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Physiological Requirements of a Lunar Base Crew

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Handbook of Lunar Base Design and Development

Abstract

This chapter provides a high-level overview of the physiologic requirements of a lunar base crew that drive the Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) and Crew Health and Performance (CHP) System requirements. All humans require air to breathe, adequate water and food, and sufficient sleep to be productive. In the spaceflight environment and on the lunar surface, the technological challenges involved in providing those are daunting. While ECLSS provide for many fundamental human needs, it is important to understand how and when those needs may change as missions change. Exposure to the spaceflight environment deconditions humans over time, and the distance from Earth plays a role in the system’s ability to accommodate human needs. What people eat, drink, and how they sleep or rest impact how well they are able to do the jobs required for building and maintaining a lunar base. It is tempting for mission designers to assume that many of the human challenges can be addressed by solutions used in low Earth orbit (LEO). This would be a costly assumption, for while some solutions can apply, other challenges such as lunar dust exposure have no corollary in LEO. The physiologic requirements of a lunar base crew must be considered in every step of lunar base design.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Johnson Space Center, NASA, Houston, TX, USA

    Robert Mulcahy, Grace Douglas & Torin McCoy

  2. Department of Emergency Medicine, Center for Space Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA

    Erik Antonsen

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  1. Robert Mulcahy
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  2. Grace Douglas
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  3. Torin McCoy
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  4. Erik Antonsen
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Correspondence to Erik Antonsen .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Florida Institute of Technology, Aldrin Space Institute, Melbourne, FL, USA

    Peter Eckart

  2. Florida Institute of Technology, Aldrin Space Institute, Melbourne, FL, USA

    Andrew Aldrin

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  1. NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, USA

    Erik Antonsen

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Mulcahy, R., Douglas, G., McCoy, T., Antonsen, E. (2022). Physiological Requirements of a Lunar Base Crew. In: Eckart, P., Aldrin, A. (eds) Handbook of Lunar Base Design and Development. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05323-9_2-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05323-9_2-1

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