About a year after their launch, the in-orbit experimental activities of two projects of the Italian Space Agency (ASI), Drain Brain 2.0 and IRIS, have been successfully completed, both of which benefited from a significant scientific and technological contribution from INFN. The two experiments were carried out aboard the International Space Station (ISS) by international astronauts, thanks to the agreements that ASI made with NASA back in 1997.
“ASI has been a leading player in scientific and technological research supporting human space exploration for over 25 years – comments Serena Perilli, Head of the Orbital and Suborbital Human Flight and Experimentation Sector at ASI – The results of the IRIS and Drain Brain 2.0 projects will allow us to better characterise two important risk factors in human space exploration: the radiation environment and the response of the cardiovascular system in microgravity. In this sense, they will contribute to increasing the safety of astronauts who will undertake long-duration missions to the Moon or Mars.”
Within the framework of the Drain Brain 2.0 project, a portable and easy-to-use system was developed and tested in orbit for the non-invasive monitoring of fundamental parameters for astronauts’ cardiovascular health. The instrument, developed by the University of Ferrara, is a collar-shaped plethysmograph that makes it possible to detect blood flow in the jugular vein and carotid artery, synchronised with the electrocardiographic signal. Monitoring blood flow in the main vessels of the so-called heart-brain axis is of great importance for space missions, in which the microgravity condition leads to a redistribution of fluids, with congestion and stagnation of fluids in the upper part of the body and a consequent risk of developing cardiovascular and neurological problems. The experimental activities of Drain Brain 2.0 on the ISS were carried out by four astronauts belonging to Crew-10 and Crew-11 and were accompanied by pre- and post-flight ground measurements.
Each astronaut carried out between 4 and 6 sessions in orbit, during which it was possible to follow the evolution of the process of adaptation of the cardiovascular system to microgravity. “The data are currently being processed by the University of Ferrara group – explains Angelo Taibi, project lead for the University and INFN associate researcher, who adds – but we can anticipate that all the plethysmographic traces, recorded both on the ground and in orbit, and processed by the medical physics group, are of excellent quality. This result is the outcome of the synergistic work of all the project partners, including Argotec, which handled the payload qualification, and the INFN Ferrara section, which made a fundamental contribution to the development of the plethysmograph, entirely built in our laboratories”.
Once the data analysis phase is completed, the project will on the one hand make it possible to better understand how the cardiovascular system adapts to the space environment and, on the other, to validate the use of the plethysmographic system as a simple and non-invasive tool for monitoring human health in space missions, particularly useful for the future of exploration beyond low Earth orbit.
“The Drain Brain 2.0 project shows how research efforts oriented towards space missions also have multiple beneficial impacts on Earth, – comments Silvia Mari, ASI project lead – today we demonstrate that it is possible to monitor in a simple and non-invasive way the state of the cardiovascular system of astronauts exposed to an extreme environment; tomorrow we will be able to use this instrument in clinical practice on Earth, where it could simplify, make accessible and sustainable even at home the measurement of critical cardiovascular parameters in patients with cardiovascular diseases, with consequent benefits for therapeutic management”.
The IRIS project led to the development and in-orbit testing of innovative ionising radiation detectors, wearable, ultra-light and capable of transmitting in real time the radiation dose absorbed by each crew member, making it possible to trigger an immediate alert in the event of overexposure. The project team is composed of INFN-TTLab, Kayser Italia and the Department of Physics of the University of Rome Tor Vergata.
The experimental campaign involved the Crew-10 and Crew-11 crews. Crew-10 carried out 3 sessions of one week each, with the dosimeter alternately worn by the astronaut or installed on the ASI LIDAL payload, in order to calibrate and compare the instrumental responses. Subsequently, in June, NASA agreed with ASI on the possibility of carrying out 4 additional sessions, one with Crew-10 and 3 with Crew-11.
The scientific team is now analysing the data collected from all the sessions, carried out between March and December 2025.
“In the IRIS project, the potential of personal dosimeters based on innovative semiconductors (organic and perovskite) that can detect high-energy photons and protons even in the form of nanometric and micrometric thin films has been verified – explains Beatrice Fraboni of the University of Bologna, project lead for TTLab-INFN – the IRIS dosimeters are ultra-thin and flexible, ensure extremely reduced weight and volume compared to traditional semiconductors and require very low operating power, with clear advantages in terms of integration into payloads and safety of the space crew, who will be able to wear them imperceptibly throughout their stay in an extraterrestrial habitat, while monitoring in real time the radiation dose received.”
“Radiation protection is a necessary technology for future human space exploration missions beyond low Earth orbit, that is, outside the Earth’s magnetosphere – adds Marino Crisconio, ASI project lead – monitoring radiation dose over time in a personalised way for each astronaut is an essential prerequisite: doing so with innovative, ultra-thin and flexible dosimeters such as those of IRIS can certainly be beneficial. Its characteristics also make it suitable for interesting uses on Earth, for example in the case of workers exposed to radiation-contaminated areas or patients undergoing radiotherapy”.
