A standard intravenous fluid bag used in terrestrial applications (Credit: NASA).

In the event of a medical emergency, astronauts may require IV fluids to take drugs or rehydrate themselves if they are unable to swallow. If it is to be used intravenously, water must be appropriately sterilized and mixed with the required drugs or electrolytes.

Planar Laser-Induced Fluorescence (PLIF) image of mixing pharmaceuticals and IV fluid (Credit: NASA).

Glenn’s expertise in microgravity fluid physics has made the center a prime candidate to lead this project. Glenn has partnered with ZIN Technologies to identify water purification and mixing technologies that will function in microgravity environments and will be easy to operate in emergency situations.

Testing and analysis has revealed that commercial distillation systems, normally used to generate water for injection, do not function well in microgravity. If a new system could properly filter and purify water in space, little or no medical grade water would have to be launched at the start of the mission, reducing the overall mass of the cargo.

Glenn researchers test the effectiveness of an IV fluid mixing method on NASA's zero-gravity aircraft (Credit: NASA).

If astronauts require IV therapy during a mission, an appropriate drug will have to be mixed with the water. Due to the absence of buoyancy, most stirring techniques do not work in reduced gravity. Glenn recently conducted an analytic trade study examining microgravity mixing techniques and concluded that simple magnetic stir bars were the best option. This conclusion has been tested in Glenn’s 2.2 Second Drop Tower while further reduced gravity testing onboard Johnson Space Center’s C-9 aircraft is underway.

As NASA embarks on future exploration missions to the moon, Mars and beyond, extra precautions are being taken to maintain the health and safety of the astronauts. Several activities within the Human Research Program’s Exploration Medical Capability Project are helping to predict and monitor the health of the crew while meeting their basic needs. These efforts may also lead to the improved management of limited resources while reducing the risk and cost of future missions.