ESS 102
April 15, 2016
Research Topic: Effect of Long Term Space Flight
How long would a “long term” space flight be? 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. (Kenneth Chang, 2014) Long term space flight request that astronauts have to be exposed to real space environment, which includes microgravity, huge 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 changes in their body; their whole bodies will expand, mass of their …show more content…
Many of the risks are been reduced by the development of recent technology, however, some still remains unsolved. Scientists have more questions than the solutions. One of the main concerns of health issues years ago caused by space environment is the britting of bones and loss of muscle mass due to weightlessness. Scientists believed that in a weightless environment, the bones don’t need to support human body, hence the density of bones will reduce faster than on earth. To help astronaut overcome this problem, scientists have them run as exercise. The britting of bones problem is then …show more content…
The eyeballs of some of the theirs are somewhat squashed therefore causing farsightedness. There is also swelling in the optic nerves and blemishes on the retinas. Problems found in astronaut’s eyes are not solved nor understood by scientists nowadays. In order to know more about what is causing this problem, NASA sent a high-resolution camera so that they can take pictures and learn more about the disease.(Kenneth Chang, 2014) Another potential risk that scientists have found also related to the zero gravity environment is that astronauts who has farsightedness are easier to get cardiovascular disease. The latest technology that has been brought up by Scott M. Smith is artificial gravity. The spacecraft will spin like a “merry-go-around” and hope fully alleviate the fluid shift. (Smith, 2014) However, this adds the complicity of the mission and could raise the risk of more serious accident.
Due to the direct exposure to the to the space, human body would expand due to the pressure. Heads will expand as well. Because human bodies contain 60 percent of fluid water, in the weightless environment in space, fluids will go up to the head and breast, eventually increase the pressure in skull. (Kenneth Chang, 2014) Astronaut’s head will feel bloated due to the increase in skull pressure.(Mark E.