Upright Proprioception Retention via Inflight Training and Evaluation (UPRITE)

This project involves the development of an inflight sensorimotor countermeasure and assessment tool known as the Upright Proprioception Retention via Inflight Training and Evaluation (UPRITE) system. Specifically, an International Space Station (ISS) Technical Demonstration is planned as exploration candidate hardware that can eventually be used for operations. The use of an inflight countermeasure that prevents, or mitigates, the degradation of balance control mechanisms will improve postural stability after transitions to increased gravitational environments. The project described in this document covers a series of steps intended to design and build the hardware to provide such a countermeasure. 

The UPRITE system targets the sensory subsystems that contribute to the maintenance of balance by requiring subjects to control the tilt angle of the support surface they are standing on. A two-cable subject loading system supplies the force that pulls them toward the tilt-board and real-time feedback of the pitch and roll angles control the position of a cursor on a computer monitor. Two custom training software modules, one presenting successive targets in random locations and the other presenting a single target in continuous motion, challenge the subject to align the cursor with the target. Performance metrics derived from these training exercises will also provide the first onboard assessment targeted toward the sensorimotor system.

Validation of the countermeasure’s efficacy is underway during a concurrent bedrest study sponsored by the Human Research Program. The remainder of the activities in this work reflect the steps necessary to create a flight certified version of the hardware and subsequent execution of a Technical Demonstration, using astronaut subjects, on the ISS.

This effort will enhance current exercise to boost the reliability of sensorimotor capabilities for post-landing activities. Specifically, it aims to provide crewmembers with enhanced sensorimotor re-adaptation with improved proprioceptive function for post-landing critical tasks involving posture and locomotion. These capabilities will enable successful crew performance of exploration mission objectives.

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