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Space is a hostile place. We may have developed the technology to launch astronauts into orbit and bring them home safely, but scientists are still figuring out how space travel affects human health, especially in the long term. .
This is essential before any planned mission to Mars continues, to ensure the health and safety of astronauts aboard these memorable flights.
We already know from astronaut studies – perhaps the most famous, the NASA Twins Study featuring identical twins Scott and Mark Kelly – that extended space-time affects blood flow to the brain, alters the gut microbiome, increases inflammation, and causes blurred vision, brittle bones, and muscle wasting.
Studies on mice simulating space flight have also suggested that heading into space ages the immune system and damages the brain.
Today, as part of a huge collective effort, scientists have published a giant trove of nearly 30 papers on the health risks associated with space travel.
The collection represents the largest space biology dataset ever produced and includes heavy analysis of observations of space flies, worms, mice and, of course, astronauts.
Some of the findings reaffirm what we knew about space-related health issues, while other studies provide new insight, clarify previous findings, or find ways to improve future experiences.
“Although significant progress has been made over the past decade in understanding [the] sanitary risks [of space travel], more research is needed to enable a safer exploration of human space beyond [low Earth orbit], including lunar missions, to Mars and deep space, ”the researchers write in a comprehensive review article that presents the collection.
The health hazards of space travel begin with the G-forces felt by astronauts on take-off, and continue with exposure to dangerous space radiation and microgravity in space.
On the treacherous journey to Mars, for example, astronauts will go far beyond Earth’s protective magnetosphere and be exposed to cosmic radiation for the significant amount of time it will take them to venture into our planet’s neighbor on the planet. closer and come back.
For astronauts hovering in low gravity aboard the International Space Station (ISS), the longest stay of all astronauts is currently 437 days. Obviously, we still have a long way to go to truly appreciate the health risks of long-range spaceflight, and scientists just need to work with the data we have.
Many studies published in this collection have aggregated or re-analyzed data from previous experiments made available to researchers through open-access data portals such as NASA’s GeneLab platform.
Combining data like this is a way to strengthen the resulting analyzes (often researchers are looking to see if what was found in one dataset is true in another) and to maximize the data collected from spaceflight. expensive.
“A collective analysis of several human models and studies can lead to a more complete understanding of the physiological and human health impacts of the space environment,” the researchers write, explaining their approach.
One study, for example, analyzed data from nearly 60 astronauts and hundreds of GeneLab samples to look for a universal mechanism connecting the widespread health changes that have been observed in different genes, cells, tissues, body systems, organs and muscles.
Overall, the study showed “systemic changes” in the function of the mitochondria – which are the powerhouses inside our cells, converting oxygen and nutrients into energy.
“What we’ve found time and time again is that something is going on with the regulation of mitochondria that is disturbing everything,” said Afshin Beheshti, a bioinformatician at NASA’s Ames Research Center.
This could explain the observed disturbances in the immune system and circadian rhythms of astronauts, the authors write.
Another study compared data from the Kelly twins with 11 independent astronauts who spent about six months on the ISS, looking specifically at their telomeres. These are the protective caps at the ends of our chromosomes, which usually erode with age.
Unexpectedly, the researchers found that some of the astronauts’ telomeres were longer during their space flight, but the group generally had shorter telomeres after they returned than before their flight.
“Going forward, our goal is to get a better idea of the underlying mechanisms, what happens during long duration spaceflight in the human body and how it varies from person to person. ‘other,’ said Susan Bailey, an expert in telomere biology in Colorado. State University. “Not everyone responds the same.”
There were also some interesting results from a study that reanalyzed data from the NASA Twins Study. He suggested that the spike in inflammatory molecules seen in Scott Kelly’s blood upon his return to Earth (after 340 days on the ISS) could be a marker of muscle regeneration rather than an immune response.
These studies are obviously limited by the very small number of astronauts and animals we can send into space – that’s where worms and flies come in. Using these creatures is an easy way. to step up space flight experiences, so they figure in articles, too.
A study of roundworms on the ISS revealed subtle changes in around 1,000 genes, especially those related to nerve cell function, while another study, this time with flies, suggested that a long stay in microgravity reduces the strength of their beating hearts.
Overall, this collection of articles – the work of some 200 researchers from NASA and other government agencies, universities, and aerospace industry groups – represents a strong contribution to our understanding of the health risks of lagging behind. in the space.
The full list of published articles has been compiled in the journal Cell.
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