But the floating freedom offered by the lack of gravity also presents a number of limitations when it comes to the human body and mind.
Short voyages to space from the early missions of Mercury and Apollo became a stay of six months or more aboard the International Space Station. The floating laboratory served as an ideal backdrop for scientists trying to understand what really happens to every aspect of the human body in space – radiation, lack of gravity and everything else.
Many of these effects have been well documented over time, especially during the 2019 Twin Survey, which compares the changes Scott Kelly experienced nearly a year into space with those of his twin brother Mark, who remained on Earth. .
Christopher Mason of Weill Cornell Medicine is partnering with NASA in this study, and he and Scott Kelly spoke about these findings at the Life Itself conference in 2022, a health and wellness event presented in partnership with CNN.
“What was the thing you missed most about Earth when you were away for a year?” Mason Kelly asked.
“The weather, of course. The rain, the sun, the wind,” Kelly said. “And then I miss people … who are important to you, you know, your family, your friends.”
As NASA plans to bring humans back to the moon and eventually land on Mars through the Artemis program, there is growing interest in understanding the effects that can be caused by long voyages through deep space.
A big question some scientists have asked is whether people are mentally and emotionally prepared for such a big leap. In short: how will we cope?
Disclosure study
A study from 2021 shows that participants live for nearly two months in simulated weightlessness, resting in a special bed with their heads tilted down at an angle of 6 degrees. Tilting creates a movement of body fluids in a direction that astronauts experience in the absence of gravity.
Participants were regularly asked to complete cognitive tests designed for astronauts related to memory, risk-taking, emotion recognition, and spatial orientation.
The researchers wanted to test whether testing artificial gravity for 30 minutes a day, once or in five-minute attacks could prevent adverse effects. While participants in the study suffered an initial cognitive decline in their tests, it leveled off and did not last for 60 days.
But the speed with which they recognize emotions is deteriorating overall. During tests, they are more likely to see facial expressions as angry than happy or neutral.
“Astronauts on long space missions, much like our study participants, will spend a long time in microgravity, confined to a small space with several other astronauts,” said study author Matthias Basner, a professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman. School of Medicine.
“Astronauts’ ability to” read “each other’s emotional expressions will be paramount to effective teamwork and mission success. Our findings show that their ability to do so may be impaired over time.”
It was not clear in the study whether this damage was due to the simulated lack of gravity or the retention and isolation that participants experienced for 60 days.
A separate study from 2021, published in Acta Astronautica, developed a mental health checklist based on the stressors astronauts face – which are also shared by those who spend months in research stations in Antarctica.
These two extreme environments – space and the edge of the world – create a lack of solitude, altered light and dark cycles, isolation, isolation, monotony and prolonged separation from family and friends.
University of Houston psychology professor Candice Alfano and her team have developed a checklist as a self-reporting method for tracking these changes in mental health. The biggest change reported by the people at the two stations in Antarctica is the decline in positive emotions from the beginning to the end of their nine-month stay without a “return” effect, even as they prepare to return home.
Participants also used less effective strategies to stimulate positive emotions.
“Interventions and countermeasures aimed at increasing positive emotions can be crucial in reducing psychological risk in extreme conditions,” Alfano said.
Protect researchers away from home
Helping astronauts maintain their mental acuity and well-being as they move away from home is a key goal of NASA’s human research program. In the past, the program has developed countermeasures to help astronauts fight muscle and bone loss, such as daily training on the space station.
Researchers are actively exploring the idea of how meaningful work can unite mission crews. When astronauts work as a team, whether on a space station or in a simulated environment on Mars on Earth, their collaboration is toward a common goal.
And when the job is done, they can spend time together watching movies or enjoying leisure activities to combat the feeling of isolation.
However, a mission to Mars, which can take months or years depending on the design of the spacecraft, can lead to a sense of monotony and isolation. And frequent contact with the control of the mission and the relatives of the Earth will become more disturbed when they move away from the Earth.
“We need to make sure we have individualized types of protocols and things that the crew needs to do,” said Alexandra Whitmeyer, an elemental scientist in the Human Research Program, in an interview with CNN in 2021. “It’s really important to us.” to understand those people who will be on this mission. ”
While some crew members may enjoy the excitement and satisfaction of working on scientific experiments, others may need to engage in other tasks. Previous research has already identified key features that may be needed by deep space researchers, such as self-reliance and problem solving.
A surprising discovery of the space station is how food – and the cultivation of crops – contribute to better crew morale, while maintaining an extremely important tangible connection with the home.
Not surprisingly, space food must be a safe, stable supply of nutrients and still taste good. But the active cultivation of vegetables was a useful and tasty experience for the previous crews of the space station. Astronauts report how satisfying it was to care for leafy green plants, radishes and hot peppers and watch the plants thrive, ultimately giving an edible reward.
Researchers from the Human Research Program have questioned whether this sense of satisfaction can be taken a step forward. When astronauts like Scott Kelly or Christina Koch returned to Earth after long spaceflights, they said they couldn’t wait to experience rain or ocean waves again.
Image targeting and virtual reality capabilities may be a necessary part of deep space flight in the future to remind astronauts of their sensory connection to blue marble, even when it is out of sight.
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