Shubhanshu working on a novel project in space

Blitz Bureau

NEW DELHI: Shubhanshu Shukla, the first Indian astronaut on the International Space Station, is working on a novel project in space. He plans to develop a brain-computer interface in the orbital lab, NASA said on July 3. He is part of the Axiom Space mission-4, used near-infrared technology to develop the interface in the Columbus laboratory module aboard the orbiting lab along with a fellow astronaut from Poland. “Ax-4 crewmates Shubhanshu Shukla and Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski partnered together in Columbus and studied using near-infrared technology to record brain activity for constructing brain-computer interfaces,” NASA shared in a blog post.

“Uznański-Wiśniewski wore a specialised cap connected via Bluetooth to a laptop computer recording his brain activity while Shukla optimised the signal quality and calibrated the hardware,” it added. The study explored how astronauts can use their brains to control or communicate with computers in space, even in challenging low-gravity conditions.

The experiment called the “Thoughts over Gravity” (PhotonGrav) is a study aimed to verify the effectiveness of near-infrared technology (fNIRS) in low Earth orbit to record brain activity for constructing brain-computer interfaces (BCI) for operation in the microgravity environment. Earlier, Shukla worked in the Destiny laboratory module on ISS to understand how tardigrades — tiny aquatic animals — survive numerous harsh climates including microgravity. He deployed sample bags and captured images of the algae strains on the ISS.

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