ASEN 5016 Homework # 1 Assignment – read carefully!

Select a research topic related to the syllabus that you find of particular interest and email me with your choice for approval – first step is to submit your topic only for approval

Interim due dates for the process are outlined toward the bottom of the class website in green font.

CAETE students, you can add one week to all posted due dates.

Your topic choice should be related to material covered in class (see syllabus) and must explicitly address one or more of the specific risks identified for the Risks listed on NASA’s Research Roadmap (current programmatic guidelines for SLS Research): http://humanresearchroadmap.nasa.gov/

Note that the emphasis of this class is placed on scientific aspects related to physiological research, not engineering design - so topics pertaining to operational medicine, vehicle system design or environment monitoring are generally not acceptable. Psychological or cognitive studies are also difficult to extend to HW3 research proposals here for various reasons. You can submit a few alternative topics if you can’t completely narrow it down yet, and you can still change your selection with subsequent approval if you end up going down a dead end path with your original choice in the first week or so while conducting your literature search.

Topics that have a gravity-dependent cause are best suited to this exercise, but papers addressing radiation effects can also be effective.

The key for HW1 is to set yourself up for the later HW3 proposal by being able to clearly define a testable hypothesis along with independent and dependent variables.

NOTE: If applicable, your selected homework must be on a subject other than your own previous or current research area! Let me know if this applies to you.

Getting started

Review textbooks, published review articles, primary journal articles and/or conference papers to gain an understanding of the current level of knowledge and issues pertaining to your selected topic, and how they are related to human space flight. Try to avoid over reliance on conference papers as your main reference sources, and if you use review articles, try to look up the primary sources that are cited in the review.

“Primary” implies that the person who wrote it did the research. “Journal” typically implies it was peer-reviewed, some more thoroughly than others. Textbooks and review articles are good places to gain familiarity and get a broad perspective/consensus, but the material is usually dated – especially in this field. Recent conference papers are good for getting up-to-date summaries, but are frequently not peer-reviewed, so be aware of credibility. Use web sites sparingly, if at all, and be confident of the source in all cases (e.g., NASA.gov is probably ok).

Your assignment is to summarize the current understanding of the topic you choose based on at least 5 relevant papers (and not more than 10) describing recent research on your selected topic, with at least 3 of them being primary journal articles coming from at least 2 different research groups (i.e. authors).

See HW2 evaluation metrics for guidance on content and review scoring criteria. Your final score for HW1 will be based primarily off of your revised and resubmitted manuscript, but your original submittal will factor in as well, including following these editorial instructions. Your grade for HW2 will be assessed by your participation as a reviewer.

HW 1 Manuscript Submission Guidelines

You will submit one hard copy of your manuscript and one electronic file using MS Word - PC accessible please

(CAETE students – electronic only for both parts is ok)

NOTE: Submit the electronic manuscript as a WORD DOC and TITLE the file as YOUR LAST NAME only (e.g., Smith.doc or Smith.docx)

Double-space manuscript

Use 12 pt font (do not use multiple font formats, stick to Times New Roman or similar)

Set margins to 0.75 inch all around – top/bottom, left/right

Figures or tables should be inserted in line with the text in appropriate locations, but used sparingly if at all, and do not ‘cut and paste’ without explicit permission (copyright issues…)

Limit is 5 pages of text, excluding the bibliography and cover page with title and name, but including any figures or tables (and the expectation is your paper is at least ~4 1/2 pages)

Follow the general outline below with approximate number of pages as indicated in each section (non-compliant submittals will be returned for correction and considered late if not resubmitted before the due date).

Cover Page

5 page Manuscript (excluding cover page and bibliography)

Include a short Title and Author Last Name across top line of the first page of the manuscript

Key words – under Title and Author line on page 1, list up to 6 descriptors of the topic not included in the title

Divide your review article into the following sections:

Cover Page – your name, article title, submittal date, course title (not included in 5 page limit)

Introduction - describe the topic/issue/challenge in general and explain how it relates to space flight ~1-1.5 pages

Summary - review of current understanding and/or speculative causes per literature cited ~2.5 – 3 pages

Critique – compare/contrast/discuss results from the different papers ~0.5 – 1 page

Bibliography – (not included in 5 page limit) per format below

Include at least 2 independent research teams in your references. (i.e. do not use 5 articles all from the same person or group as your only source of information.)

Use the following (made up) example formats to cite your references where they appear in the text and list them alphabetically by first author’s last name in bibliography as shown:

# Authors As cited in the text

one Doe (2001) showed that mice are dehydrated in space.

Mice have been shown to become dehydrated in space (Doe, 2001).

two It was determined by Jones and Smith (2002) that space flight is risky.

Space flight has been determined to be risky (Jones and Smith, 2002).

3 or more Schmoe et al. (2011) reported that the astronauts were fatigued.

It was reported that the astronauts were fatigued (Schmoe et al., 2011).

As listed in the Bibliography

Doe, J. (2001): “The effects of space flight on rodent thirst”. J. Space Flight Res. 15(2): 44-49.

Jones, D. and Smith, J. (2002): “Space flight is risky”. Acta Astronautica, 12: 34-37.

Schmoe, J., Jones, D., Smith, J. and Doe, J. (2011): “Influence of microgravity gravity on human fatigue”. Johnson and Fields (eds.): Fundamentals of Space Flight Research. Boca Raton: CRC Press, pp. 299-328.

Every journal specifies required guidelines for authors. Some are more stringent than others. Nature and Science are two of the most prestigious journals in the literature. Just for fun, check out the author instructions posted on their websites below to get an idea of what is involved in submitting an article to either of them for publication…

Nature Science