Grants and Contributions

Space anemia is well-documented, but we don’t fully understand the cause. This study will analyze the red blood cell data of American and Canadian astronauts over the past 50 years in order to further characterize space anemia. The causes of anemia may be multiple and studying the complete blood profiles of astronauts provide a unique perspective to explain the increased red blood cell destruction in space. Astronauts, space tourists, and bedridden people on Earth remain at risk for anemia. This project will add to the growing body of research with the hopes of discovering effective ways to mitigate this risk.

Light-headedness and fainting occurs when the cardiovascular system is unable to maintain arterial pressures during rapid changes in posture, such as standing up from a horizontal position. Some astronauts experience such symptoms after returning to Earth from space and the underlying factors are still poorly understood. The research team will analyze data from the recent CIHR-based Bed Rest Study of 55-65-year-old men and women wich they propose can provide information on how the blood supply to the brain is related to fainting. The results will be an important step towards the prevention of fainting in astronauts and people on Earth.

Findings from Viking and Phoenix Mars landers have revealed the widespread presence of perchlorates in Mars regolith at concentrations that are toxic to humans and plants. The MARSCROP project will explore the use of perchlorate reducing bacteria associated with willow roots to mitigate regolith toxicity as well as determine the potential for co-cropping of willow with tomato and soybean to produce safe fresh food for astronauts on the surface of Mars. The project findings will hope to exploit multisystem biology which has evolved on earth to help solve complex challenges and safeguard astronaut health on the Martian surface.

Vision loss due to Space Associated Neuro-Ocular Syndrome (SANS) is observed in many astronauts, is poorly understood, and remains one of the most feared hazards of space flight. The loss of gravity causes shift of fluids, including blood to the upper body, and these disturbances around the eye, especially in the choroid, the most vascularized tissue in the body, may be an important piece of the puzzle. Novel non-invasive eye imaging techniques will be used to examine blood vessel changes in the choroid for the first time in a model of SANS. Discovering biomarkers of excess and persistent blood and fluid entry into the eye will be an important step toward understanding and predicting SANS and preventing vision loss from SANS in astronauts.

Space’s low gravity leads to bone and muscle loss which can compromise astronauts’ missions. Previous work showed that the knee cartilage of mice breakdown after a period in space’s low gravity. But little is known about the effect of low gravity on human cartilage. The research team will use human stem cells from adult females and males to make cartilage to study the effect of low gravity on cartilage. They will use an instrument designed by NASA to replicate low gravity. They hope their work will shed new light into osteoarthritis, a common disease in Canadians with cartilage breakdown at its core.

Canopy-forming kelp forests are globally recognized as one of the most structurally complex foundational ecosystems. They play an important role in maintaining marine food webs, buffering shorelines against erosion, and contributing to carbon and nitrogen cycling. In British Columbia (BC), the current status of kelp forests is unknown due to insufficient research addressing the scales of change and environmental stressors. Loss of this critical habitat will greatly impact valuable marine fisheries and endangered species and the way of life for many First Nations coastal communities.

By employing historical data and remote sensing technologies (optical and SAR) with spatial data analytics, this project aims: (1) to determine the long-term (based on archived data and satellite imagery) spatial distribution patterns of canopy-forming kelp forests and define losses and resilience to environmental and biotic drivers (i.e., sea surface temperature, biological predators); and (2) to define tools for translating knowledge into specific management plans for the benefit of coastal communities and the Province of BC. This project will also train highly qualified personnel (HQPs) with experience and interdisciplinary knowledge in ocean science and remote sensing technology, data analysis, community engagement, and resource management to be innovators that meet the needs of the Canadian space-related and technology sector.

It is well-recognized that astronauts experience profound physiological changes that adversely affect the heart owing in part to the effects of changes in the normal circadian light/dark cycle. Furthermore, new compelling data from the research group suggests that accumulation of damaged organelles resulting from impaired cellular quality control processes is an underlying defect contributing to cardiac cell-death and dysfunction following circadian disruption. The relationship between circadian disruption and heart health during spaceflight is not well-studied. Hence, the research team proposes to delineate how circadian disruption influences autophagy, cell-viability and cardiac dysfunction in females versus males in response to altered light/dark cycle during spaceflight.

Satellites are critical infrastructure in our technologically advancing world. Daily, we use satellites to navigate, predict weather, and communicate. A cyberattack against space infrastructure could be devastating to modern society. To prevent such attack, satellites encrypt their communications using keys loaded before launch. If those keys are compromised after launch, there is no way to load new ones.

QEYnet has developed a low-cost solution to this problem using quantum key distribution (QKD). In QKD, keys are sent to the satellite using photons. Due to the laws of quantum mechanics, any attempt at eavesdropping on a QKD system can be detected, making the keys highly secure. A test flight of this technology will enable evaluation of system performance in the target environment, demonstration of on-orbit rekeying, and demonstration of key distribution between locations on Earth.

In space, without the cues provided by Earth's gravity, astronauts' bodies and brains adapt to various changes. One of those changes affects the astronauts' wayfinding skills, which can affect their performance during their first two to three weeks on the ISS, and may affect spatial orientation while performing complex tasks, like robotics. The study will look at the impact of a long period in a microgravity environment on the behavioural and neurological mechanisms of wayfinding in astronauts. It will also explore how long the astronauts' cognitive and neurological changes would persist following their return on Earth.

The M4M3 program will lead to next-generation innovations that help tackle the challenges of establishing a permanent human presence on the Moon, leveraging Canada’s strengths in fields like Artificial Intelligence, robotics, quantum sensing, and additive manufacturing that can then be re-applied back on earth. These innovations will have direct and positive impacts on environmental sustainability, productivity, talent and job creation in Canada’s mining, energy, and advanced manufacturing sectors.¿