| Moderate intensity: Pacing + 13.6 kg (torso) + 2.3 kg (each ankle + upper arm) |
Hill Climb: 26.0 ± 0.7 mL/kg/min ( ~ 73% VO2pk) Surface traverse: 28.7 ± 1.8 mL/kg/min ( ~ 80% VO2pk) |
Hill climb: 10/39 (25%) Surface traverse: 15/39 (38.5%) |
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| Mulavara et al.38 |
13 (ISS crew; 11 M/2 F) 10 (BR no ex; 10 M) 9 (BR ex; 9 M) |
47 ± 5 38 ± 7 34 ± 6 |
84 ± 14 80 ± 9 77 ± 7 |
Standalone tasks |
(1) Seated egress and walk (2) Recovery from fall to stand (3) Object translation (pick up and move tools, equipment, samples- 2.7, 4.5, 9 kg 2.4 m) (4) Jump down test (30 cm) (5) passive ladder climb test (40 rungs) (6) Activity board: moving 2 hose connectors from their initial attachments to an adjacent attachment, moving 3 electrical-connectors from vertical positions to horizontal positions, and removing and installing a handle using a cordless power driver to loosen 2 screw (7) Hatch opening test (peak force turning wheel for 3–5 s) |
Shirtsleeve (athletic apparel) | 1 g | Self-paced | Not reported | Not reported |
| Dyson et al.37 | 6 (5 M/1 F) | Not reported | Not reported | EVA simulation | “EVA” simulations: (1–2 h) designed to mimic geological surveying (hill climbing, flat terrain walking, rock hammer, quiet standing) | Mars analog suit | 1 g | EVA simulation: self-paced |
Average VO2: 35.9 ± 0.9 mL/kg/min HR: 81% of max |
Not reported |
| Standalone Tasks | Hill runs: subjects ran up and down 200-m hill 10% until exhaustion (intended as a proxy for traditional treadmill testing) | Hill run: pace increased every 2 min until exhaustion | Average VO2: 52.4 ± 1.0 mL/kg/min | |||||||
| Rai et al.32 | 6 (M/F not reported) | 23 ± 2.4 | Not reported | EVA simulation | “EVA” simulations: (1–2 h) designed to mimic geological surveying (hill climbing, flat terrain walking, rock hammer, quiet standing) | Mars analog suit | 1 g | EVA simulation: self-paced | EVA reached ~85% VO2peak and HRmax | Not reported |
Data reported as mean ± standard deviation.
M male, F female, VO2 aerobic capacity, VO2pk/VO2max peak or maximal aerobic capacity, RPE rate of perceived exertion, BR bed rest, ex exercise.