[ad_1]
NEW YORK – Sending astronauts on Mars will be difficult, but a panel of experts examined in great detail how to make it work – from underground life to exercise, going through Bread making on the red planet – during an in-depth and imaginative conversation this year World Science Festival.
The road to the main subject here for the May 29 event "We'll be Martians" included a morning pit stop to discuss the moon. In particular, the panel described how a lunar return project with crew as Artemis, recently proposed by NASA, could support a human mission on Mars.
The journalist Lynn Sherr, who wrote the book "Sally Ride: the first woman in America in space"(Simon & Schuster, 2015) posed a series of optimistic and refreshing questions throughout the night.
Related: Watch the clouds on Mars slide in this video Rover Curiosity
Michelle Rucker, Yvonne Cagle and Kim Binsted on stage at the "We'll be Martians" event, held May 29, 2019 at the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts of New York University.
(Image: © World Science Festival / Greg Kessler)
Sherr interviewed Michelle Rucker, NASA engineer, about the basics, as NASA's decision on when to launch.
Sending a spaceship to Mars is like sending a football back to a person, Rucker said, in the sense that a person should not aim where the receiver is now, but rather aim for where it will be. in the future. This last situation is an optimal alignment, said Rucker, pointing out that at this point you are anticipating a future position and that you are not going to start when the Earth and Mars are getting closer. (During the best alignment, a spaceship could travel from Earth to Mars in about nine months, according to the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.)
To answer Sherr's question about what humans will carry with them, the group of experts said the Red Planet crews would take a lot of water. Rucker said that the Curiosity Rover is the biggest object that humans have landed successfully on Mars, and a human mission could weigh up to 20 times more than the robot. Water would not only contribute to human life, but could also block radiation, panelists said.
Radiation is an important factor astronaut Yvonne Cagle, the astronaut, pointed out. For trips that could last six months, a water barrier could protect a crew from these harmful waves, said Cagle; water could be pumped around the sleeping area of a spacecraft heading to Mars to reduce exposure.
Kelly watches from the Space Station's dome during her 340-day space mission. There he is accustomed to documenting the wonders of the Earth's surface.
(Image: © Scott Kelly / NASA)
Cagle also discussed the Study of NASA twins, in which astronaut Scott Kelly lived for almost a year in space, while his identical twin, astronaut Mark Kelly, remained on Earth as an experimental control. The purpose of the study was to see how microgravity, the weightlessness experienced by astronauts in low Earth orbit, affects the human body during a long-duration space flight.
The study provided information on the vulnerability of the human body in space. An idea proposed by Cagle to strengthen immunity implies stem cells, which could possibly be harvested by astronauts and then replanted in the original bodies of astronauts, said Cagle. This would help combat some of the damage that the body would suffer in space. Cagle, who is also a physician, added that those who plan a long-term space flight will have to consider procedures to repair gravity injuries. Instruments capable of containing blood would be important because liquids would float.
It's not just physical health that needs attention and repair. Mental health is also important and could deteriorate due to sleep deprivation or lack of creative activities and physical exercise. Cagle said that restoration and refreshment activities, such as movement, photography, music, and art, would be essential.
This global view of Mars consists of about a hundred images.
(Image: © NASA / JPL-Caltech)
Astronauts en route to Mars should also balance their interpersonal relationships to improve their mental health. To do this, mission planners will need to facilitate periodic communication between astronauts and their loved ones on Earth and select compatible individuals for a long-duration crew.
A person who is part of the party, according to the panelists, could be great at first, but would also need to know when to give others a personal space. Missions could provide valuable support to their personal time and mental exercises by installing separate modules on the spacecraft so that crew members can travel to different locations.
These mental health issues are not just about travel per se. The inhospitable conditions of Mars, with a thin atmosphere offering little thermal insulation or radiation protection, are forcing the visiting crew to live in confined environments.
Living behind pens could also affect the psyche: Ellen Stofan, a geologist on the planet, said the astronauts, when asked what they expected most during their stay at the International Space Station, said they did not feel the wind and the smell of rain.
Related: "Infinite Wonder": Photos of the year in Scott Kelly's space mission
These sealed environments are nevertheless essential to any attempt at human exploration of the red planet. Panelists said NASA needed to understand dust storms and planetary seasons that could erode the walls or doors of a human habitat.
And, even if penetrating underground could protect humans from dangerous radiation, it would require artificial lighting, which could lead to depression.
We must also keep in mind the microscopic multitudes. The trillions of bacteria, viruses, and fungi that inhabit almost every part of the human body, also known as human microbiome, could change in space as it responds to a new environment, which would affect the resilience of the crew. Mars missions should also adhere to planetary protection guidelines; every mission that goes into another world must be free of terrestrial microbes that may contaminate another celestial body.
Panelists also briefly discussed cooking on Mars. Space scientist Kim Binsted noted that a sack of flour constituted a longer-term food source than a sealed meal. And although cooking on Mars presents its challenges – because, for example, there is less seriousness – finding a way to send ingredients rather than meals at a time could increase the food supply of a mission or reduce the weight of a spaceship.
"So, are we going to make our own bread on Mars?" Sherr asked.
"That's what I say!" replied Binsted.
Follow Doris Elin Salazar on Twitter @salazar_elin. follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
[ad_2]
Source link