Chamber Pilot Studies Plan

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is seeking information from facilities to validate their chamber facility and test team capabilities to support NASA decompression sickness (DCS) studies. The selected facility will be required to perform 3 test days, collecting and recording data each day as they would for a research protocol. The test days will include a 6.5-hour prebreathe followed by a simulation of EVA lasting 6 hours. The facility will be responsible for recruiting and screening applicants to participate in the test days. Some key aspects of this opportunity include: • The facility must demonstrate the capabilities to perform 100% O2 prebreathe durations up to 6.5 hours. • The facility must provide medical support to perform pre-chamber physical examination before ingress, during the protocol, for treatment and management of subjects as needed. • The facility must use a standardized set of measurements to monitor and document test subjects during the prebreathe, decompression, and recompression. • The facility will be required to deliver electronic records to NASA using a secure, NASA-approved method.