520 days ago, in June 2010, a team of six astronauts embarked on a simulated Mars mission, conducted by the State Scientific Center of the Russian Federation – Institute for Biomedical Problems (IBMP) of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
On November 4, 2011, the hatch was opened in Russia and the crew members ended their mission. But the mission continues for the Penn-led U.S. scientific team charged with monitoring the six crew members’ rest-activity cycles, performance and psychological responses.
David Dinges, PhD, chief of the division of Chronobiology and professor of Psychology in Psychiatry with the Perelman School of Medicine, and team members collected over 75,000 hours of data during the 520-day mission's three stages: 250 days for the trip to Mars, 30 days on the surface, and 240 days for the return to Earth.
Using unobtrusive miniaturized wristwatch-like devices to measure crew members' sleep-wake patterns and specially programmed computers with brief assessment tests, the team hopes determine the extent to which sleep loss, fatigue, stress, mood changes and conflicts occurred during the mission.
Dr. Dinges and colleague Mathias Basner, MD, PhD, MSc, assistant professor of Sleep and Chronobiology in Psychiatry, captured 99 percent of their intended data. Results of the study will be reported after the data has been fully analyzed.
The Penn Medicine research program was funded by the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) and in part by the Institute for Experimental Psychiatry Research Foundation. Dr. Dinges and Dr. Basner will be available for interviews when they return from Russia.
For more information, please see the NSBRI press release or watch the Associated Press video, below.