An interesting look at the effects of long-term space exploration on astronauts.

neurosciencestuff:

520-Day Simulated Mission to Mars Reveals Critical Data about Sleep and Activity Needs for Astronauts

In the first study of its kind, a team of researchers led by faculty at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and the Baylor College of Medicine, has analyzed data on the impact of prolonged operational confinement on sleep, performance, and mood in astronauts from a groundbreaking international effort to simulate a 520-day space mission to Mars. The findings, published online-first in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, revealed alterations of life-sustaining sleep patterns and neurobehavioral consequences for crew members that must be addressed for successful adaption to prolonged space missions.

“The success of human interplanetary spaceflight, which is anticipated to be in this century, will depend on the ability of astronauts to remain confined and isolated from Earth much longer than previous missions or simulations,” said David F. Dinges, PhD, professor and chief, Division of Sleep and Chronobiology in the Department of Psychiatry at the Perelman School of Medicine, and co-lead author of the new study. “This is the first investigation to pinpoint the crucial role that sleep-wake cycles will play in extended space missions.”

The 520-day simulation, which was developed by the Institute for Biomedical Problems (IBMP) of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and sponsored in part by the European Space Agency (ESA), was initiated on June 3, 2010 when the hatches were closed on a 550-cubic-meter IBMP spacecraft-like confinement facility in Russia. The simulated mission, involving an international, six-man team of volunteers, involved more than 90 experiments and realistic scenarios to gather valuable psychological and medical data on the effects of a long-term deep space flight. The 520-day mission was broken into three phases: 250 days for the trip to Mars, 30 days on the surface, and 240 days for the return to Earth.

“As the only U.S. research team involved with the Mars 520-day simulation, the study required international coordination and strong collaborations to ensure that the experiments were conducted in a thorough and rigorous manner,” said Jeffrey P. Sutton, MD, PhD, professor and director, Center for Space Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, and senior study author. The investigators monitored the crew’s rest-activity patterns, performance and psychological responses to determine the extent to which sleep loss, fatigue, stress, mood changes and conflicts occurred during the mission.

Measurements included continuous recordings of body movements using wrist actigraphy (a noninvasive means of estimating sleep and movement intensity), and light exposure and weekly computer-based neurobehavioral assessments to identify changes in the crew’s activity levels, sleep quantity and quality, sleep–wake intervals, alertness performance, and workload throughout the 17 months of mission confinement.

Data from the actigraph devices revealed that crew sedentariness increased across the mission, as illustrated by decreased waking movement and increased sleep and rest times. The majority of crewmembers also experienced one or more disturbances of sleep quality, alertness deficits, or altered sleep–wake intervals and timing, suggesting inadequate circadian synchronization.

“Taken together, these measurements point to the need to identify markers of differential vulnerability to abnormal decrease in muscular movement and sleep– wake changes in crew members during the prolonged isolation of exploration spaceflight and the need to ensure maintenance of the Earth’s natural circadian rhythm, sleep quantity and quality, and optimal activity levels during exploration missions,” said Mathias Basner, MD, PhD, MSc, assistant professor of Sleep and Chronobiology in Psychiatry at Penn, and co-lead author.

The research team concludes that successful adaptation to such missions will require crews to transit in spacecraft and live in surface habitats that artificially mimic aspects of Earth’s sleep-wake activity cycles, such as appropriately timed light exposure, food intake, and exercise. This dynamic will be necessary to maintain neurocognition and human behavior throughout the flight.

To all my readers and followers, thank you for all your support. I wish you all great things for 2013!

space-pics:

Lovely Image from Space: Earth, Moon and Approaching Spacecraft

http://space-pics.tumblr.com/

Magnificent Mars as seen from Europe’s newest deep space tracking station.

scinerds:

New Mars Photo Christens Deep-Space Antenna

Europe’s newest deep-space tracking station has received its first interplanetary message: a photo of a half-lit Mars as seen by an orbiting spacecraft.

(via anndruyan)

An interesting look at the health risks to astronauts.

anndruyan:

What are the health risks of space travel? 

Astronauts are limited to spending six months on the International Space Station, around 200 miles above Earth, for a good reason

The loss of bone and muscle mass they experience in space is so profound that they cannot stay any longer.

But what about the health impact of forthcoming suborbital flights for space tourists who are not fit, highly-trained individuals? 

According to North American scientists writing in the British Medical Journal article, GPs should be prepared to answer patients’ queries about their suitability for space travel in the near future.

Yet there will be few GPs experienced enough in space medicine to provide advice.

Past research tells us that spaceflight causes changes in the physiology of the human body, but how it might affect underlying medical conditions in an unfit, 50-year-old space tourist is not yet clearly known.

Dr David Green, senior lecturer in human and aerospace physiology at Kings College London, predicts that in the next two years or so significant numbers of people will be taking up places on suborbital flights in a specially-designed spacecraft.

This means they will dip out of Earth’s atmosphere, experience weightlessness for around four minutes and then descend back to Earth’s surface.

The speed of the acceleration and deceleration involved in that flight could be an issue for some, Dr Green says.

“It’s highly likely you will feel sick or be sick and that’s a real concern.

“Also, there will be an issue making sure everyone gets back in their seats after floating about.

“Going back to Earth, everything will feel heavier. You could knock yourself unconscious.”

The most common problems during a spaceflight have been shown to be motion sickness, fatigue, dehydration, loss of appetite and back pain.

During the massive vertical acceleration and deceleration of spaceflight, it is hard for the heart to pump blood to the brain.

“If you have underlying cardiovascular disease that could be exposed,” says Dr Green.

G-force

Dr Jon Scott, a senior scientist at QinetiQ and member of the UK Space Agency’s space environment working group, has been involved in research to understand what increased gravitational forces do to people like fighter pilots. 

“At the extremes, some people can tolerate as little as 3g and some as much as 6g. But there is no one simple, convenient thing you can measure to predict their tolerance. It would be great if a GP could test for it.”

US researchers are looking at g-tolerance in sections of the population who could be the space tourists of the future.

The American Aerospace Medical Association Commercial Spaceflight Working Group published a document in 2009 saying that most individuals with “well controlled medical conditions” could withstand the acceleration forces involved in the launch and landing of a commercial spaceflight.

Their challenge, Scott says, is to gather information on a range of ages and health conditions - not just young, fit individuals - so that spaceflight companies can judge who can and who can’t fly.

Key to life

“We don’t want to have so many medical restrictions that no one can fly, but we want to make sure we truly understand the effects of these flights.

“There has to be a balance between medical safety and the industry flourishing - more information will help us find this balance.”

The study of human physiology in space benefits more than just budding space tourists and astronauts though.

There are distinct similarities between the effects of lengthy space travel on humans and the effects of ageing on Earth.

“Astronauts’ bones become weaker and their physical fitness decreases the longer they spend in space, much like an elderly person leading a sedentary lifestyle,” says Dr Green.

“We can learn a lot about the fundamental mechanics of how to stay alive on Earth from going into space.”

Increased access to space will bring challenges for medical experts and scientists alike as they attempt to minimise the side-effects of space travel for the general public while promoting the exhilaration of floating in microgravity.

Read full article here

Image Credit: NASA

What a great caption for NASA`s anniversary: “Dare mighty things!”

spaceplasma:

thescienceofreality:

NASA Celebrates 50 Years of Planetary Exploration.

In celebration of the anniversary, an interactive presentation highlighting 50 years of planetary exploration is available online here. 

“Fifty years ago on a mid-December day, NASA’s Mariner 2 spacecraft sailed close to the shrouded planet Venus, marking the first time any spacecraft had ever successfully made a close-up study of another planet. The flyby, 36 million miles (58 million kilometers) away from Earth, gave America its first bona fide space “first” after five years in which the Soviet Union led with several space exploration milestones. Designed and built by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., the successful Mariner 2 spacecraft ushered in a new era of solar system exploration. 

“JPL has always attempted to do mighty things on behalf of NASA and our nation,” said JPL director Charles Elachi. “Achieving America’s first ‘first in space’ is among the lab’s proudest achievements.” 

The first Mariners were designed and built on an extremely demanding schedule. JPL had to ready three probes - two to fly to Venus and one spare — in less than a year, with strict weight limits. ”

Continue …

Celebrating NASA and the Apollo Program - Apollo 17 EVA’s started 40 years ago today.

hellyesnasa:

If Cernan or Schmitt stood at the right spot on Taurus-Littrow, this is what they might have seen.

Apollo 17 EVA’s started 40 years ago today.