Treadmill with Vibration Isolation Stabilization
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The Treadmill with Vibration Isolation Stabilization System, commonly abbreviated as TVIS, is a
treadmill A treadmill is a device generally used for walking, running, or climbing while staying in the same place. Treadmills were introduced before the development of powered machines to harness the power of animals or humans to do work, often a type of ...
for use on board the
International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ...
and is designed to allow astronauts to run without vibrating delicate microgravity science experiments in adjacent labs. International Space Station treadmills, not necessarily described here, have included the original treadmill, the original TVIS, the БД-2, the Combined Operational Load-Bearing External Resistance Treadmill (COLBERT), and the Treadmill 2 (abbreviated as T2). Some share a name, some a design, some a function, some use different (passive) vibration-suppression systems, some it is unclear how they differ. The name for the treadmill (COLBERT) came about due to a naming contest that NASA held for what became the Tranquility module. Comedian and TV personality Stephen Colbert used his show ''
The Colbert Report ''The Colbert Report'' ( ) is an American late-night talk and news satire television program hosted by Stephen Colbert that aired four days a week on Comedy Central from October 17, 2005, to December 18, 2014, for 1,447 episodes. The show focuse ...
'' to encourage his viewers to write in votes to use "Colbert" during the contest. After the results of the contest were announced, NASA decided to use Colbert's name for the new treadmill in place of naming the Tranquility module after him.


Exercise

Following the advent of
space station A space station is a spacecraft capable of supporting a human crew in orbit for an extended period of time, and is therefore a type of space habitat. It lacks major propulsion or landing systems. An orbital station or an orbital space station i ...
s that can be inhabited for long periods of time, exposure to weightlessness has been demonstrated to have some deleterious effects on human health. Humans are well-adapted to the physical conditions at the surface of the Earth. In response to an extended period of weightlessness, various physiological systems begin to change and atrophy. Though these changes are usually temporary, long term health issues can result. The most common problem experienced by humans in the initial hours of weightlessness is known as
space adaptation syndrome Space adaptation syndrome (SAS) or space sickness is a condition experienced by as many as half of all space travelers during their adaptation to weightlessness once in orbit. It is the opposite of terrestrial motion sickness since it occurs when ...
or SAS, commonly referred to as space sickness. Symptoms of SAS include
nausea Nausea is a diffuse sensation of unease and discomfort, sometimes perceived as an urge to vomit. While not painful, it can be a debilitating symptom if prolonged and has been described as placing discomfort on the chest, abdomen, or back of the ...
and
vomiting Vomiting (also known as emesis and throwing up) is the involuntary, forceful expulsion of the contents of one's stomach through the mouth and sometimes the Human nose, nose. Vomiting can be the result of ailments like Food-poisoning, foo ...
, vertigo,
headache Headache is the symptom of pain in the face, head, or neck. It can occur as a migraine, tension-type headache, or cluster headache. There is an increased risk of depression in those with severe headaches. Headaches can occur as a result ...
s,
lethargy Lethargy is a state of tiredness, sleepiness, weariness, fatigue, sluggishness or lack of energy. It can be accompanied by depression, decreased motivation, or apathy. Lethargy can be a normal response to inadequate sleep, overexertion, overwo ...
, and overall malaise. The first case of SAS was reported by cosmonaut Gherman Titov in 1961. Since then, roughly some 45% to 75% of all people who have flown in space have suffered from this condition. The duration of space sickness varies, but in no case has it lasted for more than 72 hours, after which the body adjusts to the new environment. The most significant adverse effects of long-term weightlessness are
muscle atrophy Muscle atrophy is the loss of skeletal muscle mass. It can be caused by immobility, aging, malnutrition, medications, or a wide range of injuries or diseases that impact the musculoskeletal or nervous system. Muscle atrophy leads to muscle weakness ...
and deterioration of the
skeleton A skeleton is the structural frame that supports the body of an animal. There are several types of skeletons, including the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure inside ...
, or
spaceflight osteopenia Spaceflight osteopenia refers to the characteristic Osteoporosis, bone loss that occurs during spaceflight. Astronauts lose an average of more than 1% bone mass per month spent in outer space, space. There is concern that during long-duration spac ...
. These effects can be minimized through a regimen of exercise. Other significant effects include fluid redistribution, a slowing of the
cardiovascular system The blood circulatory system is a system of organs that includes the heart, blood vessels, and blood which is circulated throughout the entire body of a human or other vertebrate. It includes the cardiovascular system, or vascular system, tha ...
, decreased production of
red blood cell Red blood cells (RBCs), also referred to as red cells, red blood corpuscles (in humans or other animals not having nucleus in red blood cells), haematids, erythroid cells or erythrocytes (from Greek ''erythros'' for "red" and ''kytos'' for "holl ...
s, balance disorders, and a weakening of the
immune system The immune system is a network of biological processes that protects an organism from diseases. It detects and responds to a wide variety of pathogens, from viruses to parasitic worms, as well as cancer cells and objects such as wood splinte ...
. Lesser symptoms include loss of body mass, nasal congestion, sleep disturbance, excess
flatulence Flatulence, in humans, is the expulsion of gas from the intestines via the anus, commonly referred to as farting. "Flatus" is the medical word for gas generated in the stomach or bowels. A proportion of intestinal gas may be swallowed environm ...
, and puffiness of the face. These effects begin to reverse quickly upon return to the Earth. To prevent some of the effects associated with weightlessness, a treadmill with vibration isolation and stabilization designed for the International Space Station (ISS) was first evaluated during STS-81. Three crew members ran and walked on the device, which floats freely in the
micro-gravity The term micro-g environment (also μg, often referred to by the term microgravity) is more or less synonymous with the terms ''weightlessness'' and ''zero-g'', but emphasising that g-forces are never exactly zero—just very small (on the ...
experienced during orbit. For the majority of the more than 2 hours of locomotion studied, the treadmill operated well, and vibration transmitted to the vehicle was within the micro-gravity allocation limits that are defined for the ISS. Refinements to the treadmill and harness system, which ultimately led to development of the COLBERT model, were studied after this first flight. One goal of the treadmill design is to offer the possibility of generating 1 g-like loads on the lower extremities while preserving the micro-gravity environment of the ISS for structural safety and vibration free experimental conditions. The treadmills are intended to help astronauts stay fit, fighting off the bone loss (
spaceflight osteopenia Spaceflight osteopenia refers to the characteristic Osteoporosis, bone loss that occurs during spaceflight. Astronauts lose an average of more than 1% bone mass per month spent in outer space, space. There is concern that during long-duration spac ...
) and muscle decay that otherwise comes with space travel. Astronauts use bungee cords to strap themselves to the treadmill in order to remain in contact with the equipment while in
micro-gravity The term micro-g environment (also μg, often referred to by the term microgravity) is more or less synonymous with the terms ''weightlessness'' and ''zero-g'', but emphasising that g-forces are never exactly zero—just very small (on the ...
. Researchers believe that exercise is a good countermeasure for the bone and muscle density loss that occurs when humans live for a long time without gravity.


Maintenance

The original Treadmill with Vibration Isolation Stabilization (TVIS) that was recessed into the floor of the Zvezda Service Module was decommissioned in June 2013, disposed of on th
Russian Progress (50P)
in July 2013 and replaced by the Russian БД-2. Expedition 20 flight engineers Michael Barratt and
Koichi Wakata is a Japanese engineer and a JAXA astronaut. Wakata is a veteran of four NASA Space Shuttle missions, a Russian Soyuz mission, and a long-duration stay on the International Space Station. During a nearly two-decade career in spaceflight, he has ...
have performed a complete overhaul of that treadmill to extend its life. Both treadmills will continue to be used, which will nearly double the availability of these critical work-out devices for space station crews. Treadmill with Vibration Isolation Stabilization system (TVIS) also required repair in 2002, during Expedition 5 while STS-112 was docked.
Valery Korzun Valery Grigoryevich Korzun (russian: Валерий Григорьевич Корзун, born 5 March 1953) is a Russian cosmonaut. He has been in space twice totalling 381 days. He has also conducted four career spacewalks. Personal He is a R ...
spent an entire day performing maintenance on the unit. A serious design flaw with COLBER
power system
was discovered in September 2010, within 10 months of bein

A multiple day IFM was required in October in order to remove COLBERT from its rack and replace key power components.


Naming COLBERT

In early 2009,
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
held an online poll to name what became the Tranquility module. On the 3 March 2009 episode of ''
The Colbert Report ''The Colbert Report'' ( ) is an American late-night talk and news satire television program hosted by Stephen Colbert that aired four days a week on Comedy Central from October 17, 2005, to December 18, 2014, for 1,447 episodes. The show focuse ...
'', host Stephen Colbert instructed his viewers to suggest "Colbert" as the name for Node 3 in the online poll. On 23 March 2009, it was announced that "Colbert" had garnered the most votes, but NASA did not immediately commit to using the name. Congressman Chaka Fattah had pledged to use congressional power to ensure that democratic voting is honored in outer space as well as on planet Earth, in response to the possibility that NASA would overrule the voting. On the 14 April 2009 episode of ''
The Colbert Report ''The Colbert Report'' ( ) is an American late-night talk and news satire television program hosted by Stephen Colbert that aired four days a week on Comedy Central from October 17, 2005, to December 18, 2014, for 1,447 episodes. The show focuse ...
'', astronaut Sunita Williams appeared on the show to announce that NASA decided to name the node 3 "Tranquility", the eighth most popular response in the census, and announced that they would name a new
treadmill A treadmill is a device generally used for walking, running, or climbing while staying in the same place. Treadmills were introduced before the development of powered machines to harness the power of animals or humans to do work, often a type of ...
on the station after the comedian – Combined Operational Load-Bearing External Resistance Treadmill (COLBERT). Colbert was invited to Houston to test the treadmill, and later to Florida for its launch. The treadmill was taken to the ISS in August 2009, aboard STS-128 and was installed in the Tranquility module after the node arrived at the station in February 2010. NASA poked fun at itself in a humorous press release included in the STS-128 flight day 6 execute package report which claimed that
Jon Stewart Jon Stewart (born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz; November 28, 1962) is an American comedian, political commentator, and television host. He hosted ''The Daily Show'', a satirical news program on Comedy Central, from 1999 to 2015 and now hosts ''Th ...
demanded to be honored similarly but turned down the agency's offer to name the ISS Urine Processor "Space Toilet Environmental Waste Accumulator/Recycling Thingy" (STEWART).


Development

NASA Engineers started development with a Woodway medical treadmill design which is available to anyone on Earth, and they asked Woodway to nickel plate the parts and make some other modifications, but it is fundamentally the same running-in-place device as the commercially available model. The structures which support the treadmill have been adapted for use in space. Without gravity to hold the runner to the surface of the treadmill, designers added elastic straps that fit around the shoulders and waist in order to keep the runner from rocketing across the space station with the first hard step. Designers also had to work out a way to keep the treadmill from shaking the whole station with every step. Preventing vibrations is relatively easy to do on Earth, but the station is floating just like the astronauts are, and it wants to react against any movement that is made inside of it. Even small actions can shake up delicate microgravity experiments taking place inside the station's laboratories. Developing a system to stop the vibrations was the biggest challenge, Wiederhoeft said. The first station treadmill, which was brought to the Space Station aboard STS-98, relied on a powered system of gyroscopes and mechanisms to reduce vibrations. COLBERT's Vibration Isolation System was designed to work without power, and also to be more reliable than its predecessor. COLBERT will rest on springs that are hooked to dampers, which are then connected to a standard-sized rack that has been extensively reinforced in order to handle the power produced by COLBERT users. The rack alone weighs 2,200 pounds, which is its contractual design limit, and is also louder than the first treadmill which is a trade-off Wiederhoeft said is necessary to increase its reliability. "Noise and reliability are fighting against each other here," Wiederhoeft said. "With a lot more time we could have had both quiet and reliable. We went for reliable, and did what we could with noise." Development of the treadmills was also utilized in order to further development of commercial products. Possible secondary effects of development include improved vibration and acoustic isolation applications in sensitive equipment such as equipment used in optical,
microelectronic Microelectronics is a subfield of electronics. As the name suggests, microelectronics relates to the study and manufacture (or microfabrication) of very small electronic designs and components. Usually, but not always, this means micrometre-sc ...
and precision manufacturing.


COLBERT delivery

A team of engineers was required in order to prepare COLBERT to survive the rigorous vibrations of the launch process. COLBERT had to be disassembled into scores of parts, separated into more than six bags and strapped to racks inside the ''Leonardo'' cargo module, which flew to the
International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ...
aboard STS-128. COLBERT was delivered to the Space Station in 2010, and resided first inside the
Harmony module ''Harmony'', also known as ''Node 2'', is the "utility hub" of the International Space Station. It connects the laboratory modules of the United States, Europe and Japan, as well as providing electrical power and electronic data. Sleeping cabi ...
, before later being moved to the Tranquility module. The packing team set out to make sure everything that is launched reaches the station in good working order. "If it's the COLBERT, or if it's something else, it's still not going to be useful in orbit if it's broken," said Pete Gauthier, packing engineer for United Space Alliance. "The difference with something like this is that it's big and it's heavy, so we have to use our biggest bag," he said. "It's easier for the crew if you have all the pieces in one bag, but when you have six bags, you just can't do that." The astronauts on the station are expected to spend about 20 hours putting the whole thing together, including the vibration system. After assembly, the only care COLBERT should need is an occasional greasing of its bearings.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Treadmill With Vibration Isolation Stabilization System Science facilities on the International Space Station Exercise equipment