Advancing Medical Technology with Suborbital Rocket-Powered Vehicles

George Pantalos

Kathleen Karika

Ryan Dibley

Community of Practice Webinar Series

NASA Flight Opportunities

https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/flightopportunities/community-of-practice

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NASA FLIGHT OPPORTUNITIES

www.nasa.gov

NASA Flight Opportunities

Session will start at 10 a.m. PT – Please mute your microphone and turn off your camera

Community of Practice Webinar Series – June 7, 2023

George Pantalos, Ph.D., University of Louisville

Kathleen Karika, Virgin Galactic

Ryan Dibley, NASA's Flight Opportunities Program

Advancing Medical Technology with Suborbital Rocket-Powered Vehicles

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NASA FLIGHT OPPORTUNITIES

Welcome to the Community of Practice Webinar Series!

First, a bit of housekeeping...

• Please mute your microphone and turn off your camera

• Today’s session will be recorded

• Recordings for this and all future sessions will be posted on the Flight 

Opportunities website

• Please engage!

• Use the chat throughout the session to ask questions

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Advancing Medical Technology with Suborbital Rocket-Powered Vehicles

George Pantalos

Kathleen Karika

Ryan Dibley

Community of Practice Webinar Series

NASA Flight Opportunities

https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/flightopportunities/community-of-practice

2

NASA FLIGHT OPPORTUNITIES

Welcome to the Community of Practice Webinar Series!

Flight Opportunities hopes these webinars will enable researchers, 

program staff, and flight providers to connect informally and share 

information

• Designed to distill and share the most important lessons learned to:

• Increase the impact of suborbital flight tests

• Transfer best practices

• Optimize the experience of current and prospective program participants

• Part of a broad effort to capture, organize, and communicate lessons learned 

by suborbital researchers

• An opportunity to hear from subject matter experts on best practices for 

preparing for suborbital flight tests

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NASA FLIGHT OPPORTUNITIES

Join us for future Community of Practice webinars!

Subscribe to our newsletter for 

updates on future webinars!

https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/fli

ghtopportunities/newsletter

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Future webinars

• Webinars are held 1st Wednesday of each 

month at 10 a.m. PT

• Topics will be announced in the Flight 

Opportunities newsletter and website

• Session recordings will be posted on the 

Flight Opportunities website

• Let us know session topics you would like 

to see covered

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Advancing Medical Technology with Suborbital Rocket-Powered Vehicles

George Pantalos

Kathleen Karika

Ryan Dibley

Community of Practice Webinar Series

NASA Flight Opportunities

https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/flightopportunities/community-of-practice

3

NASA FLIGHT OPPORTUNITIES

Today’s Speakers

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George Pantalos, Ph.D.

Professor, Cardiovascular 

& Thoracic Surgery, 

Bioengineering

University of Louisville

Kathleen Karika

Director, Research Operations

and Government Affairs

Virgin Galactic

Ryan Dibley

Campaign Manager

NASA’s Flight Opportunities Program

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NASA FLIGHT OPPORTUNITIES

www.nasa.gov

NASA Flight Opportunities

Community of Practice

June 2023 | George Pantalos, Ph.D.

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Advancing Medical Technology with Suborbital Rocket-Powered Vehicles

George Pantalos

Kathleen Karika

Ryan Dibley

Community of Practice Webinar Series

NASA Flight Opportunities

https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/flightopportunities/community-of-practice

4

7

Disclosure: Certain members of this panel

have been caught partying in the desert!

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Advancing Medical Technology with Suborbital Rocket-Powered Vehicles

George Pantalos

Kathleen Karika

Ryan Dibley

Community of Practice Webinar Series

NASA Flight Opportunities

https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/flightopportunities/community-of-practice

5

Dome Vent

Solenoid Valve

Analog Blood

Reservoir

Analog Blood Pump

Canopy LED Battery

Irrigation Fluid

Source Reservoir

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Advancing Medical Technology with Suborbital Rocket-Powered Vehicles

George Pantalos

Kathleen Karika

Ryan Dibley

Community of Practice Webinar Series

NASA Flight Opportunities

https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/flightopportunities/community-of-practice

6

U of L SFMS In-Flight Protocol: 1-G and μ-G Data

1-G μ-G

A = Dome Filling B = Pressure Ramp C= Dome Purging D = Dome Emptying

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Next Steps -Add vision and cautery to the functional capabilities of 

the multifunction surgical device

-Add a bleeding wound model for the containment 

dome to cover

-Regulate dome pressure ramp to desired pressure, not 

by volume added increments

-Evaluate device and operator function

during parabolic flight

-Evaluate suborbital spacecraft cabin and glovebox for 

compatibility to conduct a human-tended evaluation

-Conduct a human-tended evaluation during suborbital

flight

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Advancing Medical Technology with Suborbital Rocket-Powered Vehicles

George Pantalos

Kathleen Karika

Ryan Dibley

Community of Practice Webinar Series

NASA Flight Opportunities

https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/flightopportunities/community-of-practice

7

Lessons Learned From Our SubO Experience

• Your NASA FO payload manager and the VG payload engineers can provide lots of good guidance

• Prior to flight preparations, 4 visits to Virgin Galactic at Mojave Air and Space Port/16 parabolic fights

• Payload Information Packet page numbers = 344 (Beaucoup Revisions)

• Number of weekly telecons with payload engineers = 2 years worth

• Number of flight re-schedules = not enough fingers and toes

• Number of trips to Spaceport America = 2

• Was the flight successful and was useful data obtained = YES!!!!!

• Would you do it again = YES!!!!! (Next flight with a different experiment is already in the works!)

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X

U of L Will Be Here Again!

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Advancing Medical Technology with Suborbital Rocket-Powered Vehicles

George Pantalos

Kathleen Karika

Ryan Dibley

Community of Practice Webinar Series

NASA Flight Opportunities

https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/flightopportunities/community-of-practice

8

Technology Need

Technology Concept

Test Apparatus Flight Requirements/Objectives

Technology End Users

Graphic Technology Advancement

Technology Need: Radiation induced anemia is a 

hazard to all astronauts who travel to the Moon 

and spend extended periods of time involved in 

lunar surface operations. Blood transfusion is an 

essential component in the treatment of anemia. 

Currently, there are no whole blood or red blood 

cell (RBC) storage and transfusion capabilities 

appropriate for exploration spaceflight due to 

biological limits on storage duration and the power 

and mass required for storage. 

Technology Relevance: The proposed use of 

dehydrated red blood cells prepared pre-flight 

offers the advantage of long-term (years) blood 

storage at ambient spacecraft temperature and 

rehydration with sterile saline, making storage, 

handling, and restoration of the red blood cell 

source a reasonable and appropriate option for 

extended exploration spaceflight and lunar surface 

operations. 

We have developed a process to preserve red blood 

cells (RBCs) for long-term storage in a dried state. We us sonoporation to load RBCs with the protective 

compound trehalose that is used by animals that 

naturally survive complete desiccation at room 

temperature. Our biomimetic approach allows for 

the preservation of RBCs without cooling after 

loading and dehydrating. Rehydration is achieved by 

simply adding sterile saline to the dried RBCs.

The test apparatus contains four units (2x2 above) 

that can automatically rehydrate dehydrated red 

blood cells, assess oxygen transport status, and 

preserve cells for post-flight analysis during the 

period of reduced gravity. A glovebox will contain 

the test units, cameras, and automation controller 

needed for the red blood cell rehydration 

evaluation. 

(A) Healthy red blood cells (RBCs). (B) Transfusion unit 

of RBCs. (C) Freeze dried RBC powder (100 ml). (D) 

Scanning electron microscopy images of RBCs that 

were rehydrated after 6 weeks of dry storage at 

ambient temperature.

Flight Requirements: One suborbital flight campaign 

to an altitude of at least 80 Km will provide sufficient 

time to conduct the automated assessment of red 

blood cell rehydration and physiological status in 

reduce gravity. Flight readiness by March, 2024. 

Flight Technical Objectives: 

(1) Evaluation of the ability to acceptably rehydrate 

the dehydrated red blood cells in a relevant 

reduced gravity environment

(2) Evaluation of the anatomic morphology (shape) 

and physiologic function of rehydrated red 

blood cells during reduced gravity

The current state of the dehydrated red blood cells 

is at a TRL of 5-6. Successful completion of the 

proposed flight evaluation program will advance 

the preserved red blood cells for transfusion 

therapy to a TRL of 7. 

Technology End Users for Spaceflight and Earthbound Applications: Crew Medical Officers would be 

the end users for the preserved red blood cells when 

treating radiation-induced anemia or an in-flight 

trauma; physicians on Earth (particularly in extreme 

and remote conditions) needing blood for 

transfusion therapy for trauma and other illnesses.

Technology Applicability: Technology that enables long-term survival in the extreme Lunar Environment

Suborbital Flight Assessment of Preserved Red Blood Cells

for Transfusion Therapy in Reduced Gravity

A B

B

D

May 2022

C

A

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Thank You VG & NASA FO!!

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Advancing Medical Technology with Suborbital Rocket-Powered Vehicles

George Pantalos

Kathleen Karika

Ryan Dibley

Community of Practice Webinar Series

NASA Flight Opportunities

https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/flightopportunities/community-of-practice

9

NASA FLIGHT OPPORTUNITIES

www.nasa.gov

NASA Flight Opportunities

Community of Practice

June 2023 | Kathleen Karika

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Introduction and Overview

Kathleen Karika

June 2023

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Advancing Medical Technology with Suborbital Rocket-Powered Vehicles

George Pantalos

Kathleen Karika

Ryan Dibley

Community of Practice Webinar Series

NASA Flight Opportunities

https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/flightopportunities/community-of-practice

10

VG by the Numbers

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2023

Return to Space 

Flight

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Research 

Missions Flown

1st

Fully Crewed 

Commercial 

Spaceflight

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Fully Reusable Suborbital System

Mothership:

• High-altitude, high-performance jet aircraft

• Capable of heavy-lift missions

• “Carrier craft” for Spaceship

Spaceship:

• Suborbital spaceplane

• Designed to safely and routinely transport people and 

payloads to suborbital space and back

• Carries a crew of two pilots, up to six astronauts, or 

equivalent research experiments

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Advancing Medical Technology with Suborbital Rocket-Powered Vehicles

George Pantalos

Kathleen Karika

Ryan Dibley

Community of Practice Webinar Series

NASA Flight Opportunities

https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/flightopportunities/community-of-practice

11

01 MATED CLIMB

02 RELEASE

03 BOOST

05 FEATHER

06 APOGEE

07 RE-ENTRY

08 GLIDE

09 LAND

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3 MINUTES OF

MICROGRAVITY

Flight Profile

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Operations

• Training, preparation, and payload 

integration at Spaceport America

• Timely payload access with late load and 

early unload options

• Full-size cabin mockup for testing and 

training

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Advancing Medical Technology with Suborbital Rocket-Powered Vehicles

George Pantalos

Kathleen Karika

Ryan Dibley

Community of Practice Webinar Series

NASA Flight Opportunities

https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/flightopportunities/community-of-practice

12

Research Offerings

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Autonomous Research

Training

Human-Tended Research

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Payload Specifications

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Payload Rack Hardware

Type Locker Dimensions Volume

(MLEs)

Maximum 

Weight

Maximum 

Power

Single 18.50” W x 11.25” H x 21.50” D

(47.0cm W x 28.6cm H x 54.6cm D) 1 50 lbs.(23 kg) 50W

Double 18.50” W x 23.00” H x 21.50” D

(47.0cm W x 58.4cm H x 54.6cm D) 2 100 lbs.(45 kg) 100W

Triple 18.50” W x 34.75” H x 21.50” D

(47.0cm W x 88.3cm H x 54.6cm D) 3 150 lbs.(68 kg) 100W

Quad 18.50” W x 46.50” H x 21.50” D

(47.0cm W x 118.1cm H x 54.6cm D) 4 200 lbs.(91 kg) 200W

Cabin 

Rendering

Locker Parameters

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Advancing Medical Technology with Suborbital Rocket-Powered Vehicles

George Pantalos

Kathleen Karika

Ryan Dibley

Community of Practice Webinar Series

NASA Flight Opportunities

https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/flightopportunities/community-of-practice

13

Previously Flown Research Payloads 

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Payload 

Information Form

General Information

Safety 

Logistics

Engineering 

Review

Management 

Review

On-Site 

Inspection

NDA

SOW 

Contract

Pre-Contract Post-Contract

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Research Process Summary

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Advancing Medical Technology with Suborbital Rocket-Powered Vehicles

George Pantalos

Kathleen Karika

Ryan Dibley

Community of Practice Webinar Series

NASA Flight Opportunities

https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/flightopportunities/community-of-practice

14

2023 and Beyond

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NASA FLIGHT OPPORTUNITIES

28 www.nasa.gov

Thank you! 

Flight Opportunities website: 

http://nasa.gov/flightopportunities

Contact us:

NASA-FlightOpportunities@mail.nasa.gov

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