A
human journey to Mars, at first
glance, offers an inexhaustible amount of complexities. To bring a mission to
the Red Planet from fiction to fact, NASA’s Human Research Program has organized some of the hazards
astronauts will encounter on a continual basis into five classifications.
The variance of gravity fields that
astronauts will encounter on a mission to Mars is the fourth hazard.
On Mars, astronauts would need to
live and work in three-eighths of Earth’s gravitational pull for up to two
years. Additionally, on the six-month trek between the planets, explorers will
experience total weightlessness.
Besides Mars and deep space there
is a third gravity field that must be considered. When astronauts finally
return home they will need to readapt many of the systems in their bodies to
Earth’s gravity.
To further complicate the problem,
when astronauts transition from one gravity field to another, it’s usually
quite an intense experience. Blasting off from the surface of a planet or a
hurdling descent through an atmosphere is many times the force of gravity.
Research is being conducted to
ensure that astronauts stay healthy before, during and after their mission.
Specifically researchers study astronauts’
vision, fine motor skills, fluid distribution, exercise protocols and response to
pharmaceuticals.
Exploration to the Moon and Mars will expose astronauts to five
known hazards of spaceflight, including gravity. To learn more, and find out
what NASA’s Human Research Program is doing to protect humans in
space, check out the “Hazards of Human Spaceflight" website.
Or, check out this week’s episode of “Houston
We Have a Podcast,” in which host Gary Jordan
further dives into the threat of gravity with Peter
Norsk,
Senior Research Director/ Element Scientist at
the Johnson Space Center.
Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com.
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