Bridge specifications.
\r\n\tDNA is responsible for carrying all the information an organism needs to survive, grow and reproduce. However, during its lifetime an each organism experiences a wide range of cases with DNA damages; therefore the DNA repair ability of a cell is vital to the integrity of its genome and thus to the normal functionality of that organism. Mutagenesis is known as an important factor which may lead to different disorders, disabilities and diseases. Any defect in DNA repair system may lead to the death of the organism.
\r\n\r\n\t
\r\n\tRecognition of these items in different organisms drives us to know more about the characteristics of DNA repair systems in different types of organisms. Hopefully, this book will offer an interesting read by introducing, explaining and comparing these diversities.
It is highly demanded to establish sufficient management systems for the inspection of existing concrete infrastructures in order to manage and extend their service lives. As for aging infrastructure, severe deterioration is currently reported, where it is known as a critical issue in our society, and large budgets are required to repair damaged structures. Since budgetary restrictions are often imposed, preventive and proactive maintenance techniques of infrastructure are sufficiently needed with nondestructive testing (NDT) methods. In addition to conventional NDT, innovative methods must be established to appropriately assess and evaluate damage and repair and retrofit recovery in concrete structures. Inspection techniques after crack repair methods application for existing structures to assess repair installations have not yet been practically developed, meanwhile improper repair efforts have resulted in re-deterioration. Refilling internal cracks with repair materials from the concrete surface, epoxy injection, and patch repair methods are widely implemented. In most cases, re-deterioration could be led by the unknown and remained internal defects. Consequently, it is very important to implement and establish inspection techniques which can visualize internal defects as a countermeasure with repair works.
\nFor such infrastructure as bridges and tunnels, it is generally recognized that appropriate maintenance works are necessary. Prior to extensive damage and failure in existing structures, essential issues include establishing a maintenance system for reinforced concrete (RC) members with the sufficient measures. Epoxy injection and patch repair methods have been widely and practically introduced to repair and re-strengthen RC members. However, insufficient repair works are unfortunately often reported, and these works have potentially resulted in re-deterioration because more improvement is needed for inspection techniques to estimate the quality of repair and recovery.
\nDeveloping nondestructive testing and evaluation methods is strongly demanded for concrete structures to quantify or assure the repair and retrofit recovery. The International Union of Laboratories and Experts in Construction Materials, Systems, and Structures (RILEM) launched a technical committee on innovative NDT for repair and retrofit recovery [1]. Tomography techniques are studied based on elastic wave and acoustic emission (AE) to visualize, internal defects in three-dimension concrete with the committee’s activities. These techniques applicability has already been published in terms of elastic wave tomography [2, 3] and AE tomography [4, 5].
\nUsing parameters of elastic wave such as amplitudes and elastic wave velocities, internal distributions are obtained by the tomography technique. Elastic wave velocity is specifically used as the parameter in this study. Both the location of the excitation and the excitation time are known in the mentioned elastic wave tomography. On the other hand, they are unknown for AE tomography. The elastic wave velocity in each set-element over the structure can be calculated. Elastic wave velocity is theoretically associated with elastic modulus of material. The values would vary as low-velocity zones with the presence of such internal defects as cracks and voids.
\nIn a theory of elastic wave propagation inside media, the waves are reflected, diffracted, and scattered where it has voids and cracks. Elastic wave velocity is known to be decreased by the phase divergence. The zones of lower elastic wave velocity corresponding to those of heavier deterioration can be reasonable assumed. The distribution of wave velocities can be accordingly referred to as a good indicator of the internal condition of a concrete structure. Moreover, in order to guarantee whether the injected material is properly filled into cracks by using the crack injection method, the velocity distributions of elastic waves in the applicable regions of RC structures are estimated, before and after the repair, by employing AE tomography method [6].
\nThe repair effects in concrete were evaluated with 3D elastic wave tomography in the present study by means of innovative NDT, which can visually identify the outcome from the repair condition provided by the epoxy injection and patch repair methods. 3D tomography was employed for a 50-year-old concrete pier, which was repaired by epoxy injection method, as well as to a 53-year-old concrete wall, which was repaired by the patch repair method. And, AE tomography was applied to a 46-year-old RC slabs, in which epoxy-based resin was used as the injected material to repair the internal cracks.
\nAs described here, although the epoxy injection and patch repair methods are major repair methods even without the corrosion of the reinforcing bars, there are many reports indicating re-deterioration with insufficient repairs. This study aims to validate the 3D elastic wave tomography and AE tomography technique for inspection of the internal quality of concrete after repair.
\nConcrete pier specimen, 600 mm width, 1200 mm height, and 300 mm thickness, is shown in Figure 1. About 93 components of syringe-type caulking guns were set into pots for injection and 50 kHz resonance AE sensors were arrayed to receive elastic waves before the injection and 7 days after injection, which is corresponding to the epoxy resin hardening period.
\nOverview of concrete pier.
Attached AE sensors to four sides of the pier, as shown in Figures 2 and 12 sensors were arranged on sides A and B in a 600 × 1200 mm area and 4 sensors were installed on the other sides. About 25 mm diameter steel ball was used for the excitation of elastic wave. In order to identify the impact excitation time, at the closest sensor location, each excitation point was selected.
\nSensor arrangement.
Figure 3 shows concrete wall, 600 × 600 mm, where the patch repair method was applied, following V-shaped concrete removal was conducted for 80 mm depth and 120 mm width since surface cracks with water leakage were observed on the surface of the tunnel-lining concrete. Then, polymer cement mortar with a water-to-cement ratio W/C = 25% was used to fill the crack. Employing micro-core drilling and hammering as one-sided access measurement, the wave signals generated inside the concrete were detected. A 12 mm diameter micro-coring was performed up to 200 mm depth. A curved edge 6 mm diameter steel bar was inserted into the bit hole. The head of steel bar was hit by 25 mm diameter spherical steel ball. Hammering the steel bar without touching the hole wall, elastic waves could only be generated at the hole end in the depth direction. About 60 kHz resonance AE sensors were installed to detect the elastic waves. The sensor arrangements and excitation points are shown in Figure 4.
\nOverview of concrete wall.
Locations of drilling and sensor arrangement.
Figure 5 and Table 1 show a top view of an RC bridge, and specifications for the measured deck panels. This bridge is a municipal road bridge located in the Hokuriku region, Japan and it has been in service in the last 46 years. Three panels highlighted in the figure are selected for the measurement. On all of the slab panels, web-shaped cracks were sporadically evident on the concrete surface. These cracks are thought to be caused primarily by the alkali-silica reaction in concrete. Figure 6 shows a sketch of cracks obtained through visual inspection from the bottom side of the slab. This figure also shows the area of the tomography analysis for obtaining the velocity distribution. Crack widths are not indicated in figure, but in all the slab panels, the cracks width was smaller than 0.2 mm, and over almost the entire range, the widths were in the range of 0.10–0.15 mm.
\nA top side view of subject bridge.
Type | \nRC bridge (3 span composite girder bridge) | \n
---|---|
Length | \n88.0 m | \n
Age | \n46 years | \n
Thickness | \nSlab: 250 mm and asphalt: 50 mm | \n
Condition | \nWeb-shaped cracks were sporadically evident on the concrete surface. | \n
Bridge specifications.
Sketch of cracking.
In order to determine the velocity distributions by tomography, the following analytical steps are taken.
\nFirst, the arrival time at each sensor was determined with an Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) picker [7, 8]. For the digitized wave record xk of length N, the AIC value is defined as
\nwhere var(x[1, k]) indicates the variance between x1 and xk, and var(x[k, N]) is the variance between xk and xN.
\nThe point where AIC value minimizes, applying the least-square method, corresponds to the most suitable separation point of two series of stationary time, the arrival time as the phase onset is thus reasonably determined by the AIC picker. Lower AIC values suggest noise and higher AIC values show the arrival of wave signals. Following the determination of arrival time, the elastic wave velocity is calculated. The observed time of wave propagation Tobs is obtained by [9].
\nwhere Ts is the time of excitation and To is the arrival time.
\nThe reciprocal of the velocity is referred in the elastic wave tomography algorithm to as the “slowness.” As shown in Figure 7, slowness as the initial parameter is provided into each element. Travel time of elastic wave can be computed as elastic velocity is constant in individual element on this ray path. The total of the propagation time calculated by the slowness and the distance in each element (refer to Eq. (3)) derives the propagation time Tcal. The difference between the observed propagation time (Tobs) and the theoretical propagation time (Tcal) is obtained by Eq. (4).
\nwhere lj is the length crossing each element and sj is the slowness of each element.
\nSlowness for calculation of propagation time.
si is slowness of element i, li is length of the ray path in element i. Thus, it is revealed that li is essential for the calculation of the travel time.
\nIn order to reduce the difference between the observed propagation time and the theoretical propagation time, the slowness in each element is re-calculated and renewed. The total slowness correction is determined by Eq. (5) and the revised slowness is consequently calculated by Eq. (6).
\nwhere Li is the total distance of wave propagation through the i-element.
\nProceeding the iteration based on Eqs. (5) and (6) as shown in Figure 8, the optimal slowness, eventually the velocity, in each element corresponding to the observed propagation times of multiple paths over the interested area is determined as well as the velocity distribution.
\nAnalytical procedure for 3D tomography.
In order to determine the ray path more accurately, the ray trace algorithm is applied, taking into account detours of elastic waves due to the reflection and diffraction. Following 3D ray trace algorithm, which was proposed in previous research [3], the arrival time of each wave is obtained. Correction of the slowness in each element is carried out according to the error between the observed first travel time and computed value in the element, using 3D finite elements for meshing of target space in the present algorithm. Wave velocities between 2000 and 4500 m/s are given for the tomography results as the range of wave velocities in concrete.
\nAE tomography is a method for obtaining a velocity distribution by finding the travel time from an AE source to each sensor. Thus, it is necessary to obtain the position of the transmission source as accurately as possible. With the conventional ranging technique, which assumes that the propagation velocity is fixed, considerable errors are expected in the case that the tomography technique is applied to such a heterogeneous material as concrete. Consequently, a new ranging technique incorporating with the ray tracing concept has been developed as a pre-processing technique for AE tomography [6]. The ranging technique using ray tracing is illustrated in Figure 9. As shown in the diagram, ray tracing is performed from the received point j to all other nodes i, and the theoretical travel time Tji to each node is calculated. The shortest transmission time is determined from the differences between Tji and the initial travel time Tj at the received point j. The procedure is repeated for the number of received points N, and finally the node, where the variance of estimated arrival times estimated from Eqs. (7) and (8) becomes the minimal, is taken to be the transmission point. In Eq. (7), Tmi is the mean value of the estimated transmission times at each node i, and in Eq. (8), σi is the variance of the estimated transmission times at each node i.
\nOverview of transmission source estimation using ray tracing.
Figure 10 shows the model of AE tomography analysis and the positions of receiving sensors. The shaded part at the top of the model indicates the asphalt layer (thickness: 50 mm). Analyzed regions for slab panels 1 and 3 were set to be 3600 × 1900 mm. Concerning slab panel 2, there were limitations on the sensor positions, and thus the region was set to be 3600 × 1500 mm. As elements for AE tomography analysis, the applicable region was divided by 16 × 8 in total of 128 elements. In AE tomography, elastic waves were excited by the steel ball drop. A steel ball of 5 mm diameter was dropped at several locations for 12 minutes from the asphalt surface, consciously ensuring that the distribution of impact points was as uniform as possible at the target area. The steel ball dropping is illustrated in Figure 11. In AE tomography, the measurements were performed using an acceleration measurement system (TEAC). About 15 piezoelectric accelerometers with the frequency response from 3 Hz to 15 kHz were employed as receiving sensors. The point at which AIC is the minimum is determined as the arrival time of the wave. However, when the S/N ratio is low, it is difficult to identify the minimum value of AIC. Thus, a reliability parameter is developed for reading the initial travel time. The index is proposed as a measure for the identification of the rising edge of the wave [10]. It is found that readings of the initial travel times reasonably converge if the index is 0.05 or higher. In the present chapter, elastic waves with the index of 0.1 or higher are analyzed. AIC (kmin) indicates the minimum value of AIC, that is, corresponding to the initial travel time.
\nAnalysis model for AE tomography.
Steel ball dropping.
In order to investigate the epoxy-injected situation in damaged concrete, black light (ultraviolet light) was irradiated on the cored sample so that the injected material (epoxy resin) was colored in blue as shown in Figure 12. It is confirmed that epoxy resin was successfully injected into the concrete cover (up to 10 cm) and over the depth of the reinforcing bars (from 10 to 15 cm). The injected material can penetrate cracks even smaller than 0.1 mm in width [11].
\nResults of elastic wave tomography in 3D (left: before injection and right: after injection).
Figure 12 shows elastic wave tomography results before and after epoxy injection. The overview of injection repair method is shown in Figure 13. The wave velocities after the repair indicate clearly higher values than those before. The velocities are mostly higher than approximately 3000 m/s. This result implies that the epoxy injected from the surface of the pier could be filled and hardened sufficiently inside the media via cracks. However, at the central portions of the concrete pier, wave velocities are still lower than 2500 m/s, namely, the epoxy injection only guarantees the shallow zone repair from the concrete surface. The velocity distribution given by 3D elastic wave tomography shows the conditions inside the concrete, in particular, whether the epoxy is fully penetrated into the interior, while it is noted that the tomography technique could assess the repair level, which is not visually clarified on the exterior.
\nRepair by epoxy injection.
Figure 14 shows wave velocity histogram before and after the repair consequences. The mean value after the repair is higher than that before, and the variation decreases. Since the velocities lower than 2500 m/s are rarely observed in the histogram, concrete of the pier is repaired after the injection.
\nHistogram of wave velocities.
Figures 15 and 16 respectively show the tomography results the injected epoxy amount at Side A (referred as the front surface in Figure 12) and those at Side B (referred as the back surface in Figure 12). They are only the tomograms of wave velocities at the surface layer, comparing with the amount of epoxy injection. The injection pots which added syringe refilling are colored in red because the caulking guns were replaced and refilled with epoxy until the spring-loaded gun automatically stopped the injection.
\nResults of wave velocities and amount of epoxy injection (Side A).
Wave velocity and epoxy injection result (Side B).
The velocity distribution alteration reasonably correlates with the epoxy injection amount. Concrete property improvement suggested by the velocity recovery is also roughly confirmed with the epoxy injection amount.
\nVelocity-improved areas in Figures 15 and 16 are relatively observed in the areas, where additional injection was installed because of their porous media due to heavy deterioration (red colored in Figures 15(d) and 16(d)). Less improvement of the velocity are observed even after the repair at the bottom-right corner of side A (see Figure 15), where the method did not enable to penetrate the resin sufficiently into the concrete because of their lower connectivity of internal cracks.
\n3D elastic wave tomography technique mentioned above was challengingly applied to confirm patch repair effect for concrete wall of an existing structure. In this study, the technique was introduced as a method to evaluate the retrofit recovery. There is currently no NDT technique applicable in terms of in-situ measurement.
\nIntroducing micro-core drilling, excitation of elastic waves was driven. The technique is proposed and applied usefully for one-side access inspection works. Figure 17 shows the illustration of test procedure schematically.
\nProcedures of drilling and excitation.
On the surface of concrete wall with a surface crack (a), a V-cut concrete removal is performed (b), followed by a patch repair method with polymer cement mortar grouting (c), 12 mm diameter bit hole of 200 mm depth is drilled by micro-coring (d), at each concrete surface point. With the sensor array on the surface (e), 6 mm diameter a steel bar is inserted into the hole and the steel bar head is hit by a 25 mm diameter steel sphere ball.
\nCareful hammering at the steel bar head to prevent contacting the hole wall, the excited elastic waves were generated only from the bit hole bottom into the lining concrete, so that the excited signals were detected finally at sensors located on the concrete surface.
\nThe travel time along the steel bar was measured by two sensors as shown in Figure 18. AE sensor A records the excitation time at the head by using a steel ball of 15 mm diameter and the elastic wave travel time in the bar is calculated by detecting the arrival time of the wave at AE sensor B. The arrival time difference is 69 μs as shown in Figure 19.
\nMeasurement method of travel time in the steel bar.
Waveforms at excitation and receiver.
The dominant frequency of elastic wave excited by a 15 mm diameter steel ball is known as 19.4 kHz according to [12]. Considering a steel bar is used as wave guide, a frequency analysis was conducted for the waveforms observed at A and B. Figure 20 shows the frequency spectra. Each guided wave is detected via the 38 mm length steel bar. The dominant frequency was observed at A for 22.5 kHz and the dominant frequency was 16.6 kHz at B. Since these detected frequencies are higher than the resonant frequencies of the steel bar, first flexural mode (1.1 kHz), second flexural mode (3.2 kHz), and third flexural mode (5.4 kHz), respectively, as a cantilever, the principal components of the waveform were assumed to be generated as compression wave excited by the tapping at steel bar head.
\nFrequency spectra of waveforms at A and B.
The computation for wave velocity distribution in the targeted concrete wall was implemented by the tomography technique mentioned previously. Figure 21 shows the 3D distribution of wave velocities and Figure 22 shows them at cross section A.
\nDistribution of wave velocities in 3D.
Distribution of wave velocities at cross section A.
Although the triangle-shaped (dashed line) repair area has high velocity on the surface, the V-shaped low-velocity area is observed toward the bottom, whereas high-velocity zones exist at the left side of the specimen. The high velocity may indicate the intact condition of the original concrete quality, because the interested area is enough far from the repaired area.
\nThe repaired part is denoted by high velocity, in Figure 22, meanwhile the original concrete surrounding the patched area remarkably shows low velocity. The V-shaped area with low velocity underneath the repaired part could be potentially damaged by the chipping work for concrete removal. This is generally known and described in concrete surface treatment guideline prior to repairs and overlays [13, 14]. Further investigation is needed for the consideration in the influence of the hammer drill impact on damage to the concrete behind the removal zone.
\nFigure 23 shows the results of AE tomography, before and after repair by means of the crack injection. Results show that in all the slab panels, the velocity after repair exhibits increase compared to that before repair. Further quantitatively, the histograms of velocities obtained in all the elements are shown on the right side of the figure. For all slab panels, it is evident that the velocities at the elements clearly shift to the higher regions after repair. Due to the effectiveness of injected material in filling cracks and defects, detours and dispersions in the propagation paths of elastic waves are so eliminated that apparent velocities are increased.
\nResults of velocity distribution before and after repair.
All results imply that the velocity distribution obtained by the AE tomography method has a good potential to be an indicator for ascertaining the filled situation of injected material in a concrete slab. It is confirmed that the velocity for concrete which is not damaged shows about 3500 m/s to 4000 m/s. In some areas, however, velocities of about 2600 m/s are observed even after repair. This is because injected material might not be injected well into continuous cracks, independent air bubbles could be present due to the use of the air-entraining agent, and fine cracks at the interface between coarse aggregate are nucleated due to the alkali-silica reaction. As a result, there exists a possibility that the velocity recovery does not reach to the satisfactory level even after injection. On this issue, we plan to carry out a material test in the laboratory for confirmation.
\nDesign of the injection amount for the crack injection method could be based on the estimation of the crack widths, the depths, and the length measured. It is recognized that there exists no reasonable relationship between the amounts of designed injection and actual injection. Thus, an attempt to examine the amount of injected material is made from the results of AE tomography before repair.
\nIt is considered that the amount of injection should increase, depending on the extent of damage. Namely, if the degree of damage is small, the amount should decrease. In addition, if the damage is less than a certain degree, the injected material may not work well on the damage. On the other hand, if the elastic wave velocity could reflect the degree of damage, a correlation should be evident between the amount of injection and the values of velocities. Thus, the velocities are classified into grades, as given in Table 2. These quality indicators are proposed by Whitehurst [15]. They were determined from the relationship between mechanical properties and P-wave velocity in concrete. Following these indicators, the qualities before and after repair of the panels are classified as shown in Figure 24. It is found that the number of elements with Poor decreases, while that of Unacceptable keeps almost the same from before to after repair. As discussed before, due to the presence of air bubbles and the damaged interface with aggregates by alkali-aggregate reaction, the recovery of the velocities may not be apparent. These results imply that the region where the injected material could improve the quality of concrete is mostly that of Poor. It suggests that the repair by means of injection is effective for comparatively major damage. Figure 25 shows the relationship between total area of Poor estimated by AE tomography before repair and the actual amount of injection. As the Poor area increases, the increase in the actual amount of injection is clearly observed. Thus, it is possible to estimate the amount of injection before repair by carrying out the analysis using AE tomography.
\nVP (m/s) | \nQuality | \n
---|---|
>4570 | \nExcellent | \n
3660–4570 | \nFine | \n
3050–3660 | \nAcceptable | \n
2130–3050 | \nUnacceptable | \n
<2130 | \nPoor | \n
Quality indicator (Whitehurst).
Area ratio by quality before and after repair.
Total area (Poor) vs. injection amount.
Concrete pier, concrete wall, and slab were tested on the investigation on the internal damage assessment for the repair condition by applying elastic wave tomography and AE tomography. Determining the 3D velocity distribution, the repair effects of the epoxy injection method and the patch repair method were quantitatively evaluated. From the results, the following conclusions can be drawn in this study:
3D elastic wave tomography technique can evaluate the penetration of repair epoxy injection material and qualify the repair effect with the amount of injected rexin. 3D tomography technique installed with single-side access drill hammering successfully visualizes the internal quality of concrete after the patch repair method based on the elastic wave velocity distribution.
The velocity distribution obtained by AE tomography can serve as an indicator for ascertaining the state of crack and void filling with injected material. A good correlation is found between the low velocity region before repair and the amount of injected material. The results clearly show the potential for the AE tomography technique to be used as a method for estimating the performance of the crack injection method.
As mentioned previously, the RILEM committee was launched because innovative nondestructive inspection testing to qualify repair works is strongly required worldwide. We plan to continue studies based on the evaluation method using elastic wave tomography and accelerate its standardization.
\nSpace orbital environment is characterized by several factors that affect experiments in physical sciences and influence the good functioning of all living systems, from cells to humans. The main factors are weightlessness, high-energy radiations, vacuum and temperature differences. These last two factors are generally mitigated by the vehicle yielding the necessary life support to the systems under study. The first two factors on the contrary cannot be completely compensated.
The concept of weightlessness will be developed further.
Perfect protection against high-energy radiations cannot be completely achieved, unless thick shielding walls are installed all around the spacecraft, which is presently excluded in view of launch costs per kg. Nevertheless, a vehicle in low Earth orbit (a few hundred kilometers altitude) stays relatively protected by Earth’s Van Allen radiation belts (inner energetic proton belt at 1,000–6,000 km altitude and outer energetic electron belt at 13,000–60,000 km altitude).
To these orbital factors, one should add the conditions at launch and during atmospheric reentry and landing of a spacecraft, i.e. important accelerations and vibrations, that can affect the quality of physiological samples or configurations obtained in microgravity (e.g. for crystals).
The state of microgravity, or more correctly micro-weightiness, exists in an orbital vehicle in a state of free fall, i.e. without any force acting on it except for gravitational forces [1]. This means that the vehicle must not be propelled or submitted to any other nongravitational force. Perfect weightlessness is an ideal state practically impossible to achieve. However, microgravity of an excellent quality (typically 10−5 g, where g is the acceleration of weightiness, commonly and erroneously mistaken for gravity1, with an average value of 9.81 m/s2) can be achieved in orbit.
Gravity (weightiness) disturbs certain experiments and reduces the field of investigation of some scientific domains. Gravity (weightiness) effects hide other effects pertaining to materials or fluids under study, and that depends often on intrinsic properties of matter or of its state. Convection in fluids, so evident that it is called “natural,” is caused by gravity (weightiness) acting on local differences of density caused by differences of temperature or concentration. The resulting Archimedes or buoyancy force induces an ascending motion of fluid zones of lesser density and a descending motion of fluid zones of larger density, creating convection cells in gases, liquids and solids in fusion, yielding disruptive phenomena in separation processes.
Although physical and biological processes are often investigated in hypergravity, e.g. in centrifuge, one knows less what happens in reduced gravity. However, in most cases, one cannot extrapolate from results obtained in hypergravity to microgravity, most of the phenomena being nonlinear in function of the gravity level. One observes many more differences while passing from 1 g to 0 g than between 5 g and 4 g, for example.
Many scientific fields profit from the peculiarities of weightlessness to enlarge their field of investigations. Material sciences, fluid physics and life sciences (biology and physiology) were the first to use microgravity, followed later by many other disciplines (combustion physico-chemistry, crystallography, fundamental physics, critical point phenomena, etc.) in view of varying a new experimental parameter: gravity. Microgravity allows to deepen scientific knowledge in domains that are hardly accessible on Earth.
Table 1 shows some of the scientific fields in which experiments were conducted in microgravity.
Physical sciences | Life sciences |
---|---|
Fundamental physics | Human research |
Complex plasmas and dust particle physics Aerosol particle motion Frictional interaction of dust and gas Plasma physics Aggregation phenomena | Integrated physiology Cardiovascular function Respiratory function Body fluid shift Central venous pressure system Digestive system Muscle and bone physiology Skeletal system Blood lactate studies Body mass tests Human locomotion Posture Bone models Neuroscience Neurobiology Vestibular functions Spatial orientation Motion sickness Motor skills |
Materials science | |
Thermophysical properties Thermophysical properties of melts New materials, products and processes Morphological stability and microstructures Physical chemistry Aggregation phenomena Granular matter | |
Fluid and combustion physics | |
Structure and dynamics of multiphase systems Pool boiling Heat and mass transfer Dynamics of drops and bubbles Thermophysical properties Interfacial phenomena Dynamics and stability of fluids Evaporation Complex dynamic systems Diffusion Foams Chemo-hydrodynamic pattern formation Combustion Droplet and spray combustion Soot concentration Combustion synthesis Laminar diffusion flames Fuel droplet evaporation Ignition behaviour | |
Biology | |
Plant physiology Statolith movement Gravitropism Gravireceptors Cell and developmental biology Animal physiology Aging processes Electrophysiological and morphological properties of human cells Osteoblast cells | |
Technology | |
ISS experiment validation Phase separation technologies for biological fluids Crew foot restraint Crew exercise devices Urine monitoring system | |
Technology | |
ISS experiment validation Metal halide lamps Micro-acceleration measurement |
Non-exhaustive list of research fields in microgravity.
Microgravity research allows to study the gravity effects on these different phenomena and the effects of other forces normally masked by gravity on Earth. Weightlessness became an experimental research tool that allows to transpose in microgravity the investigation of phenomena known on Earth but sometimes insufficiently understood, in order to investigate the fundamental processes and to understand their functioning without gravity.
Modifications appear when one studies matter behaviour in weightlessness. One observes on the one hand the disappearance of “natural” phenomena caused by gravity and, on the other hand, the preponderance in microgravity of phenomena that can hardly be observed in normal conditions of gravity. These modifications are particularly important for certain physical, chemical and metallurgical processes having at least one fluid phase: crystal growth, alloy solidification, separation of biological substances, etc.
The main differences that are observed for fluid phases in weightlessness are as follows.
Separation phenomena observed on Earth in multiphase systems that include a fluid phase disappear in microgravity. Sedimentation (precipitation of dissolved or suspended matter) and Archimedean buoyant force (or buoyancy, i.e. the force due to a liquid pressure on a body-immersed volume) disappear. The advantage of the absence of separation in weightlessness is the possibility of obtaining mixtures that are unstable on Earth and material alloys impossible to obtain on Earth or with great difficulty. A disadvantage of the absence of separation in weightlessness is the difficulty of eliminating the gaseous inclusions while, on Earth, degassing is done “naturally” (gaseous zones in liquid matrices go up to the free surface).
“Natural” convection disappears in fluids in microgravity. There is no more natural upward displacement of hot zones and downward displacement of cold zones. In fact, there is no up and no down. Other forces become dominant for movements in liquids in microgravity. These forces are linked to superficial or interfacial tension between two liquids. Indeed, such an interface behaves as an elastic “membrane” whose tension is a thermodynamic function of temperature (or concentration for solutions), as shown in Figure 1.
Liquid/gas interface submitted to a superficial tension gradient, yielding a Marangoni convection cell caused by the physical displacement of the interface membrane from the hot side (point 2) to the cold side (point 1) [1].
For an interface subjected to a temperature difference, superficial tension for most liquids is generally smaller for the hot side than for the cold side. The interface, i.e. the common layer formed by molecules of both fluids, physically moves parallelly to itself from the hot side to the cold side; this membrane deforms itself and slides from the hot side to the cold side. The liquid layers on both sides of the interface are dragged along by viscosity, and a new convection appears, called Marangoni convection, after the name of the Italian physicist who studied this phenomenon at the end of the nineteenth century. This phenomenon exists obviously also on Earth, but as its effect is much smaller than those caused by gravity, it is in general negligible and much more difficult to observe. Its study in microgravity allows thus to better understand the fundamental characteristics of liquid behaviour.
It is also because of the absence of “natural” convection that the shape of a combustion flame is different in weightlessness. On Earth, gases produced by the chemical reaction of combustion (e.g. of a candle wick), much hotter, rise, and fresh air oxygen migrate to the combustion centre to feed the combustion process. In microgravity, hot gases have no reason to rise anymore, and the flame is surrounded by a hemispherical ball formed by combustion gases (Figure 2), limiting the amount of fresh oxygen transfer.
Flames on ground in 1 g (left) and in microgravity in near 0 g (right). Notice the near-hemispherical shape of the flame in microgravity with the reddish-purple part on top due to some convection caused by small perturbations in the microgravity environment (photo credit: NASA).
In microgravity, hydrostatic pressure disappears. On Earth, it is responsible for the tendency of fluids to deform under the effect of their own weight, a liquid zone supporting the weight of zones on top. The same phenomenon exists for solids. Structures can be built that would collapse under their own weight on Earth, e.g. crystalline networks (Figure 3).
Protein crystals obtained with ESA’s Advanced Protein Crystallization Facility during the Life and Microgravity Spacelab mission on NASA Space Shuttle STS-98 in May 1995 (credit: Prof. Martial, University of Liege, Belgium).
Liquids in weightlessness, abandoned to themselves without any contact with a solid surface, form spherical drops (Figure 4), which is the minimal surface enclosing a given volume when subjected to the only forces of superficial tension.
Water drop in free float on ISS (credit: NASA).
On Earth, crucibles are used to melt alloys, which may contaminate the melt liquid phase. In weightlessness, the liquid phase can be maintained in a contactless levitation, without touching any solid walls, using an electrostatic, magnetic or acoustic confining (Figure 5). Many parameters of materials at high temperatures are still unknown and cannot be measured on Earth due to difficulties and limitations caused by crucible contamination and gravity effects.
Core element of an electromagnetic levitator (photo credit: DLR).
The list of the advantages and applications of microgravity to scientific research could be continued at length but is outside of the aim of this publication. The interested reader will find other examples and more details in Refs. [2, 3, 4, 5].
Initially developed in the 1950s and 1960s to support US and USSR space programs, space microgravity medical research quickly evolved. Manned spaceflights very quickly showed physiological changes in astronauts and cosmonauts. The duration of spaceflights has increased throughout the years, from a few hours at the beginning of the 1960s to several months (or even more than a year) today on board the International Space Station (ISS, Figure 13). The ISS allows to conduct and to repeat experiments during several years.
New phenomena have been observed on astronauts, some of these effects appearing only after several weeks or months in space. Despite the large number of hours spent in orbit around the Earth by astronauts and cosmonauts from all countries involved in space research and exploration, some problems are still far from being fully understood, and the necessary solutions have not yet been found.
Although physiological systems of human organism function interdependently, one can classify physiological effects of microgravity in four categories:
Perturbations of sensorial systems related to balance, orientation and the vestibular system
Modifications of bodily fluid distribution and their impact on the cardiovascular system
Effects on metabolism and bodily functions
The adaptive processes of muscular and skeletal systems and their pathological consequences
Relevant knowledge and research on human physiology are presented below, and more details can also be found in Refs. [6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11].
On Earth, in a normal gravity environment, the human body has three means to obtain the information of the reference vertical direction and of the top-bottom orientation, characteristic of the gravitational environment on our planet.
The main system is the vestibular system, which is double, located in the inner ear. In one of these organs, small crystals of calcium carbonate called otoliths weigh on a membrane with nervous endings. The semicircular canals form another sensor. Formed by the three canals in planes approximatively orthogonal to each other, a physiological liquid moves by inertia in these canals during a head movement, stimulating nervous endings in the canals. The combination of the information coming from the otoliths and semicircular canals allows the brain to interpret the movement and the position of the head.
The second source of information is the visual system. The visual information allows the brain to recognize the body position with respect to external references (floor, ceiling, walls).
The third information source is the proprioceptive system, constituted of the whole of skin tactile perceptions, articulations and muscle tension. The neck proprioceptive system is the most developed and informs the brain on the position of the head with respect to the rest of the body.
In weightlessness and in absence of accelerated motion, there is no stimulation of the vestibular system. Otoliths are no longer attracted downward by gravity, and the semicircular canals are no longer stimulated. However, the visual and proprioceptive systems continue to function normally. Information sent by these different systems to the brain are incoherent for an organism used to normal gravity and create confusion in the brain zone that normally treats the information on position and orientation. This confusion often yields dizzy spells and nausea and sometime triggers the reflex of emptying the stomach. In short, the subject is sick. This sickness, called space adaptation syndrome, affects most astronauts. On average, one out of two astronauts suffers from nausea during the first few days of spaceflight. After a day or two, the human organism adapts to the new environment, and astronauts can continue to function and work “normally.” After the flight, the balance and orientation systems readapt quickly to the Earth’s environment.
On Earth, while standing in normal gravity, arterial blood pressure is normally distributed such that, if intracardiac pressure is taken as unity, it is approximately double in feet arteries and two third at head level. While lying down, the distribution of blood pressure is more uniform. Passing from the lying to the standing position yields a blood flow toward the lower part of the body, and blood pressure diminishes in the head. Known as orthostatic postural intolerance, the change of blood pressure is detected by baroreceptors in the vascular system and close to the heart. These receptors send signals that yield, firstly, an increase of cardiac rhythm to compensate the blood volume decrease in head arteries and, secondly, a contraction of arteries in the lower body to diminish the blood flow toward the legs.
In microgravity, gravity does not attract liquids downward anymore, and a redistribution of body fluids takes place. A volume of approximately two liters of body fluids is displaced from the lower extremities to the upper part of the body, increasing the blood volume and pressure in the heart. The volume and blood flow receptors are alerted, and this new situation is interpreted as an overload of the blood system. The reaction of body liquid elimination starts and yields a complex hormonal game, which results in a natural elimination by urine of body liquids. The organism adapts to this new environment, and a new balance is established after 4–5 days.
On the other hand, liquid transfer from lower members toward the upper body has other secondary effects: face swelling due to blood rush in the head, the increase of intraocular pressure, and sinus congestion. These secondary effects disappear up to a certain point after a few days in microgravity. Back on Earth, the organism readapts to a 1 g environment.
The results of experiments performed with ultrasound echocardiography show a diminution of the left ventricle and auricle volumes during a spaceflight of several weeks. However, after the flight, the cardiac muscle comes back to a normal state.
In microgravity, a decrease of cardiac rhythm and of arterial tension is observed, the heart not needing to pump blood against gravity’s downward pull (Figure 6).
Experiments during aircraft parabolic flights (left) showed (right) a decrease in heart rate, seen at the beginning of microgravity (arrows), i.e. an increase of duration between successive peaks, corresponding to increased vagal modulation of the heart rate. A sudden increase is also seen in pulse blood pressure (difference between maximum and minimum pressures), indicating an increase in stroke volume (ECG, electrocardiogram; BP, blood pressure) (credit: Left, ESA; right, Prof. A. Aubert, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium).
A high tachycardia (increase of the cardiac rhythm) is observed also at launch, due to psychological stress, but also necessary to compensate the effects of accelerations, in the order of 3–4 g, with a maximum of 8 g.
Visual impairment and intracranial pressure are another consequence of the upward body fluid shifts, the head filling with blood and other bodily fluids. The various consequences are an increase in intracranial pressure that can cause headache of varying levels of severity and an increase of the intraocular pressure that affects the visual performance and other more minor effects such as congestion of the sinuses. These effects, although observed and investigated for several years, are thought to be temporary as they tend to disappear after return to Earth.
However, intracranial pressure and visual impairment were only recently recognized as more serious as they could impair the performance of astronauts during long-duration 0 g travels in space.
In microgravity, the main physiological functions are practically unchanged. Astronauts can eat and drink without major constraints. Digestion and intestinal transit are accomplished also nearly normally, except that gravity action is no longer present.
Breathing is also made without too important problems. However, the breathing mechanism is altered: the distribution of inspired and expired gases in the lungs and oxygen exchanges in blood hemoglobin at the level of pulmonary alveoli are modified. The way to breathe is also modified: statistically, in weightlessness, the forced movement of the abdomen contributes more to the breathing mechanism.
Astronauts can also sleep in space. However, daily and sleep rhythms are disturbed. Indeed, on board the ISS in low Earth orbit at 400 km altitude, day and night alternation repeats approximately every 90 min. Astronauts see a sunrise and sunset 16 times per terrestrial 24 h a “day.” Psychological and emotional factors and travel excitement intervene also. To remedy it, one imposes a strict and well-established schedule taking into account human natural rhythms. On board the ISS, a three times 8-h schedule is applied: 8 h for sleep, 8 h for work depending on missions and 8 h for personal time, meals, rests, etc. This schedule is purely theoretical as astronauts on board the ISS spend much more of their time to work, although for long-duration stays on ISS, schedules are loose, and longer rest periods are foreseen some days, generally used by astronauts to watch Earth through windows, mainly the cupola (Figure 7).
NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg, Expedition 37 flight engineer in 2013, enjoys the view of earth from the windows in the ESA-built cupola of the International Space Station. A blue and white part of earth is visible through some of the seven windows of the cupola (photo credit: NASA).
After long stays in weightlessness, changes are observed in blood composition that can be problematic. Firstly, the number of red blood cells and the hemoglobin level decrease. Secondly, red blood cells of unequal sizes and of abnormal shapes have been also discovered. After 6 months in microgravity in orbit, up to 2% of ovalized red blood cells have been observed in Russian cosmonauts. Thirdly, the immune defense system of astronauts diminishes in microgravity after approximatively 7 days of flight. One observes a reduction of production of lymphocyte T cells (the white blood cells) that intervene in the immune responses and in antibody production. This observation did not find so far a satisfactory fundamental explanation, and this problem could be the one that would impede mankind to adapt to long-duration space travels in microgravity. Astronauts are more prone to infections in space, and they need more time to recover after an infection on ground after their return. The immune system is back to its normal preflight level after a period of 5–10 days after return to Earth.
In microgravity, the first effect that is noticed is the spine extension up to a point that astronauts can gain a few centimeters in height. This is due to the partial decompression of intervertebral discs that do not have to support the weight of the upper body anymore. Back on Earth, after the flight, this effect disappears, and height becomes normal again but with, sometime, the risk of having a nerve blocked between discs and vertebrae. Furthermore, some astronauts complained of back pains during or after a spaceflight, probably caused by this phenomenon of spine extension.
The muscular system atrophy is a second consequence, observed after some days in weightlessness. In particular, the most affected muscles are those that control posture and that contribute to support the body weight on Earth. In microgravity, the natural position that astronauts take is a curved position with the legs slightly bent. One floats freely and moves by pushing oneself against a wall, using the action-reaction principle. One notices thus a muscle atrophy, a loss of mass of muscles and the elimination of muscular proteins (Figure 8).
British ESA astronaut Tim Peake operates the muscle atrophy research and exercise system (MARES) equipment inside the Columbus module. MARES is an ESA facility used for research on musculoskeletal, biomechanical and neuromuscular human physiology to better understand the effects of microgravity on the muscular system (photo credit: NASA/ESA).
By practicing regularly (more than 2 h per day!) and by applying sometime treatments of muscular fiber electrostimulation, astronauts and cosmonauts have no difficulties to readapt upon return to Earth after a more than 6-month mission.
Bone demineralization, and mainly decalcification, is the most important and serious physiological phenomenon observed in microgravity. Appearing only after 1–2 months in orbit, this could be the second problem that could thwart the hopes of mankind to adapt to space travels in weightlessness.
The loss of calcium is still not completely understood. One knows that decalcification is related to an atrophy of bone fibrous cells containing calcium, corresponding to the part of the bone that allows the marrow to pass. This effect seems to be irreversible once it has started. The rate of calcium loss varies from an astronaut to another and varies also from a type of bone to another. Numerous experiments yield sometime diverging results. On one side, one observes an increase of activity of osteoclastic cells, whose role is to eliminate and resorb elements of bone tissues. On the other side, some results show that bone demineralization would be due to a decrease of activity of osteoblastic cells, responsible for regenerating bone tissues.
This problem of bone decalcification resembles by certain aspects osteoporosis, an illness known on Earth affecting mainly elderly people. This sickness yields a change in the structure (demineralization) of bones, but the composition stays globally the same. The bone loses in thickness, fragilizes and fractures more easily. This shows the importance of conducting research in microgravity on astronauts to better understand this sickness and to contribute in finding a cure for it.
All the means to generate microgravity are based on the principle of free fall; any other method will not result in a real microgravity environment but in a simulated microgravity environment. Microgravity is created in a non-inertial reference frame attached to a vehicle in free fall, in which the resultant of forces other than gravity is null or negligible.
Figure 9 summarizes the different platforms used for microgravity research in an increasing order of microgravity duration.
Reduced gravity platforms accessible to microgravity researchers (vertical axis, duration of microgravity; horizontal axis, quality of microgravity) (credit: DLR).
Drop tubes and drop towers provide a few seconds (up to 5 s) in the vertical drop mode, where an experimental payload is literally dropped in vacuum or behind a shield to reduce the perturbing effect of air friction.
The level of microgravity obtained in the drop tube of NASA Marshall Centre of 105 m high and 25 cm diameter is in the order of 10−6 g during 4.6 s in a vacuum. In Europe, the ZARM drop tower in Bremen, Germany (Figure 10), is 110 m high with a diameter of 3.5 m. Experiment capsules fall during 4.7 s in vacuum, yielding microgravity levels of 10−5 g. The microgravity duration can be doubled up to 9.5 s by launching the experiment capsule in a catapult mode from the bottom of the tower upward, falling freely first upward and then downward [12, 13].
The ZARM drop tower in Bremen, Germany. The 146 m high building protects the free fall facility from atmospheric perturbation and wind (photo credit: ZARM).
Aircraft parabolic flights provide a reduced gravity environment of approximately 20 s, with the major advantage of having human operators and subjects on board. The level of microgravity is typically in 10−2 g when attached to the floor structure that can be improved down to 10−3 g for a few seconds when left free-floating (Figure 11). This important microgravity platform is addressed in the next chapter.
During a parabolic flight on board the Airbus A300 ZERO-G during an ESA campaign, several experimental racks are visible to the left and the back, while one of the authors floats freely “upside down.” There is no “up” and “down” in weightlessness (photo credit: ESA).
Sounding rocket flights, for which microgravity levels are in the order of 10−4–10−5 g, are used for automated or remotely operated experiments with relatively reduced volumes. Depending on the size of the rocket and the engine used, the duration of microgravity during the ballistic phase of the flights varies between 3 and 14 min [14].
In the near future, suborbital flights will provide microgravity duration in the order of 3–4 min for paying customers but also for microgravity experiments. There are typically two US companies that are working on suborbital vehicles (Figure 12): Blue Origin with the New Shephard capsule and a reusable rocket and Virgin Galactic and the SpaceShipTwo spaceplane carried by the WhiteKnightTwo airplane carrier. These two systems would carry passengers and experiments up to an altitude of 100 km or more in a propelled mode and continue in a ballistic mode for approximately 3–4 min after propulsion has stopped.
Two suborbital facilities in development: (left) the New Shephard capsule with a reusable rocket (credit: Blue origin) and (right) the WhiteKnightTwo airplane carrying the SpaceShipTwo spaceplane (photo credit: Virgin galactic).
Manned orbital platforms provide microgravity periods of several years for the International Space Station (ISS, Figure 13) [15, 16, 17], and the future Chinese Space Station is foreseen to be assembled in orbit in 2022 (Figure 14). Residual accelerations are in the order of 10−2–10−4 g, depending on internal perturbations (e.g. crew movements) and external ones.
The International Space Station (ISS) is the first major international project that includes 14 countries in its realization: The USA, Russia, Canada, Japan and 10 European countries (France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark and Norway). With a total mass of 440 tons (but weighing 0 kg ...), the ISS is in low earth orbit between 400 and 450 km altitude at 51.6° inclination. Since November 2000, the station is inhabited by permanent international crews (photo: NASA).
The Chinese Space Station foreseen to be launched and assembled in the coming years with an assembly completed for 2022. From left, the Tianzhou (meaning “heavenly vessel” in Chinese Mandarin) cargo freighter docked to the Tianhe (“harmony of the heavens”) core module in the Centre; a piloted Shenzhou (“divine vessel”) vehicle is connected to a node in front of Tianhe, which are connected to two scientific modules: Wentian (“quest for the heavens,” at right) and Mengtian (“dreaming of the heavens,” left) (credit: CMSA).
Space missions of orbital platforms and of sounding rockets require a long preparation, typically of several years, and should be considered for experiments that need a long exposition duration to microgravity. The relatively short preparation time for the use of drop tubes and towers and of aircraft parabolic flights (typically of few days to few months) renders them particularly attractive for short-duration experiments of a few seconds. The utilization of these experimental platforms of earthbound microgravity must be considered as preparatory and complementary to space missions.
Let us insist on the fact that the platforms described in this section do not simulate microgravity but that they really create microgravity, even if it is not always perfect, as all these means are in free fall.
To the contrary of the means creating microgravity, simulation methods do not allow to really create microgravity. The simulation means allow to obtain experimental configurations in which certain aspects of phenomena can be studied in a way similar to what could be observed in microgravity but without being in weightlessness.
Therefore, these methods have important limitations that reduce their scientific interest to the investigations of some very specific cases. The results obtained by these simulation methods generally complete those obtained in real microgravity. In none of the three following configurations, microgravity is really created as there is no free fall.
The first simulation method was used at the end of the nineteenth century by a Belgian physicist, Joseph Plateau, who gave his name to this method. The principle is simple: it consists in immersing a liquid in another immiscible liquid matrix having the same volumetric mass. By Archimedes principle, the buoyancy exerted by the liquid matrix of volumetric mass ρ1 on a volume V of a liquid of volumetric mass ρ2 is directed along the gravity acceleration vector and reads
This force becomes null for ρ1 = ρ2, yielding results similar to what could be obtained in weightlessness when g = 0. In the Plateau configuration, the gravity force is not balanced by inertia forces but by a buoyancy force.
Only static configurations are truly well simulated with this method, e.g. configurations of static equilibrium of liquid zones.
The second simulation method is less known. It consists in balancing locally the force of gravity acting on a body by a magnetic or electrostatic force acting in the other direction. The effects of two fields, the gravitational field and a magnetic or electrostatic field, have to be locally balanced. One sees immediately the limitation of this configuration that would work only for bodies sensitive to magnetic induction or electrically charged. Furthermore, the power needed to maintain these fields is quite important and limits the size of observed configurations. Nevertheless, this method is used sometime to investigate magnetohydrodynamic problems in the absence of gravity effects.
The third simulation method is what is called the dimensionless reduction. This method mainly applies to fluid research for which scientists use a series of dimensionless numbers describing the ratios of different forces acting on fluids. Reducing physical dimensions of an experimental liquid zone greatly diminishes effects caused by gravity in comparison to other forces acting on fluids, e.g. superficial tension force or capillarity forces. One manages to build floating liquid zone of a few millimeters size that allow to study certain phenomena. The main limitations of this method are linked to reduced sizes: firstly, they make it difficult to install precise means of observation and measurement; secondly, they reduce the field of investigation to limited ranges of values of other effects specific to fluids.
Space medical and physiological research does not limit itself to conducting medical experiments in orbit or during parabolic flights but relies also on results obtained by earthbound means. For research on adaptation of the human body to weightlessness, scientists use two simulation techniques that allow within certain limits to recreate the effects of microgravity on the human body. It consists firstly of immobilization (or hypokinesia, Figure 15) in a horizontal position or slightly inclined (head-down) that simulates the shift of body fluids, mainly blood, toward the upper part of the body like in weightlessness.
Head-down bed rest simulates microgravity effects on human physiology. Subjects stay in slightly tilted head-down (typically 6°) beds for weeks or months at a time (photo credit: CNES/ESA).
The second technique is water immersion. As the human body is mainly made of water, buoyancy induces conditions partially similar to microgravity acting on the human body, somewhat akin to Plateau’s configuration. A variant of water immersion, called dry immersion, is also used sometime where the subject is placed in an elastic or plastic sheet in a liquid matrix, such that the subject is immersed in the liquid but without direct contact with the liquid.
A better understanding of the effects of microgravity on physics and the human body, from cells to body systems, is essential if the human exploration of outer space is to continue. The capacity to conduct research in the microgravity environment provided by spaceflight is fundamental, especially given current plans to expand long-term missions in low Earth orbit and to establish the commercial use of space, together with the ultimate goals of creating a human colony on the Moon and sending a first crewed mission to Mars. Nonetheless, there are many limiting factors that restrict the performance of experiments in space, such as the high costs involved in sending resources and equipment up into space, the safety requirements to which experimental devices must adhere and the small number of astronauts per flight. These constraining factors have motivated the establishment of ground-based research facilities and parabolic flights. The latter presents some limitations in terms of the short period of time of exposure to microgravity given and the hypergravity condition that precedes and succeeds each parabola. However, it is the only provider of microgravity, in which experiments in physics, biology, physiology and medicine can be conducted by human operators and volunteers. Parabolic flights are not a perfect analogue of spaceflight, but they remain a valuable research tool that enables research and testing to take place and a better understanding of the effects of microgravity, assisting academia, the private sector and governments to better design future plans for the human exploration of outer space.
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