{"id":62102,"date":"2017-02-01T15:58:35","date_gmt":"2017-02-01T15:58:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/community\/?p=4443"},"modified":"2017-02-01T15:58:35","modified_gmt":"2017-02-01T15:58:35","slug":"flight-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2017\/02\/01\/flight-test\/","title":{"rendered":"Flight Test"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Emmanuel Urquieta, left, and three other
crewmembers spent a month in a NASA simulated spacecraft.<\/p><\/div>\n

The chance to participate\u00a0in an official NASA mission at the Johnson Space Center in Houston was a \u201cdream come true\u201d for 2015 Wright State University graduate Emmanuel Urquieta.<\/p>\n

Urquieta, who earned a master\u2019s degree in aerospace medicine from the Wright State Boonshoft School of Medicine, also hopes it will help him achieve one of his career goals: working for the space agency as a flight surgeon.<\/p>\n

For 30 days last summer, Urquieta and three other crewmembers were confined to a simulated spacecraft to help NASA study the isolation and stresses of deep space travel. The mission took place in the Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA), a modular, three-story research habitat featuring an airlock, medical station, work area, flight deck, four bunks, a galley, and a hygiene module.<\/p>\n

The module is used by NASA\u2019s Human Research Program to investigate ways to help the agency move from lower-Earth orbit to deep space explorations. The crew went through the procedures of a real deep space mission without leaving the building. They had the same schedule as the astronauts on the International Space Station and used the same iPad apps for work and for monitoring their health and diet.<\/p>\n

Originally from Mexico City, Urquieta has always been interested in space and airplanes, thanks in part to his father, who is an aviation engineer. \u201cI\u2019ve always been around the aviation environment,\u201d said Urquieta, who has a private pilot\u2019s license.<\/p>\n

After earning his medical degree from Anahuac University School of Medicine Faculty of Health Sciences in Mexico, he stayed at Anahuac University as an epidemiology assistant professor. He\u2019s also worked\u00a0as a flight surgeon for the Mexico City Police Department Helicopter Emergency Medical Services.<\/p>\n

He hopes to return to the Boonshoft School of Medicine for a residency in aerospace medicine and eventually return to the Johnson Space Center as a flight surgeon.<\/p>\n

<\/a>

Urquieta used virtual reality goggles and a hand controller to simulate extravehicular activities on an asteroid.<\/p><\/div>\n

A flight surgeon plays an important role in a space mission. Typically assigned to one astronaut, the physician follows the astronaut through his or her training, monitors the astronaut\u2019s health during the mission from Mission Control, and provides care after the mission is completed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe flight surgeon is like the family doctor of the astronaut during the mission,\u201d Urquieta said.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what made Urquieta\u2019s own mission such a valuable experience. \u201cWhen I\u2019m a flight surgeon, it\u2019s going to let me take care of them in a better way because I will know exactly what they are going through,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ll have that hands-on experience. I think from the professional and personal points of view this was a great experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Each day of Urquieta\u2019s mission began at 7 a.m. and ended at 11 p.m., ensuring the crewmembers were well rested for the following day\u2019s activities. In between, the crew\u2019s schedules were planned almost to the minute with training, experiments, other scientific activities, and physical exercise. They also held planning meetings with Mission Control twice a day and spent the weekends housekeeping and relaxing by watching movies.<\/p>\n

They were allowed to talk to their families for 30 minutes once a week, though the crew had to leave their cellphones behind before entering the module.<\/p>\n

During the mission, the crew used virtual reality goggles and hand controllers to simulate extravehicular activities on Geographos 1620, a Mars-crossing asteroid. After a simulated journey on a space exploration vehicle to the asteroid, Urquieta and another crewmember took samples during a simulated spacewalk.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey give us different locations on the asteroid to retrieve rocks and soil samples, like they would on a real mission,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The goggles provided a 360-degree view of the asteroid and a \u201cperfectly simulated and rendered graphic representation\u201d of its surface, Urquieta said.<\/p>\n

After the activity, the crewmembers simulated the processing of the soil and rocks they collected virtually. They also conducted experiments to grow plants and brine shrimp as well as biomedical and psychological experiments.<\/p>\n

Urquieta and the other crewmembers also trained with a simulator of a robot arm used on the space station that can grab items like satellites, tools, and supplies. Astronauts on the space station also train on the simulator.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Urquieta in front of the vehicle used to simulate asteroid exploration missions.<\/p><\/div>\n

The HERA module provides a high-fidelity research space for scientists to assess risks and gaps associated with human performance during space exploration by simulating isolation, confinement, and remote conditions. Researchers outside the module collect data on team dynamics, conflict resolution, and the effects of extended isolation and confinement. Studies may focus on behavioral health and performance, communication and autonomy, human factors, and medical capabilities during exploration. It also gives researchers a chance to test new technology and hardware.<\/p>\n

For instance, the crew tested two astronaut watches to help NASA study whether a new model is an upgrade over those now used on the International Space Station. They also tested a new iPad app that tracks the food and liquids astronauts consume.<\/p>\n

Since the mission simulated a journey to Mars, the crew experienced communication delays with Mission Control over the course of their confinement. The crew then simulated emergencies to help researchers better understand how those delays impacted communication in certain situations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese analog missions help to answer a lot of questions about how you handle emergencies, how you handle special situations with very long time delays,\u201d Urquieta said.<\/p>\n

In addition to the four-member crew, more than 50 people supported the mission. Mission Control was staffed around the clock and a flight surgeon was always on call. \u201cThere are a lot of people behind the mission who make it the way it is,\u201d Urquieta said.<\/p>\n

For Urquieta, it was easy to give up a month of his life to contribute something for the future of space exploration.<\/p>\n

\u201cThirty days sounds like a lot, but it went so fast,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve wanted to do this all my life. It was like a dream doing this.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The chance to participate\u00a0in an official NASA mission at the Johnson Space Center in Houston was a \u201cdream come true\u201d for 2015 Wright State University graduate Emmanuel Urquieta. Urquieta, who earned a master\u2019s degree in aerospace medicine from the Wright … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":61618,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[722,4827,2016,715],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-62102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-magazine","category-medicine","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62102"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62102\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61618"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}