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Nasa scientists have discovered that swimming goggles can keep astronauts' eyes safe during space missions because they help to build up fluid pressure inside the eye. Up to 75 percent of astronauts who have gone to school in the past year, their vision has been reduced to one year, according to a published study in JAMA Opthalmology. Doctors discovered that these astronauts developed intraocular pressure (IOP), causing white spots on the retina and the swelling of the optic nerve. Dr. Jessica Scott, of the Universities Space Research Association, Houston, said: "Swimming goggles firmly compress the skin around the eye."
"These findings suggest modestly increased intraocular pressure with swimming goggles could be used to mitigate spaceflight-associated neuro-ocular syndrome.
"The addition of swimming goggles was associated with modestly increased pressure, which could reduce some of the adverse effects on the eye of long-duration spaceflights."
The study was based around 20 men at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, where ten were instructed to wear swimming goggles while the other 10 did not.
Over the course of three days, they underwent exercises to stimulate how astronauts would move in space.
The study also found that regular exercise could help reduce pressure on the eyes.
NASA hopes to continue plans to put astronauts on Mars over the next 15 years.
US President Donald Trump has spearheaded plans to increase America's dominance in space.
In February, Mr Trump signed Space Policy Directive-4 (SPD-4), directing the Pentagon to establish the Space Force – a sixth branch of the United States military.
Laura Grego, a senior scientist in the Union of Concerned Scientists' Global Security Program, said in a statement: "President Trump has called space a new warfighting domain.
"Space is important to militaries, that's true, but it's only a small part of what happens up there.
"Eighty percent of the nearly 2,000 satellites are civilian, providing critical communications and economic services for humanity's well-being.
"We need to take care of space. If it concentrates on building space, it would be a profoundly bad idea. "
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