NASA and China plan to send astronauts to Mars for the first time in
history in 2033, which is the next decade. To ensure that astronauts can
manage waste and have adequate food and drink for the months-long passage to
and from Mars, among other logistical and technological obstacles, this
offers a number of challenges.
Of course, there is also the issue of the astronauts' health and safety as
they will be spending months in space and will be subject to microgravity
and cosmic radiation.
There are even worries that humans won't be able to adjust to Martian
gravity after spending months in microgravity.
ANU space medicine specialists created a mathematical model to forecast if
astronauts can safely go to Mars and carry out their tasks after they get on
the Red Planet in order to ascertain whether these concerns are
warranted.
Along with all the other preparations that must be made before people land
on Mars, this model may be of great value. Future short- and long-duration
missions that send people well beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and the
Earth-Moon system might likewise be evaluated using this method.
Recently, an article outlining their mathematical model and results was
published in npj Microgravity, a publication run by Nature.
Dr. Lex van Loon, a Research Fellow from the ANU College of Health and
Medicine, served as the team's leader (CHM). He and his colleagues remark in
their analysis that while there are many possible risks for trips to Mars,
the astronauts' stay in microgravity poses perhaps the biggest risk.
The event will result in significant physical alterations in their bodies
when combined with harmful radiation from the Sun and other cosmic
sources.
Microgravity is known to impair organ function, vision, and the
cardiopulmonary system, which includes the heart and its capacity to pump
blood through the body's network of arteries and veins, according to
extensive research carried out aboard the International Space Station
(ISS).
Their work is crucial for the developing commercial space industry as well,
as Van Loon explained in a news release from the Australian National
University:
"We know it takes around six to seven months to get to Mars, and during
that time, the weightlessness experienced during zero gravity space travel
may damage the shape of your blood vessels or the strength of your
heart.
We want to employ mathematical models to forecast if someone is suitable to
go to Mars because with the growth of commercial space flight companies like
Space X and Blue Origin, there is greater opportunity for wealthy but not
necessarily healthy people to go into space."
Dr. Emma Tucker, an astrophysicist and emergency medicine registrar who is
also a co-author of the study, warned that a lengthy stay in zero gravity
may make the heart sluggish since it doesn't have to exert as much energy to
defy gravity and pump blood throughout the body.
"Gravity pulls fluid to the lower part of our bodies when we're on Earth,
which is why some people experience swelling in their legs as the day wears
on.
The fluid moves to the upper half of your body when you are in space since
there is no longer any gravitational force on you, which causes the body to
react as though there is too much fluid there.
You begin to go to the bathroom frequently as a result, you start
eliminating extra fluid, you stop feeling thirsty, and you stop drinking as
much, which causes you to become dehydrated in space."
This, according to Tucker, explains why astronauts leaving the ISS are
observed fainting when they land on the ground again or needing wheelchair
transportation.
The longer they are in space, the more probable it is that they will crash
back to Earth and the more challenging it will be to adjust to Earth's
gravity.
The NASA Twins Study involved Mark Kelly, who spent nearly a year in space
and returned with excruciating pain, edema, and other symptoms (as he
described in his book Endurance: A Year in Space, a Lifetime of
Discovery).
There is a further challenge given by the communication delay between Earth
and Mars for missions headed towards Mars. These pauses can last up to 20
minutes depending on how the Sun, Earth, and Mars are aligned, therefore
astronauts must be capable of carrying out their tasks without help from
mission controllers or support teams right away (which includes medical
emergencies).
Van Loon stated as follows:
"There won't be anyone on Mars to assist an astronaut if they faint when
they first exit the spaceship or if they have a medical issue.
Because of this, we must be confident that the astronaut is physically
capable of flying and can adjust to Mars' gravitational field.
During those important first few minutes, they must be able to function
successfully and efficiently with the least amount of assistance."
To mimic the hazards involved with journeying to Mars, their model uses a
machine learning technique based on astronaut data obtained from previous
Expeditions at the ISS and the Apollo missions.
Testing revealed that it was capable of simulating important cardiovascular
hemodynamic changes during extended spaceflight as well as those caused by
various gravity and fluid loading situations. The findings are also
promising since they show that astronauts can still operate even after
spending months in microgravity.
The researchers want to enhance the model's capabilities by adding data
from commercial spaceflight, even if the present version is informed by
information from middle-aged, well-trained astronauts.
Their ultimate objective is to develop a model that can replicate the
effects of protracted space flight on relatively healthy people who already
have cardiac issues (in other words, untrained civilians). They anticipate
that this model will present a more complete picture of what would transpire
if a member of the general public traveled to space.
Given the amount of celebrities who have lately traveled to space, it would
make logical to develop further improvements that take age-related health
concerns into account (Wally Funk, William Shatner, Laura Shepard, Richard
Branson, etc.).
The future? It could be able to model how long-term exposure to
microgravity affects a child's and a fetus's growth. If we ever want to send
people to the Moon, Mars, and other planets to live, this study is
essential.
