Sick to your space-boots
We’ve all pondered if we’d take the plunge on a one-way trip to Mars. Sure, you’d go down in history as a next-generation frontiersman – boldly gone, never to return. If you get carsick or vomit at the thought of VR, however, you might need to set your sights on a mission much closer to home. Can space travel make you ill? You bet.
As reported by Live Science, it turns out that the heinous effects on the human body caused by long-term space travel are myriad… and could tear you apart. The world’s new space race is heating up, and some scientists at NASA predict the first astronauts could land on Mars within the next 20 years… but hang on, Mars is 298.89 million kilometres away. If you don’t fare too well on much shorter journeys here on Earth, your final frontier might be the M25.
How can space travel make you ill?
We’ve evolved and adapted to life here on the Blue Planet for nearly 200,000 years. In that time, we’ve grown accustomed to Earth’s je ne sais quoi, if you will: everything from its atmosphere to its heat. Two things that are notably absent among the stars! Anna Gore at Live Science recently broke down some of the key factors that could contribute to a particularly unpleasant voyage among the stars.
Of course, we’ve been shaped by gravity – all 9.8 N/kg of it. One of the key concerns in terms of long-term space travel is microgravity, or a lack thereof. According to NASA, astronauts have been known to lose as much as 1/5 of their muscle mass in just five days in space, and as you might expect, it’s most prevalent in parts of the body responsible for standing upright – posture – and walking.
Shock to the system
It’s not a physical lack of stimulus – that it’s a direct result of cells making fewer proteins when they’re not stimulated. That’s why scientists have been researching equipping astronauts with wearable tech that works silently to contract muscles using electrodes to “achieve the equivalent forces on bones from walking on Earth”. It’s an idea that could innervate muscles and engage their internal contact with our bones to reduce bone loss, reducing the need to burn calories we otherwise would on solid ground.
Calcium is vital for our survival, but as there’s no force pulling the body and its internal fluids down, it could affect the actual formation of new bones, too – too many minerals in the blood, and astronauts are at a greater risk of hypercalcemia (that’s too much calcium), which can also cause kidney stones. What’s more, microgravity could extend the nerves in your eyes – only to see them retract and warp when any planet’s gravity kicks back in. The has considered the very real issues that, well, your eyes rely on gravitational forces to stay in your head and swivel. We weren’t born to float, folks!
“Common poor desk posture is very similar to the posture astronauts adopt during spaceflight in zero gravity. Usually, this is a forward-leaning posture with a forward head position and the loss of normal spinal curves. Being in space also has similar effects to staying in bed all day.”
– Nick Caplan and Andrew Winnard
Back to the drawing board
Got back problems? You’re not the only one! Our gravity also keeps the spinal column compressed – too much microgravity and it elongates. Nick Caplan and Andrew Winnard of the Aerospace Medicine and Rehabilitation Laboratory at Northumbria University once wrote an article for Inverse linking the posture-crippling WFH modes of the pandemic with the way astronauts naturally flow in Zero-G. What do you know, neither is great for your back. As Live Science statues, prolonged periods of microgravity could weaken the muscles that support the vertebrae, due to poorly distributed water among them.
Now, NASA’s top scientists are scanning astronauts’ spines immediately before and after takeoff using tomography, and MRIs (magnetic resonance imaging) to zone in on subtle shifts in bone density and muscle size – as a direct response, scientists and engineers are considering specific resistive exercises to keep astronauts happy and healthy.
That’s not to mention lower immunity and an increased risk of blood clots! If those haven’t put you off yet, and you want to hear more about how space travel really can make you sick to your space boots, let us know!
Given all the risks associated with astronautical exploits, if Elon Musk gave you a SpaceX ticket tomorrow, would you take it…?
Source: How the body changes in space – usually, for the worse.
Want to go on a spacewalk yourself, or is this article scaring you off…? Keep the conversation going in the comments.
China’s got its eyes on the sky. Regardless of this article, read more about the First Civilian in Orbit with Shenzhou-16.