The european astronaut Alexander Gerst has just performed 2 experiments onboard ISS for the CNPP UMR8119, amongst other research laboratories.
This week Gerst has completed the GRASP experiment, a study led by Joseph McIntyre and Michele Tagliabue. The purpose of the Gravitational References for Sensimotor Performance: Reaching and Grasping (GRASP) investigation is to better understand how the central nervous system (CNS) integrates information from different sensations (e.g. sight and proprioception), encoded in different reference frames, in order to coordinate the hand movements with the visual environment. More specifically, the science team seeks to better understand if, and how, gravity acts as a reference frame for the control of reach-to-grasp.
Last week, Gerst has done the GRIP experiment developed with Belgians colleagues (JL Thonnard & P Lefèvre) with Joseph McIntyre and Michele Tagliabue as co-investigators. The GRIP experiment studies the long-duration spaceflight effects on the abilities of human subjects to regulate grip force and upper limbs trajectories when manipulating objects during different kind of movements: oscillatory movements, rapid discrete movements and tapping gestures.
Here’s more info about the GRASP experiment:
and about the GRIP experiment :