The University of Central Florida College of Medicine joined a NASA-funded mission to research how space flight affects the health of space travelers.
Scientists are planning to study motion sickness, changes to eye and brain health and changes in cognitive function during space flight, according to a May 31 news release from the Orlando-based university.
In partnership with the Translational Research Institute for Space Health, UCF is supporting Axiom's Mission 2, which launched on May 21 headed for the International Space Station. TRISH is funded by NASA and Houston-based Baylor College of Medicine, the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge.
Emmanuel Urquieta Ordonez, MD, chief medical officer at TRISH and assistant professor at Baylor College of Medicine, said he hopes the research will provide "high-value data" regarding physiological changes like sensory-motor data, cognitive performance, study motion sickness, changes to eye and brain health during space flight.
"One way we do research is by collecting samples including blood, saliva, stool and skin swabs three times before flight and three times after spaceflight," Dr. Urquieta Ordonez said in the release.
TRISH chose to partner with UCF due to its proximity to the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla.
In April, the Hackensack Meridian Center for Discovery and Innovation in Nutley, N.J., announced a similar partnership with Axiom to learn how microgravity affects humans and to advance care for healthcare concerns including cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes, David Perlin, PhD, chief scientific officer and executive vice president of the CDI, told Becker's.