Long Term Space Travel And Its Effects On The Human Body

As humans, we are born with a natural desire to learn and discover. With space exploration, we are able to do just that. In an online essay called “Is Space Exploration Worth the Cost”, Dr. Joan Vernikos,

Our bodies are not built for space. The exposure to radiation can cause cataracts, brain damage, and cancer. Weightlessness can cause muscle mass loss, bone mass loss, and bad circulation. Author of "Humans may dream of traveling to Mars, but our bodies aren't built for it," Charles Wohlforth and Amanda Hendrix explains "Doctor-astronauts working on the International Space Station in 2009 also discovered that living in weightlessness can damage the optic nerve. In the absence of gravity, cerebral-spinal fluid stops circulating. On voyages of more than a year, that could lead to blindness or contribute to dementia," [3]. This is a big problem when it comes to space travel, and should be NASA's biggest priority.

The space is always full of mysteries embellished with humans’ fantasy. Developing from the ancient theory of “round sky and square earth” to the Big Bang theory and even sending astronauts to other planets, humans use their intelligence to satisfy their curiosity towards the universe. The new discoveries and achievements along with the space programs show the competence of humans and prove the necessity to keep exploring the universe with human. Although plenty of opponents claim that it is worthless to send humans into the space, they have overlooked the significance of manned space exploration in a broad perspective. Working more efficiently to advance the progress in science, enhancing

I have gathered you all here to persuade you that space exploration is indeed worth the risk despite what a few people think. Those people think that exploration is a complete waste of time and money, but I would have to completely disagree with them because it has many benefits for the human race. Exploration is worth the risk, because it will give us information and resources that we didn’t have access to before we explored that place.

While this is a deeply rooted concern for NASA, the organization plans to make progress in making human space travel safe and productive. In 2016, Former President Barack Obama wrote an article on CNN’s wire service with gargantuan hopes for the future generations of space travel to develop in the future. In the article entitled, “ America Will Take the Giant Leap to Mars”, Obama proposes that the United States will be capable of sending astronauts to Mars by the year 2030. To support his statement, he comments, “I’m excited to announce that we are working with our commercial partners to build new habitats that can sustain and transport astronauts on long-duration missions in deep space”(Obama 1). Here, Obama is acknowledging the fact that astronauts have been, and are, affected by radiation and loss of gravity when exposed to “deep space” for long periods of time. He is also revealing that through years of research and development, the government is prepared to safely send America’s astronauts to other planets for the purpose of exploration and advances in many technological fields. Yes, astronauts’ health

There are still new discoveries being made all the time, especially with the length of time that astronauts are spending in space increasing. A revolutionary study, conducted by NASA will send one identical twin into space for a full year, while the other remains on Earth. Measurements will be taken of both twins before, during, and after the year, which will hopefully provide even more insight into exactly how prolonged stays in space affect the body. One specific experiment that will be done will involve giving each twin identical flu vaccines. This will allow researchers to study and compare their immune reactions [2]. Human space travel is important for the advancement of humankind and the furthering of our knowledge about space. Understanding how microgravity affects the body and finding solutions to keep people healthy in space are areas that have much work to be done, but are improving due to the dedication and hard work of researchers and astronauts

Surviving in space and on another planet for a long span of time is a difficult task to accomplish. Humans require quite a bit of upkeep to stay alive, and when confined to small space shuttle it is difficult to provide all the necessities to survive. For the trip to another planet astronauts have to live in the space shuttle for a long duration. Strategies must be developed to maintain a livable habitat in the shuttle, and also when the astronauts reach the planet they will have to survive on the planet for a long period of time. There are many obstacles in the path of achieving habitability in space and on another planet.

The effects of travelling in space on the human body is a subject that is currently being researched increasingly in-depth, with many unanswered questions. There is little data on long term exposure to conditions in space, and a limited range of data based on the restraints of which demographics have been exposed

These days after the space race has put a man on the moon, some people have asked what comes next. Some people believe that the best next step is to simply use unmanned probes to explore as it is simply too dangerous and expensive for people to go themselves. However, many people believe that it would be foolish for people to not continue exploring space and some have even begun their own programs, like the Mars One Project, to try to get people into space.

How long would a “long term” space flight be? According to our records, the longest that human has been off Earth is almost 438 days, and it is the mission operated by Russian space station Mir. (Beings not Made for Space, Kenneth Chang, 2014) Long-term space flight requests that astronauts have to be exposed to the real space environment, which includes microgravity, the significant increase in radiation, variation in temperature and space view. Due to these changes of space environment from that of the Earth, astronauts will face the changes on their body and health, some of the changes would be negative. For example, astronauts will see the significant changes in their body; their whole bodies will expand, the mass of their bones and muscles would lose, and some of them might have farsighted eyes. To build a better space environment, scientists have been working hard to find out what is causing the health issues and ways to solve them. They have done well-known researches such as “Twins Study” between Mark and Kelly Scott. The latest technology that involved is called artificial gravity; it is considered desirable for long-term space flight as well as human habitat in space.

Although, it is dangerous for the humans that go and explore space, as there are many things that can go wrong and there many dangers for astronauts in space, space exploration and the space program has lead to many advances in science, technology and more. In fact, the article “Benefits Stemming from Space Exploration” stated “Overcoming the challenges of working in space has led to many technological and scientific advances that have provided benefits to society on Earth in areas including health and medicine, transportation, public safety, consumer goods, energy and environment, information technology, and industrial productivity.” The technological and scientific advances that have come out through the space program have greatly helped society in many ways. One way that the space program has helped people is in the area of health and medicine, because of the space program inventions such as artificial limbs, and infrared ear thermometers have benefitted people all over the world. Next, In the article, “Technologies Benefit Our Lives”, it says, “NASA’s continued funding, coupled with its collective innovations in robotics and shock-absorption/comfort materials are inspiring and enabling the private sector to create new and better solutions for animal and human prostheses. Advancements such as Environmental Robots Inc.’s development of artificial muscle systems with robotic sensing and actuation capabilities for use in NASA space robotic and extravehicular activities are

After watching David Meerman Scott’s, The Need to Explore TED Talk Video Episode, I learned that the space exploration of the Apollo Program, the invention of the printing press, and the creation of mobile devices are only possible when humans explore new ideas of unlimited possibilities. In this case, Meerman-Scott repeatedly addressed that when humans explore new ideas and turn impossibilities to possibilities, the need of human exploration is boldly explored for the sake of the betterment of humanity in general. In addition, I also

The mysterious vastness beyond Earth has allured many scientists to explore and contribute much of their effort to the understanding of space. Although humans have been looking up at space for thousands of years, the physical exploration of this frontier has been only going on for the past few decades. Our current understanding of space is unparalleled to any time before in our history, but we still only know a small fraction of what there is to learn. Governments around the world spend about $40 billion dollars a year (Rockefeller, 2010) hoping to undertake tasks such as “human exploration of the solar system” to discovering the origins of life itself (Tatarewicz, 2009, p. 531). Recently, the private sector has also shown interest in space exploration in order to engage in profitable activities such as harnessing minerals from asteroids. Although it is easy to debate about the benefits and negatives of space exploration in its entirety, it is simpler focus on one aspect of it - the direct effect it has to those down on Earth. Rather than trying to decide whether or not going to other planets is worth it, this paper will argue about the value of the terrestrial benefits of space exploration. It is an important topic to think about as programs such as space exploration change lives and help acquire knowledge. Despite the large costs associated with space exploration, the multitude of discoveries in the past few decades has greatly improved daily life on Earth, the jobs the

Humans have always been interested in space and the wonder in which it may hold. In the past, humans worshiped the stars as if they were gods while also studying their position to give them guidance for their lives. Their interested in space has fathered the desire to know more. Today, space has been seen by many as the new frontier or the home beyond earth. Society have even taken a step forward through the creation of stories in books and movies based of the idea of humans living in space and the present of alliances. Yet there is still controversy on the need to continue space exploration when our own planet has so many detrimental problems. There is an ongoing debate on whether not the money used for space travel could be better beneficially use for other causes. It is true that space exploration costs billions of dollars a year alone according to NASA current budget, which is constantly increasing. However, what many refuses to understand is that without space exploration many of the innovations that we have today would not have existed. While there have been, many failed attempts involving space exploration that has caused a tremendous amount of money to go down the drain. However, many people fail to realize the benefits of space exploration and the possible future it may

We are a species that are innately nomads. We strive to find that new green pasture that is just over the hill we have not passed yet. In current times we have explored all frontiers available on earth, but now we have a great opportunity to search deep into space. Deep Space exploration is in the efforts to help give us a perspective on our place in the cosmos, inspire, and help our civilization persist through time.