Enhanced dynamic load sensor for the International Space Station : design, development, musculoskeletal modeling and experimental evaluation

Prolonged exposure of a vertebrate musculoskeletal system to the microgravity environment of space leads to a reduction in bone mineral density, muscle mass, strength and endurance. Such deconditioning may impede critical astronaut activities and presents an increased injury risk during flight and when exposed to increased gravity like that of Earth or Mars. Exercise countermeasures are used extensively on the International Space Station to mitigate musculoskeletal deconditioning during long duration spaceflight missions. Despite vigorous exercise protocols, bone loss and muscle atrophy are often observed even when countermeasures are in effect. As a first step in understanding the mechanisms of injury and how on-orbit exercise countermeasures compare to those on the ground, an accurate load sensing system is needed to collect ground reaction force data in reduced gravity.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctoral

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2019

Author dc:creator

• Opperman, Roedolph A.(Roedolph Adriaan)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Jeffrey A. Hoffman.

• Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Statement dc:rights

• MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/122498

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/122498