Table 1.

Animal and human biology (AH) research recommendations for humans in the space environment identified in chapter 6 of the decadal survey (3)

Identifier	Recommendation
AH1	The efficacy of bisphosphonates should be tested in an adequate population of astronauts on the ISS during a 6-month mission.
AH2	The preservation/reversibility of bone structure/strength should be evaluated when assessing countermeasures.
AH3	Bone loss studies of genetically altered mice exposed to weightlessness are strongly recommended.
AH4	New osteoporosis drugs under clinical development should be tested in animal models of weightlessness.
AH5	Conduct studies to identify underlying mechanisms regulating net skeletal muscle protein balance and protein turnover during states of unloading and recovery.
AH6	Conduct studies to develop and test new prototype exercise devices and to optimize physical activity paradigms/prescriptions targeting multisystem countermeasures.
AH7	Determine the daily levels and pattern of recruitment of flexor and extensor muscles of the neck, trunk, arms, and legs at 1 g and after being in a novel gravitational environment for up to 6 months.
AH8	Determine the basic mechanisms, adaptations, and clinical significance of changes in regional vascular/interstitial pressures (starling forces) during long-duration space missions.
AH9	Investigate the effects of prolonged periods of microgravity and partial gravity (3/8 or 1/6 g) on the determinants of task-specific, enabling levels of work capacity.
AH10	Determine the integrative mechanisms of orthostatic intolerance after restoration of gravitational gradients (both 1 and 3/8 g).
AH11	Collaborative studies among flight medicine and cardiovascular epidemiologists are recommended to determine the best screening strategies to avoid flying astronauts with subclinical coronary heart disease that could become manifest during a long-duration exploration-class mission (3 years).
AH12	Determine the amount and site of the deposition of aerosols of different sizes in the lungs of humans and animals in microgravity.
AH13	Multiple parameters of T cell activation in cells should be obtained from astronauts before and after re-entry to establish which parameters are altered during flight.
AH14	Both to address the mechanism(s) of the changes in the immune system and to develop measures to limit the changes, data from multiple organ/system-based studies need to be integrated.
AH15	Perform mouse studies of immunization and challenge on the ISS, using immune samples acquired both prior to and immediately upon re-entry, to establish the biological relevance of the changes observed in the immune system. Parameters examined need to be aligned with those in humans influenced by flight.
AH16	Studies should be conducted on transmission across generations of structural and functional changes induced by exposure to space during development. Ground-based studies should be conducted to develop specialized habitats to support reproducing and developing rodents in space.

Reprinted with permission from Recapturing a Future for Space Exploration: Life and Physical Sciences Research for a New Era (2011) by the National Academy of Sciences, Courtesy of the National Academies Press, Washington D.C.