Abstract
Microorganisms are constant ecological partners of humans
during manned space flight in hermetically sealed
environments. Although the microbes are rarely a health
risk to the crew members during relatively short duration
flights, increased immuno-suppression on the one hand and
microgravity induced effects like enhanced pathogenicity
of microbes on the other hand may threaten the crew
members' health during long distance flights. In
addition, there has been observed biodegradation of
materials on the spacecrafts. Hence, in view of future
long-duration spaceflights for exploration, it is
mandatory to better understand the underlying mechanisms
of biocontamination in confined environments in relation
with human activities to prevent or mitigate the possible
associated risks for the crew and the overall mission.
This effort should rely on optimized predictive models
rather than solely on empirical information.
Micro-organisms can be transmitted to humans in a variety
of ways, including person-to-person transmission (e.g.
sexual transmission and fecal-oral contact), exposure to
food-borne, water-borne, vector-borne and air-borne
pathogens, and contact with contaminated objects. Of
these transmission modes airborne aerosols are believed
to be an important one. Therefore it would be important
to be able to accurately simulate the generation,
dispersion and deposition airborne microbes under
conditions encountered during manned space missions.
The rapid development of computational fluid dynamics
(CFD) and ever increasing computer power during the past
few decades has facilitated numerical methods for solving
the indoor air movements and contamination transport. CFD
is potentially a promising and often the only method for
detailed predictions, but the accuracy of the results is
affected by several factors, like the simplifications
used in setting up the case, uncertainties in the initial
and boundary conditions, and shortcomings of the used
models. For high quality predictions the possible error
sources should be recognised and the results validated.
Original language | English |
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Publisher | BIOSMHARS project |
Number of pages | 41 |
Publication status | Published - 2011 |
MoE publication type | D4 Published development or research report or study |
Keywords
- manned spaceflight
- modelling
- bioaerosol