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Anomalous Long Term Effects in Astronauts' Central Nervous System - Shield (ALTEA-Shield)
04.26.13

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Overview | Description | Applications | Operations | Results | Publications | Imagery

Experiment Overview

This content was provided by Livio Narici, Ph.D., and is maintained in a database by the ISS Program Science Office.

Information provided courtesy of the Erasmus Experiment Archive.
Brief Summary

The Anomalous Long Term Effects in Astronauts' Central Nervous System - Shield (ALTEA-Shield) investigation provides an assessment of the radiation environment inside the International Space Station (ISS). The goal is to better understand the interaction between cosmic rays and brain functions. Since radiation exposure in space is one of the greatest risks to human health, a better understanding and characterization of the shielding capability of different materials is needed in order to enable future, long term human exploration.

Principal Investigator(s)

  • Livio Narici, Ph.D., University of Roma Tor Vergata and INFN-Roma2, Rome, Italy

    • Co-Investigator(s)/Collaborator(s)

  • A. Ferrari, Italy
  • A. Ottolenghi, Italy
  • D Schardt, GSI/Biophysik, Barmstadt, Germany
  • Eric Benton, Eril Research Incorporated, Richmond, CA, United States
  • F. Ballarini, Italy
  • G. Battistoni, Italy
  • H. Iwase, Italy
  • J Miller, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, United States
  • Lembit Sihver, Ph.D., Czech Tenchical University in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
  • Marco Casolino, Ph.D., Universita of Roma Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
  • Mark R. Shavers, Wyle Laboratories, Houston, TX, United States
  • Piergiorgio Picozza, Ph.D., University of Roma Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
  • S. Villari, Italy
  • T Sato, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Ibaraki, Japan
  • Walter G. Sannita, M.D., University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy

    • Developer(s)

    Italian Space Agency (ASI), Rome, , Italy
    Alenia Spazio - Laben, Milano, , Italy

    Sponsoring Space Agency

    European Space Agency (ESA)

    Sponsoring Organization

    Information Pending

    Research Benefits

    Information Pending

    ISS Expedition Duration:

    March 2010 - September 2012

    Expeditions Assigned

    23/24,25/26,27/28,29/30,31/32

    Previous ISS Missions

    Information Pending

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    Experiment Description

    Research Overview

    • Astronauts in orbit are exposed to cosmic radiation that is of sufficient frequency and intensity to cause effects on the central nervous system. Radiation exposure represents one of the greatest risks to humans traveling on exploration missions beyond low Earth orbit (LEO).


    • ALTEA-Shield is part of the ALTEA program, a multidisciplinary research project which aims at obtaining a better understanding of the light flash phenomenon, and more generally the interaction between cosmic rays and brain functions. Interactions between ionizing radiation in space and brain functions, and the related risk assessments, are among the major concerns when programming long permanence in space.


    • The Anomalous Long Term Effects in Astronauts' Central Nervous System - Shield (ALTEA-Shield) experiment, developed by the Italian Space Agency (ASI), will measure the particle flux in the U.S. Laboratory on the International Space Station (ISS), being able to discriminate the type of particles, to measure their trajectories and the delivered energies.

    Description

    The Anomalous Long Term Effects in Astronauts' Central Nervous System - Shield (ALTEA-Shield) investigation provides an assessment of the radiation environment inside the International Space Station (ISS). The goal is to better understand the interaction between cosmic rays and brain functions. Since radiation exposure in space is one of the greatest risks to human health, a better understanding and characterization of the shielding capability of different materials is needed in order to enable future, long term human exploration.

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    Applications

    Space Applications

    It is vital for us to understand and monitor the radiation environment around our planet in order to safeguard our astronauts during their missions in low-Earth orbit. This is even more important for future human exploration missions outside of low-Earth orbit, such as to the Moon and Mars, where there is no longer any protective shielding coming from Earth’s magnetic field and there are greater problems posed by radiation in particular by events such as solar flares.  The development of better shielding materials is a necessity for making improvements in future spacecraft and satellite design and essential mission planning. In addition to the positive effect this will have on human exploration missions, this will also help to extend the life of satellites in orbit by reducing the effect caused by solar and galactic radiation, which can damage satellite electronics.

    Earth Applications

    With life on Earth becoming increasingly dependent on satellite communications and data, developing better shielding materials to extend the life of satellites will have a positive effect on communications and data services on earth. On Earth as well cosmic rays which get through Earth’s atmosphere can cause errors in integrated circuits such as data corruption in memory devices and incorrect CPU performance. New shielding materials could find their way into shielding applications for such electronic circuitry which is becoming more susceptible as it reduces in size. This can affect many industries from the automobile industry to aerospace to navigation.  This type of research is also providing us on Earth with a more detailed picture of the radiation environment in low-Earth orbit which can help us better understand how our planet works. By comparing this data with data on Earth it could help to determine the impact that Earth’s radiation environment may have on climatology and thus help to improve climate models.

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    Operations

    Operational Requirements

    Information Pending

    Operational Protocols

    ALTEA-Shield will utilize the ALTEA hardware and perform radiation monitoring with shielding material on ALTEA detectors in the U.S. Laboratory.

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    Results/More Information

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    Results Publications

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    Ground Based Results Publications

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    ISS Patents

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    Related Publications

      Di Fino L, Ciccotelli A, Larosa M, Narici L, Zaconte V.  Fast Probabilistic Particle Identification algorithm using silicon strip detectors. Advances in Space Research. 2012; 50(3): 408-414. DOI: 10.1016/j.asr.2012.04.015.

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    Related Websites
  • The information on this page is provided courtesy of the ESA Erasmus Experiment Archive.

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    Imagery

    image NASA Image: ISS013E65565 - ALTEA helmet inside the U.S. Laboratory of ISS during Expedition 13. The ALTEA hardware will be utilized in the ALTEA-Shield investigation.
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    image NASA Image: ISS024E015129 - The Anomalous Long Term Effects in Astronauts' Central Nervous System (ALTEA) during reconfiguration with Shield Isotropic Equipment.
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    image NASA Image: ISS027E017236 - European Space Agency astronaut Paolo Nespoli, Expedition 27 flight engineer, works with Anomalous Long Term Effects on Astronauts (ALTEA) Shield isotropic equipment in the Destiny laboratory of the International Space Station.
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    Information provided by the investigation team to the ISS Program Scientist's Office.
    If updates are needed to the summary please contact JSC-ISS-Program-Science-Group. For other general questions regarding space station research and technology, please feel free to call our help line at 281-244-6187 or e-mail at JSC-ISS-Research-Helpline.
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