The Dangers Of Space Travel

This helps explain how the body functions without oxygen. “Orbit” details the effects of space travel on the human body and how we can be more prepared for it from prior aerospace experience.

We've all seen pictures of the beautiful blue globe of the Earth from space. Some of the first images were taken by NASA. Not only that,The International Space Station has been a huge step forward in the healing technology, and NASA has made millions of research projects to help us with our health. This research is going to show a few of the many things that NASA, with its knowledge helped us discover, and in some cases, to solve many human problems. They have contributed not only clearler and more extensive vews of space, but it also has helped with the problems and diseases that occur.

As the fiery pillar of smoke climbed ever faster towards the night sky, I stood mouth agape at age five as I watched the launch of the Discovery Space Shuttle in Cape Canaveral, birthing my fascination with the depths of space. At age eighteen, my sense of purpose was clearer than ever in a high school classroom while watching footage of the spacewalk mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope, an inspiration for me to pursue higher education in engineering with aspirations of becoming an astronaut. By age twenty three, I had been working at my first full time job as an engineer for the Department of Defense for nearly a year when I unexpectedly failed a flight physical due to minor, yet untreatable, health conditions. Now, realizing that my chances of becoming an astronaut are beyond my control, my reasoning for undertaking graduate work is to enable myself to contribute to a field that ultimately helps others do the things their bodies keep them from doing. I want to help put those people back in control of doing the things they dream to do.

Space is one of the most researched and government funded fields internationally. Globally, researchers have been attempting to discover more about the universe far before Sputnik was launched on October 4, 1957. NASA has launched over 100 flights to space, but one of the most recent flights is Expedition 47. This team has gone to microgravity to investigate spaceflight’s effect on the cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, and neurovestibular systems in the human body. The crew members are also trying to discover how to make the workout equipment more practical and create more room for future space crews during long-duration missions. The Expedition 47 began on March 1, 2016 and will end on June 5, 2016. This three month long research expedition

People working in space is dangerous. One of the crew was sick. The fly NASA doctors

“WANTED: Astronauts for Flight to Callisto”, the sign that caught my eye as I walk passed the front desk at the NASA Ames Research Center hoping for an internship. This must be really expensive and it does not seem like there is a limit to how many astronauts they are looking for. It is also surprising that I only have to pay $1000 to sign up as long as I do not have a criminal record or any suspicious reason to leave the planet. The fine print warns applicants of possible risks during the mission. But with my knowledge of the Earth and Space Sciences, I will know most of the effects of space flight to astronauts during a mission and so I am positive that I can survive this flight no matter what happens.

During the Apollo space missions, as well as later missions, American astronauts encountered a new phenomenon, space motion sickness. American scientists wanted to know what was causing this sickness, and looked to Russian research for answers, as Russian cosmonauts had encountered this phenomenon before. Historically, Russian scientists attributed the sickness to fluid shift, a process where decreased gravity allows fluids in the body to move headward. This can cause imbalances in hormones or neurotransmitters. It can also increase intracranial pressure, including in the inner ear, causing difficulties in the vestibular area of the ear. A more recent theory attributes the problem to sensory conflict. Through research and experimentation, scientists

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.

It has become such an iconic idea, that most if not all children in the last 60 years have thought that they would be alive to see the expedition, if not be part of it themselves. Of course, space travel is not a simple there and back scenario. As seen in the American Apollo program, there are many places throughout a mission where things can and most defiantly will go wrong with technology. In addition, there are inevitably even more challenging obstacles for a mission to face once they get into space. These challenges include loss of muscle, bone, and suppression of the human immune systems and over time we have found that these bodily effects seem to become progressively worse the longer an astronaut travels through space. Before we even begin discussing when we should attempt land manned space missions on other planets, we need a better understanding of the effect of long term space travel and occur in the first place and find ways to combat them so that prolonged space travel is not destructive to the human

A decline of movement and activity of muscles occur due to astronauts not moving around as often and space adaptation syndrome occurs and causes nausea and other symptoms.

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.

Humans are planning more space missions to Mars and deeper into the solar system. These manned missions require longer periods of time in space than any human has ever spent, as well as traveling farther from Earth’s protection than ever before. There has been very little research conducted regarding the effects of prolonged space travel on the human body. This paper examines how space travel will likely alter bodily functions. The evolution of life on Earth means that humans are adapted and specialized to live and function in Earth’s environment. The environment of open space presents hazards such as: solar radiation, microgravity, and extreme isolation. Prolonged exposure to these hazards could result in cardiovascular issues, cancers, cellular disruption, decreased bone density, osteoporosis, psychological issues, and more. It is important for scientists to research these hazards and their effects on the human body further so as to find solutions and ways to combat the negative outcomes.

Many explorers who choose to travel to the planet Mars may not be aware of the adverse health risks. Examples of health risks are mental health, neural damage, and cancer. When an individual goes to Mars they can be exposed to radiation which can lead to cancer in the future. Researcher shows,” there will be an increased exposure and thus a higher risk of cancer in life”. Another health risk would be to one’s mental health such as depression, anxiety, and memory problems. Other side effects of long term space travel would affect our mental health. The last health risk is neural damage and brain inflammation. After astronauts return to Earth, the Mars astronauts could experience neuron damage. Therefore, these three major health risks make

The first challenge in a long-duration spaceflight is almost immediately apparent after lift-off, leaving the gravitational pull of Earth, and entering a micro gravity environment. Weightlessness can have several different impacts on the human body. Astronauts who orbit the Earth on the

Upon the consideration of long-distance human spaceflight, the risk management plan in correspondence must prepare the crew members before and during the mission, for risks which may or may not occur, in the isolated confines of space. Specifically, the risks of meteoroid impacts, malnutrition, and contamination were observed and their effects on the psychological and physical health of the crew members was detailed. Only meteoroid impacts are singularly and in transit risk, while both malnutrition and contamination are constant risks due to the human factor. Out the three risks listed, the most harmful risk would be of malnutrition due to the extensive consequences which can compound other problems. The main risk management method would