How NASA Will Keep Astronauts Safe on a Mission to Mars
sending humans into deep space is definitely happening pushing the boundaries of the exploration of space further than ever before think a 34 million mile trip to mars one way or 600 times further than going to the moon but how will we keep those brave souls who volunteer for this mission safe and keep the spacecraft in one piece welcome to our site today we're sending full power to life support systems in how to keep astronauts safe on a mission to mars the mission there are two major players that have boots on mars as a firm and non-negotiable goal for the not-too-distant future one has been a household name since the late 50s when the u.s government dared to ask if men could survive in outer space we're talking about nasa the government agency that has been synonymous with space travel and exploration for over 60 years and has the red planet in their sights the lunar artemis missions gave nasa an opportunity to test out new technology that will aid in a successful journey both to and back from mars there's no set date yet pending data from both the perseverance rover and experiments on the moon the other is led by a flashy billionaire smart as a whip with lofty ambitions we're talking about spacex captained by the ever eccentric elon musk after landing a portion of the lucrative contract to launch some of the space force's rockets into space spacex have doubled their efforts to meet a bold 2024 launch prediction date to be the first company to send an unmanned starship reusable rocket and spacecraft combo to mars they're looking to become the ferry service to transport both supplies and people to a martian base when it's built this is the largest undertaking in human history and such a long trip each way comes with a unique set of problems that require creative solutions keep in mind that astronauts rarely stay aboard the international space station for longer than a year size matters you know it takes an incredible amount of fuel to lift off from the earth and break through the atmosphere it's probably not something that everyone thinks about but this huge volume of fuel is what makes up most of the weight for example the saturn v rocket that took armstrong and company to the moon tipped the scales at a whopping 3 000 tons out of this only 140 tons or 5 percent of its launch mass made it to a low earth orbit from there only 50 tons made it to the moon less than 2 percent of its initial pre-launch mass such a long trip to mars would require a fair amount of fuel on board as every maneuver and correction to the course on the way there and back consumes valuable rocket fuel not to mention the retro boosters required to land safely as well as the rockets required to break free of the martian atmosphere ahead of the journey home spacex have come up with a brilliant plan to refuel their crude starship once it reaches orbit by way of a separately launched tanker craft this means that the fuel weight loss to the spacecraft and equipment that are carried up into orbit can be replenished before the burn to mars time is the enemy as briefly mentioned the seriously long distance to cover in order to reach mars takes time this is a two-headed issue as not only will the astronauts be in space longer than is generally deemed healthy but also it's a long time to burn fuel deep space probes will usually carry minimal fuel and use the gravitational forces of the sun and other planets to plot complex trajectories through space though the gravity-assisted slingshot maneuvers increase momentum and save heavily on fuel it does lengthen the course by years not ideal for a live human cargo the most fuel efficient way to travel between earth and mars is called the home and transfer using a single burn elliptical transfer orbit to move between the two almost circular orbits of the planet this takes on average 259 days but can vary between six and nine months the main issue is that because of the differing orbits of mars earth and the sun such a trip can only be won every two years in a rather narrow launch window spacex are claiming they can do it in six months flat however the fuel cost would be astronomically higher and only possible with a mid-orbit refuel human limitations then there are the astronauts who have to endure what must seem like an eternity at zero in low gravity the reality is that a squad of between four and six people will need to live together in a tin can the size of a winnebago for three years enough for anyone to get on your nerves but putting the social and behavioral issues aside for a moment what happens to the human body and is it dangerous the earth's protective gravitational and magnetic fields provide us with gravity obviously but also protect from most of the harmful radiation coming from the sun and outer space microgravity it's well documented that the longer a human is in microgravity the more fluids build up in their head they start to resemble a walking talking lollipop in a process that leads to a phenomenon known as puffy face and bird legs the human body is two-thirds water and on earth gravity pulls that water down to our feet and our heart and circulatory system pump it back up to the brain in microgravity it's different as the fluid naturally travels up to the head and away from the legs looking exactly how the name implies blocked noses and stuffy sinuses are the milder side effects while longer exposures to microgravity can cause debilitating motion sickness and even blindness factor in the extreme drop in bone density from the weightlessness of space and you have some very sick astronauts on your hands muscles have to do less work in the absence of gravity and the bones have less force pulling on them to promote repair and renewal of the tissue despite astronauts having to adhere to a strict 4-hour per day exercise and resistance regime while in space muscles atrophy and bones demineralize calcium losing two percent of their bone mass for every month spent in space it's likely that after a three year journey the martian astronauts legs may snap under their own weight when they return to earth that is if their muscles are even strong enough to support them radiation now let's talk about the radiation despite our best efforts to shield them no absorbent ozone layer means that astronauts absorb over 10 times more radiation than the average person and that's just in a low earth orbit the deeper into space you go the higher the dose during a single solar storm the dose of radiation is equivocal to several hundred chest x-rays enough to damage the dna and markedly increase the risk of developing cancerous tumors in later life a spacecraft traveling to mars would need to have some way of promoting an environment of at least half the gravity of earth in order to keep astronauts healthy there is plans to build a device called a lower body negative pressure chamber which is worn by an astronaut from the waist down to recreate the pull of gravity and help with circulation another method may be to create a carousel that rotates around a central spindle using centrifugal force to simulate gravity similar to what happens when you swing a rope around with a rock at one end more robust radiation shielding will be needed to prevent shortening the astronauts lifespans galactic cosmic rays are no joke and can rip through metal like tissue paper causing cell death and mutations astronauts on the way to mars would receive two millisieverts of radiation each day equal to a full body spiral ct scan every six days the trio who went to the moon experienced this insane level of radiation exposure but only for a two week period priming the body with antioxidants would help to lessen the effect of the damage causing free radicals created when radiation splits electrons off oxygen molecules in the body keeping the astronauts fed with a diet high in vitamins a and e as well as selenium methanol found in berries is crucial to reduce the short-term effects of such a dose expect the unexpected accidents happen and sometimes people get seriously hurt the mars crew must include one qualified physician competent in 10 or more fields of specialty and the other members need to have advanced to expert level medical training injury and illness are a real threat to the mission success and without the support of anyone outside those people inside the spacecraft astronauts need to be able to heal themselves there are also plans to develop a medical artificial intelligence system on board that could identify symptoms recommend tests make a diagnosis from the results and advise a course of treatment unfortunately this technology does not exist just yet so anyone feeling under the weather or has had a nasty accident will need to rely on the skills of their crewmates in order to survive and make a full recovery