Energy News  
SPACE TRAVEL
5 Hazards of Human Spaceflight
by Melanie Whiting for JSC News
Houston TX (SPX) Sep 12, 2018

illustration only

A human journey to Mars, at first glance, offers an inexhaustible amount of complexities. To bring a mission to the Red Planet from fiction to fact, NASA's Human Research Program has organized hazards astronauts will encounter on a continual basis into five classifications.

Pooling the challenges into categories allows for an organized effort to overcome the obstacles that lay before such a mission. However, these hazards do not stand alone. They can feed off one another and exacerbate effects on the human body.

These hazards are being studied using ground-based analogs, laboratories, and the International Space Station, which serves as a test bed to evaluate human performance and countermeasures required for the exploration of space.

Various research platforms give NASA valuable insight into how the human body and mind might respond during extended forays into space. The resulting data, technology and methods developed serve as valuable knowledge to extrapolate to multi-year interplanetary missions.

1. Radiation
The first hazard of a human mission to Mars is also the most difficult to visualize because, well, space radiation is invisible to the human eye. Radiation is not only stealthy, but considered one of the most menacing of the five hazards.

Above Earth's natural protection, radiation exposure increases cancer risk, damages the central nervous system, can alter cognitive function, reduce motor function and prompt behavioral changes. To learn what can happen above low-Earth orbit, NASA studies how radiation affects biological samples using a ground-based research laboratory.

The space station sits just within Earth's protective magnetic field, so while our astronauts are exposed to ten-times higher radiation than on Earth, it's still a smaller dose than what deep space has in store.

To mitigate this hazard, deep space vehicles will have significant protective shielding, dosimetry, and alerts. Research is also being conducted in the field of medical countermeasures such as pharmaceuticals to help defend against radiation.

2. Isolation and confinement
Behavioral issues among groups of people crammed in a small space over a long period of time, no matter how well trained they are, are inevitable. Crews will be carefully chosen, trained and supported to ensure they can work effectively as a team for months or years in space.

On Earth we have the luxury of picking up our cell phones and instantly being connected with nearly everything and everyone around us. On a trip to Mars, astronauts will be more isolated and confined than we can imagine.

Sleep loss, circadian desynchronization, and work overload compound this issue and may lead to performance decrements, adverse health outcomes, and compromised mission objectives.

To address this hazard, methods for monitoring behavioral health and adapting/refining various tools and technologies for use in the spaceflight environment are being developed to detect and treat early risk factors. Research is also being conducted in workload and performance, light therapy for circadian alignment, phase shifting and alertness.

3. Distance from Earth
The third and perhaps most apparent hazard is, quite simply, the distance. Mars is, on average, 140 million miles from Earth. Rather than a three-day lunar trip, astronauts would be leaving our planet for roughly three years.

While International Space Station expeditions serve as a rough foundation for the expected impact on planning logistics for such a trip, the data isn't always comparable. If a medical event or emergency happens on the station, the crew can return home within hours.

Additionally, cargo vehicles continual resupply the crews with fresh food, medical equipment, and other resources. Once you burn your engines for Mars, there is no turning back and no resupply.

Planning and self-sufficiency are essential keys to a successful Martian mission. Facing a communication delay of up to 20 minutes one way and the possibility of equipment failures or a medical emergency, astronauts must be capable of confronting an array of situations without support from their fellow team on Earth.

4. Gravity (or lack thereof)
The variance of gravity that astronauts will encounter is the fourth hazard of a human mission. On Mars, astronauts would need to live and work in three-eighths of Earth's gravitational pull for up to two years. Additionally, on the six-month trek between the planets, explorers will experience total weightlessness.

Besides Mars and deep space there is a third gravity field that must be considered. When astronauts finally return home they will need to readapt many of the systems in their bodies to Earth's gravity. Bones, muscles, cardiovascular system have all been impacted by years without standard gravity.

To further complicate the problem, when astronauts transition from one gravity field to another, it's usually quite an intense experience. Blasting off from the surface of a planet or a hurdling descent through an atmosphere is many times the force of gravity.

Research is being conducted to ensure that astronauts stay healthy before, during and after their mission. NASA is identifying how current and future, FDA-approved osteoporosis treatments, and the optimal timing for such therapies could be employed to mitigate the risk for astronauts developing premature osteoporosis.

Adaptability training programs and improving the ability to detect relevant sensory input are being investigated to mitigate balance control issues. Research is ongoing to characterize optimal exercise prescriptions for individual astronauts, as well as defining metabolic costs of critical mission tasks they would expect to encounter on a Mars mission.

5. Hostile/closed environments
A spacecraft is not only a home, it's also a machine. NASA understands that the ecosystem inside a vehicle plays a big role in everyday astronaut life. Important habitability factors include temperature, pressure, lighting, noise, and quantity of space. It's essential that astronauts are getting the requisite food, sleep and exercise needed to stay healthy and happy.

Technology, as often is the case with out-of-this-world exploration, comes to the rescue in creating a habitable home in a harsh environment. Everything is monitored, from air quality to possible microbial inhabitants.

Microorganisms that naturally live on your body are transferred more easily from one person to another in a closed environment. Astronauts, too, contribute data points via urine and blood samples, and can reveal valuable information about possible stressors.

The occupants are also asked to provide feedback about their living environment, including physical impressions and sensations so that the evolution of spacecraft can continue addressing the needs of humans in space. Extensive recycling of resources we take for granted is also imperative: oxygen, water, carbon dioxide, even our waste.

Human research essential to space exploration
NASA has already gone beyond simply identifying five challenges of human spaceflight to facilitate a focused and organized effort to reach Mars. Within the agency, there are entities dedicated to the evolution of spaceflight in all five of these areas.

NASA's Human Research Program remains committed to preserving the health and vitality of the crew that will someday touch down upon Mars. While these five hazards present significant challenges, they also offer opportunities for growth and innovation in technology, medicine and our understanding of the human body. One human challenge explored, one step closer to Mars.


Related Links
NASA's Human Research Program
Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


SPACE TRAVEL
UAE announces first astronauts to go to space
Dubai (AFP) Sept 3, 2018
The United Arab Emirates has selected its first two astronauts to go on a mission to the International Space Station, Dubai's ruler said Monday. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashed al-Maktou named the new astronauts as Hazza al-Mansouri, 34, and 37-year-old Sultan al-Neyadi. Writing on Twitter, he said the duo "raise the bar of ambitions for future Emirati generations". Sheikh Mohammed, the UAE's vice president and prime minister, last year vowed to send four Emirati astronauts to the space station w ... read more

Comment using your Disqus, Facebook, Google or Twitter login.



Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

SPACE TRAVEL
Electricity crisis leaves Iraqis gasping for cool air

Energy-intensive Bitcoin transactions pose a growing environmental threat

Germany thwarts China by taking stake in 50Hertz power firm

Global quadrupling of cooling appliances to 14 billion by 2050

SPACE TRAVEL
Not too wet, not too dry: plasma-treated fuel cell gets it just right

Pushing 'print' on large-scale piezoelectric materials

Cathode fabrication for oxide solid-state batteries at room temperature

New technology improves hydrogen manufacturing

SPACE TRAVEL
Wind Power: It is all about the distribution

Big wind, solar farms could boost rain in Sahara

DNV GL supports creation of China's first HVDC offshore wind substation

China pushes wind energy efforts further offshore

SPACE TRAVEL
Changing the type of silicon etching drops solar power costs by more than 10 percent

California commits to 100% clean electricity by 2045

Golden sandwich could make the world more sustainable

Renewable energy sources: All-in-one light-driven water splitting

SPACE TRAVEL
Nuclear energy may see role wane, UN agency says

MIT Energy Initiative study reports on the future of nuclear energy

Austria to appeal EU court ruling on UK nuclear plant

S.Africa drops Zuma's nuclear expansion dreams

SPACE TRAVEL
Methane to syngas catalyst: two for the price of one

Biodegradable plastic blends offer new options for disposal

Breakthrough could see bacteria used as cell factories to produce biofuels

Serendipitous discovery by IUPUI researchers may lead to eco-friendly lubricant

SPACE TRAVEL
Court scraps multibillion-dollar Ecuador damages against Chevron

Oil prices down after Pompeo outlines plan to get nations off Iranian oil

Oil prices down, OPEC production at 10-month high

Gulf, US commanders to hold talks in Kuwait

SPACE TRAVEL
Episodic and intense rain caused by ancient global warming

'Hunger stones' tell Elbe's centuries-old tale of drought

Conflict hinders Iran efforts to counter dust storms

Prehistoric changes in vegetation help predict future of Earth's ecosystems









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.