BODIES IN THE SPACE ENVIRONMENT (BISE)
Research Area: Human Behavior and Performance
Expedition(s): 19- 24
Principal Investigator(s): ● Laurence R. Harris, PhD, York University, North York,
Ontario, Canada
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
The Bodies in the Space Environment
(BISE) aims to find out how input from
the senses is combined and used to
make judgments of object orientation
in space. Testing before going into
space, in the early and late periods of
long periods of spaceflight, as well as
after returning to Earth, enables
researchers to find out how
judgments of orientation change as a
result of weightlessness.
EARTH BENEFITS
Tools developed for the BISE can also
help people on Earth who experience
balancing problems or are prone to
falling, including seniors and people
with conditions such as Parkinson’s disease.
SPACE BENEFITS
Findings from BISE are expected to help astronauts perceive up and down in microgravity,
which creates a safer work environment in space. BISE uses the space environment to improve
the safety of space travel by designing countermeasures against specific problems.
RESULTS
BISE measured perceived orientation in 7 astronauts before, during, and after long-duration
spaceflight using the oriented character recognition test (OCHART), shape from shading, and
luminous line probes (Dyde 2006). OCHART measured the orientation at which a letter probe
was perceptually upright. On Earth, OCHART was performed while upright and lying right-side-
down. By varying the background orientation and the orientation of the subjects, the relative
contribution of vision, gravity, and the body were determined. On the International Space
Station (ISS), crew members performed OCHART early and late in flight. A reduction in visual
influence was observed in flight, with lower-than-baseline levels maintained throughout 6
months in orbit. Visual influence was still lower than baseline levels several months after
returning to Earth. It was concluded that sensory weightings were altered by long-term
exposure to microgravity and did not recover within 6 months of return to Earth.
ISS020E010310 – Expedition 20 flight engineer Robert Thirsk
utilizes Neurospat hardware to perform the Bodies in the Space
Environment experiment.