Even before considering psychological tolls of bone and muscle fall, radiation risk, and vision loss isolation, there are some of the challenges facing astronauts on long-term missions.
As American astronauts Buch Wilmor and Sun. Williams have prepared to return home after nine months on the International Space Station (ISS), some of the health risks they faced are well documented and managed, while others remain a secret.
These threats will only grow because humanity pushes deep into the solar system, including Mars, demands innovative solutions to protect the future of space exploration.
Exercise key
Despite focusing on his mission, Nine -month stay of Willmore and Williams is equal to the course “,” said Rihanna Bokhari, an assistant professor at the Center for Space Medicine at Bayler College.
ISS missions usually last for six months, but some astronauts live up to a year, and researchers are confident in their ability to maintain astronaut health for that period.
Most people know that lifting weight creates muscles and strengthens bones, but even basic movement on Earth opposes gravity, which is an element missing in the orbit.
To combat this, astronauts use three exercise machines on the ISS, which includes resistance tool installed in 2009 that imitates free weight using a vacuum tube and flywheel cable.
A two -hour daily workout keeps them in shape. Bokhari said, “The best results we have to show that we are getting very effective, it is that when we return to the ground we do not really have a fracture problem in astronauts,” although the loss of bone is still detected on the scan, Bokhari said. AFP,
Balance dispens is another issue, which was added to Emmanuel Ukitta, Vice Chairman of Aerospace Medicine at Central Florida University.
“This is for every astronaut, even those who go to space for just a few days,” they said, because they work to rebuild faith in their inner ear.
Astronauts will have to retract their bodies during the 45-day post-mission rehabilitation program of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
Another challenge is “fluid innings” – redistribution of physical fluid towards the head towards the head in microgravity. It can increase the level of calcium in the urine, which may increase the risk of kidney stones.
Fluid shifts can also contribute to an increase in intracranial pressure, change the size of the eyeball and cause a spaceflight-associated neuro-oxular syndrome (SANS), leading to light to moderate vision loss. Another theory suggests that the level of carbon dioxide is the cause.
But in at least one case, the effects are beneficial. NASA astronaut Jessica Mir said before the latest launch, “I had a very serious matter of Sans.”
“When I launched, I wore glasses and contacts, but due to globe flatting, I now have 20/15 vision – the most expensive corrective surgery is possible. Thanks, taxpayers.”
Registration of radiation
The level of radiation in the ISS is higher than the ground, as it passes through the van allen radiation belt, but the Earth’s magnetic field still provides significant protection.
Celebration is important, as NASA aims to limit the risk of lifetime cancer of astronauts within three percent.
Although the Moon and Mars missions will give maximum risk to astronauts, Astrophizist segfred Egl explained.
Future space probes can provide some warning time for high-development events, such as coronal mass ejection-plasma cloud-to-sun-but-sunlight is unpredictable cosmic radiation.
Egl of Illinois Urbana-Shampain University said, “The preservation is best done with heavy content such as lead or water, but you need a large amount of it.”
Artificial gravity created by rotating the frame of the spacecraft, can help astronauts stay functional on arrival after a nine -month travel on Mars.
Alternatively, a spacecraft can use powerful acceleration and recession that corresponds to the force of the Earth’s gravity.
This approach will be rapid – reducing radiation risks – but nuclear propellation technologies are required that do not exist yet.
Joseph Kieber, a psychologist at Embri-Redil Aeronautical University, said it would be important to stop infighting among teams.
“Imagine to get stuck in a van with someone for three years: These ships are not so big, no privacy, there is no backyard to go there,” he said. “I really appreciate astronauts who are committed to it. This is a unfathomable job.”
