Space

Although Brien Posey is best known for his Information Technology related accomplishments, he is also currently training as a Commercial Scientist-Astronaut Candidate. To date, Brien has completed extensive suborbital space flight training through the Association of Spaceflight Professionals (formerly Astronauts for Hire) and Project PoSSUM (the first private, manned suborbital research program). In addition, Brien leads the Association of Spaceflight Professionals' Technology and Engineering group, which has been tasked with developing new technologies that may eventually fly in space.

March 2021: Brien is currently preparing for an underwater EVA.
September 2020: Brien has completed part 1 of his Orbital Mechanics and Mission Simulation training, which will be followed by a suited mission simulation onboard an Orion training capsule.
March 2020: Read about Brien's spaceflight training in his new blog, Posey's Moonshot.
March 2020: Brien is going to be participating in phase 3 of Advanced Spacecraft Egress Training, followed by additional training in operational space medicine and lunar geology.
October 2019: Brien operated an EVA spacesuit under lunar gravity and microgravity conditions, performing a variety of tasks and experiments in the process, at the Canadian Space Agency headquarters in Montreal.
October 2019: Brien flew on Project PoSSUM's 2019 microgravity flight campaign.
May 2019: Brien has completed a course in Lunar and Martian field geology in the San Francisco Volcanic Fields of Arizona. The course also involved designing and testing various tools for sample collection during an EVA.

Orbital Mechanics and Mission Simulation, Part A

August 2020

Part 1 provided the astrodynamics foundation, which is 11 weeks of webinar lectures, that provides foundational knowledge of orbital mechanics and attitudinal dynamics to facilitate performance in simulator scenarios. Part 2 will be a four day Orion spacecraft simulator-based mission based on the following objectives:

1. Launch to ISS orbital intercept/rendezvous using space suits.

2. ISS proximity operations and docking, flight suit environment

3. Deorbit and landing scenarios using space suits

2019 Microgravity Spacesuit Evaluation

Canadian National Research Council, Ottawa - October, 2019

My role in the 2019 parabolic flight campaign was that of Test Director. I was responsible for overseeing the experiments being performed and for the crew's safety and well being. Some of the experiments being performed included:

- Spacesuit evaluation
- Biomonitoring
- Zero gravity drinking glass
- Evaluation of solar panel deployment on an Egyptian cubesat
- Water behavior in lunar gravity
- VR based radiology suite
- Magnetic force in microgravity

2018 Microgravity Spacesuit Evaluation

Canadian National Research Council, Ottawa - October, 2018

My role in the 2018 parabolic flight campaign was that of Test Director for one of the flights. I was responsible for overseeing the experiments being performed and for the crew's safety and well being. The experiments being performed included:

Intravehicular Activity Space Suit Evaluation in Reduced Gravity - Final Frontier Designs
- Measure biometrics (test sensor performance)
- Test suit sizing, comfort, pressurization to +3.5 psi
- Test air ventilation system (temp, RH, CO2 washout)
Evaluation of Noise Generated by "Bio Monitor" During Exercise in Reduced Gravity - Canadian Space Agency
- Measure signal noise generated by "Bio Monitor" during movement in reduced gravity
- Test specific exercise motions (rowing and deadlift)
- To support data analysis of David St-Jacques December 2018 ISS mission
Fluid Configuration Experiment - Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Determine the stable equilibrium configuration of confined water in reduced gravity
- Determine the cause of contact angle hysteresis
- Measure accelerations with a PocketLabOne
Solid Body Rotation Experiment - University of Maryland Eastern Shore
- Create a payload to impart known, repeatable angular velocities to objects in the reduced gravity environment
- Measure angular velocities with a PocketLabVoyager
Project ESPRESSO 2018
- Developing and test new techniques for interacting with asteroid-like material in the asteroid-relevant environments of low gravity and vacuum
- Characterize asteroid material through low-velocity impacts, shearing tests and multiple forms of adhesion or gripping for anchoring and mobility enhancement on the low gravity, airless surfaces of small asteroids
HoloLens Spacesuit User Interface Test
- Evaluate the suitability of using HoloLens in reduced gravity to display a task list and biometric data
Hexoskin Microgravity Testing
- Gather data to the usability and data accuracy of the Hexoskin skin shirt while in microgravity
Food in Space
- A better (“homely”) way to prepare and eat meals in space
- Capture videos of food items in reduced gravity
- Capture video of eating a noodles with chopsticks in 0G

Project PoSSUM - April 2018

Spacesuit use in nominal and off-nominal post-landing environments.

Parachute and ejection seat operations
Landing and rescue operations
Orion Stable 1 Egress Ops (Unsuited, Side Hatch)
Orion Stable 1 Egress Ops (Unsuited, Front Hatch)
Orion Stable 1 Egress Ops (Suited Side Hatch, Raft Ingress, Raft Ops (signaling, etc.))
Orion Stable 1 Egress Ops (Suited Front Hatch, Raft Ingress, Raft Ops (signaling, etc.))
Parachute Suited Ops in Water (Spacesuit Interface, LPUs, Green Apple, Canopy Release, etc.)

Project PoSSUM - April 2018

Physiological changes and adaptations that occur during each phase of spaceflight: ascent, early orbit, long-term flight, extra vehicular activities, and reentry.

Topics of study include:

The development of biophysics and its impact upon early astronaut medical selection criteria
Environmental Control / Life Support System: Subsystems, Extra Vehicular Activities, Prebreathe and Decompression Sickness, Toxic Hazards, Trace Contaminants, VOCs, and the SMAC list.
Cardiovascular Adaptation in Space
The Neuro-Vestibular System
Atrophy and the Muscular system
The Short Term and Long Term Effects of High Doses of Ionizing Radiation
Psychological Considerations in astronaut selection
Operational Space Medicine Emergency Rescue Support
Space Life Sciences Research

Project PoSSUM - April 2018

Fundamentals of aeronomy with an emphasis on the environmental hazards most relevant to the operations of manned spacecraft, including particles and radiation, impact phenomena, spacecraft charging, aerodynamic drag, and oxygen corrosion of surfaces.

Topics of study include:

Atmospheric structure and large scale circulations, Concept of scale height and barometric formula
Planetary boundary layer, Coriolis force, Synoptic weather systems and fronts, Atmospheric stability and clouds, Impact of weather on spacecraft operations.
Stratospheric dynamics, Concepts of potential temperature and potential vorticity, Planetary and gravity waves, Stratospheric ozone chemistry and polar stratospheric clouds
Principles of radiative transfer, Atmospheric transmission and absorption, Feedback mechanisms
Mesospheric structure and dynamics, Mesospheric composition and chemistry, Gravity waves and tides, Polar mesospheric clouds
Thermospheric structure and composition, Energy input – space weather, Ionospheric layers, Airglow and aurora, Environmental effects on spacecraft
Exobase and atmospheric escape, Van Allen radiation belts, Solar energetic particles and cosmic rays – space weather, Environmental effects on spacecraft
Mars’ atmospheric structure and dynamics, Mars’ atmospheric composition, Dust and condensates and their radiative effects, Entry, descent and landing of spacecraft on Mars

Project PoSSUM - April 2018

Practical instruction in celestial navigation and how it pertains to suborbital and orbital imaging and remote sensing missions.

Topics of study include:

Index error, dip and altitude correction for Sun, Moon, Stars and Planet.
Calculate time of meridian passage of the Sun for any given Longitude.
Calculation of times of Sunrise, Sunset, and Twilight.
Observers Latitude by Sun noon or twilight Polaris sights.
Solving the Celestial triangle using H.O. 249 tables.
Solving the Celestial triangle using S-tables
Determining Latitude and Longitude using celestial bodies
Plotting of Celestial L.O.P. on a Universal Plotting Sheet using simultaneous sights or running sight methods.
Determination of Azimuths and Altitude of navigational bodies at twilight.
Calculation of Compass Deviation using Celestial bodies.
Computing Great Circle routes.
Setting up and using an artificial horizon.

Ottawa Canada, October 2017

BIO-103 was the third series of microgravity flight testing for the Final Frontier Design IVA spacesuit. Referred to internally as the "visor down test", this was the first parabolic flight campaign in which the spacesuit's visor was closed and the suit was pressurized. Test objectives included:

Test the ability of the suited subject to operate the PoSSUM science instruments in microgravity
Test the subject's ability to operate flight controls
Test the suited subject's ability to accurately pressurize and depressurize the spacesuit to a predetermined pressure.
Test the subject's ability to open and close the visor
Test the suited subject's ability to release and refasten the five point harness while weightless

My role in this flight campaign was that of suited subject, and I was therefore responsible for performing the various tests while wearing a spacesuit.

Brien Posey is a member of the inaugural Project OTTER class (EVA-101). Project OTTER is a cooperative effort between Project PoSSUM and Final Frontier Design, with the goal of developing and testing EVA spacesuits. The program will culminate in a series of underwater EVA research missions. The Project OTTER requirements include:

Project PoSSUM Scientist-Astronaut Qualification Program (prerequisite)
EVA-101: Space Medicine and Human Performance
EVA-102: Life Support and EVA Suit Operations
EVA-103: Extraterrestrial Geology and EVA Tool Development
EVA-104: Saturation Diving and Analog EVA

Integrated Spaceflight Services / Survival Systems USA, April 2017

Spaceflight-Specific Topics of Study:

Planning for Nominal and Contingency Landings
Nominal Rescue Operations
Contingency Rescue Operations for Land Landing Spacecraft
International Program-Specific Agreements
Global SAR Response Resources supporting Contingency Landings
Contingency Rescue Operations for Water Landing Spacecraft
Pad Egress Failure Environments, Pad Egress Design and Operations
Early De-orbit scenarios
Post-Landing Contingencies
Egress Systems
Egress Procedures and Operations
Assessing Probabilities and Effects of Injuries and Deconditioning
Assessing the Effects of Deconditioning on Egress Operations
Incapacitation through Entrapment
Egress and Post-Landing Operations in the Age of Commercial Manned Spaceflight
Emergency Post-Landing Survival Kits, Medical Resources

Fundamental Egress and Post-Landing Survivability Skills:

Safety and survival equipment utilization and deployment
Coping with physiological and psychological stress
Introduction of rescue devices and simulated rescues
Preparation for emergency landing situations in a spacecraft
Evacuation through an emergency exit from a spacecraft
Physics and physiology for use of compressed air
Preflight inspection, egress considerations, and clearing procedures using an EBD
Conducting an emergency egress on breath hold utilizing the Shallow Water Egress Trainer
Conducting an emergency egress with an EBD utilizing the Shallow Water Egress Trainer
Evacuation and escape training utilizing the Modular Egress Training Simulator (METS) with and without utilizing an EBD

Sea Survival Skills:

Safety and survival equipment utilization and deployment
Introduction to hypothermia mitigation and sea survival
Personal rescue techniques and use of life rafts and signaling devices
Characteristics of personal flotation devices and aviation jackets
Life raft deployment/entry and simulated emergency scenarios
Introduction to individual and group sea surface formations
Introduction to search and rescue resources and equipment

Project PoSSUM Microgravity Spacesuit Evaluation Program
Canadian National Research Council, 2016

PoSSUM Bioastronautics BIO-101

A microgravity flight campaign to evaluate commercial spacesuits in a microgravity environment in conjunction with a prototype spacecraft seat, and various biomedical monitoring systems. The study focused primarily on human factors, the suit / seat interface, the umbilical interface, the suited subject's ability to operate spacecraft controls, and ingress / egress procedures.