The Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH), in partnership with Baylor College of Medicine’s Center for Space Medicine, Caltech, and MIT, has announced a new initiative to conduct biomedical research on passengers aboard Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket. This initiative is part of TRISH's commercial spaceflight research program, EXPAND.
Jimmy Wu, TRISH deputy director and chief engineer, stated that this project will enhance research in space medicine by gathering essential human health data. "New data from suborbital flights builds our understanding of how the human body responds to spaceflight," he said.
The collaboration with Blue Origin allows TRISH to study biomedical changes in private astronauts. This contributes to the broader understanding of physiological reactions during space travel and provides scientists with crucial data and samples for medical advancements.
The NS-28 mission will be the first Blue Origin flight to contribute biomedical data to the EXPAND Program. It marks the first time EXPAND data is captured from a suborbital flight. The program gathers pre-, in-, and post-flight health data along with environmental parameters and biosamples from various commercial missions, storing them in a centralized database for scientific use.
To collect physiological data, crew members will wear BioIntelliSense's BioButton® device for continuous monitoring of vital signs and biometric trends. The NS-28 mission is scheduled for launch on November 22 from Blue Origin’s Launch Site One.
TRISH operates as a virtual institute under NASA's Human Research Program, focusing on innovative research to address challenges in deep space exploration and improve human health both in space and on Earth.
