Hostile and Closed Environments, Hazards at Close Quarters

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.

A spacecraft is not only a home,

it’s also a machine. NASA understands that the ecosystem inside a vehicle plays

a big role in everyday astronaut life.

Important habitability factors

include temperature, pressure, lighting, noise, and quantity of space. It’s

essential that astronauts are getting the requisite food, sleep and exercise

needed to stay healthy and happy. The space environment introduces challenges

not faced on Earth.

Technology, as often is the case

with out-of-this-world exploration, comes to the rescue! Technology plays a big

role in creating a habitable home in a harsh environment and monitoring some of

the environmental conditions.

Astronauts are also asked to

provide feedback about their living environment, including physical impressions

and sensations so that the evolution of spacecraft can continue addressing the

needs of humans in space.

Exploration to the Moon and Mars will expose astronauts to five

known hazards of spaceflight, including hostile and closed environments, like

the closed environment of the vehicle itself. 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 hostile and closed environments with Brian

Crucian, NASA immunologist at the Johnson Space Center.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com.