preview

Effects Of Long Term Space Flight

Better Essays

Gabriela V. Condarco-Quesada Jan. 23, 2015 Research Paper Draft Effects of Long Term Space Flight Since NASA’s inception in 1958, more missions have been attempted to Mars than any other place in the solar system besides the moon [1]. However, despite the number of attempts and robotic explorations made to Mars, we have yet to send humans to this red planet. Explanations for this lack of human presence can be attributed to the obstacles faced by scientists; from the technical issues that need to be overcome, to the sheer expense, there is also the challenge of knowing how long-duration space travel can affect astronauts not only physically but also psychologically. My sci-fi story shall give a glimpse into a crew’s round-trip to Mars and the challenge to achieve their mission’s goals and whether the physical and mental wear on their bodies will prevent them from doing so. In the past, one-way trips to Mars have been conducted ranging from 150-300 days [2]. When adding time spent on the planet and a return trip, that number doubles, testing human resilience in space even further. Scientists need to come up with ways to safely send human beings to these remote planets and find ways to combat the following physical and psychological challenges their astronauts face. Previous experiments have been done on the physical challenges astronauts face during space travel. In microgravity, there is an increased loss of bone minerals with a concentrated bone loss in the pelvic

Get Access