Adverse cardiopulmonary effects of exposure to extraterrestrial dusts implications for space travel the risks to human health associated with exposure to celestial dust during space exploration are…

This federal contract award, valued at $99,999.99, was granted by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to New York University (NYU) School of Medicine, a leading academic medical center and research institution. The contract aims to study the adverse cardiopulmonary effects of exposure to extraterrestrial dusts and their implications for space travel.

The research will build upon preliminary investigations that have revealed differences in pulmonary inflammation caused by exposure to various celestial materials from the Moon, Mars, and Asteroid 4Vesta. The proposed project will expand the scope by incorporating more extraterrestrial samples, examining chronic health effects, and evaluating cardiovascular endpoints. The goal is to elucidate the hazards associated with exposure to celestial dust and develop a geochemical model to predict the toxicity of these materials, thereby helping to mitigate the risks for future space exploration.

This contract is not designated as a set-aside and is being executed as a grant for research. It is part of NASA's broader "Adverse Cardiopulmonary Effects of Exposure to Extraterrestrial Dusts - Implications for Space Travel" program.

Adverse cardiopulmonary effects of exposure to extraterrestrial dusts implications for space travel the risks to human health associated with exposure to celestial dust during space exploration are largely unknown. Our preliminary research demonstrates that here are significant differences in the pulmonary inflammation generated upon acute exposure to six celestrial materials originating from the moon, mars, and asteroid 4VESTA. More specifically, the acute exposure studies reveal interesting relationships between toxicity and a meteorite samples origin, its pre ejected state (unweathered versus processed), and geochemical features. The proposed research will build upon this preliminary investigation. The addition of more extraterrestrial samples, chronic health effects studies, and cardiovascular endpoints will: 1) help elucidate the hazards associated with exposure to celestial dust and 2) provide a more robust dataset for the development of a model that utilizes geochemical features (i.e. elemental composition, mineralogy, surface area, and acellular reactivity) to generate a preliminary risk assessment before touchdown. The proposed ground based research project addresses all of the gaps listed by the HRP human research roadmap within the risk of adverse health and performance effects of celestial dust exposure initiative. An array of techniques within the fields of environmental toxicology and geosciences are employed allowing for both focused and broad conclusions to be drawn. This approach is highly interdisciplinary and relies on vetted techniques that have been combined in novel ways. In summary, the proposed research will not only identify possible inhalation hazards likely encountered in future space travel, but will allow for the development of a geochemical model to help mitigate the risk of celestial dust exposure. We hypothesize that geochemical difference between the samples will affect the toxicity of a material and that the deleterious nature of a celestial dust will be able to be predicted upon completion of this study.