Posted on 11/18/2019 1:24:56 PM PST by BenLurkin
They took as their reference an existing mission study to send six humans to Mars and back in a five year timescale.
The study found the spacecraft mass could be reduced by a third by removing the crew quarters with a similar reduction in consumables, equivalent to several tons of saved mass. Hibernation would take place in small individual pods that would double as cabins while the crew are awake.
The assumption was that a drug would be administered to induce "torpor"the term for the hibernating state. Like hibernating animals, the astronauts would be expected to acquire extra body fat in advance of torpor. Their soft-shell pods would be darkened and their temperature greatly reduced to cool their occupants during their projected 180-day Earth-Mars cruise.
Radiation exposure from high-energy particles is a key hazard of deep space travel, but because the hibernating crew will be spending so much time in their hibernation pods, then shieldingsuch as water containerscould be concentrated around them. And existing research into hibernation shows it gives enhanced radiation protection in its own right.
"For a while now hibernation has been proposed as a game-changing tool for human space travel," explains SciSpacE Team Leader Jennifer Ngo-Anh. "If we were able to reduce an astronaut's basic metabolic rate by 75% similar to what we can observe in nature with large hibernating animals such as certain bearswe could end up with substantial mass and cost savings, making long-duration exploration missions more feasible.
"And the basic idea of putting astronauts into long-duration hibernation is actually not so crazy: a broadly comparable method has been tested and applied as therapy in critical care trauma patients and those due to undergo major surgeries for more than two decades."
(Excerpt) Read more at phys.org ...
Free vacations to Venus for the worthy folks! Or Mars, even.
The Marching Morons by C. M. Kornbluth
Free Ebook
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/51233
Lol. Plus it kills germs too.
extra body fat or bust!
you gonna need a few sets of garments or will the outfits be one size fits all?
I remember Donovan had a song decades ago called “Intergalactic Laxative.” One line went “If sh_tting is your problem when you’re out there in the stars, the Intergalactic Laxative will get you from here to Mars.”
Who knew he was prophetic?
Wherever man has conquered, on his quest for frontiers view
Im glad hes always had to do, the numbers 1 & 2
It makes it oh so ordinary
Just like you and me
To know the greatest heroes, they had to sh_t and pee.
Thats from my memory banks, no searching at all.
I don’t think ‘medically induced coma’ tech is ready for year-long use.
But, yes, it’s a good idea.
Since weight is such a big factor, why not dwarves for astronauts?
“What about human body waste? Since its, or can be, toxic, wouldnt that pose a problem to the traveling people? Just wondering.”
From what I know, bears don’t get up and take a dump when they’re hibernating (that’s mostly due to not eating - trying fasting for a week and you also won’t be going #2). They likely also don’t use their other plumbing, as they can just breath out moisture.
But it will be INTERESTING when humans try it on earth, it’s almost like time travel in that they will barely age, but everyone around them will be a year older. Actually not a bad concept for people who are much older than their grandkids and prefer to see them after they grow up a bit.
“As long as someone doesn’t wake up and eat all the food.”
Well Skunk Cabbage did say that she always wanted to be an astronaut when she was growing up, and I guess this would be an approximate representation of her on Mars, considering the tent she now wears to political events.
“How about some additive to water that prevents is from expanding when it freezes.”
Hibernation gets you mostly there, and, for sure, with a much shorter wake-up time.
The question is whether humans can actually hibernate - doing that is not child’s play.
We could send Tyrion!
Yeah, I remember the reprint of that tall tale in "Old Farmer's Almanac" -- the fact is, humans have never been shown to be able to hibernate. So, forget it. :^) Thanks fieldmarshaldj.
May not be possible due to lack of magnetic field, which protects our planet from the solar winds. Dwellings would likely have to be enclosed in protective bubbles.
True terraforming consists of creating and retaining an atmosphere with sufficient oxygen to sustain Earthly life, a lack of harmful amounts of other atmospheric gases (Mars' atmosphere is predominantly CO2) and a hydrologic cycle (That's water to you folks in Rio Linda). Earth's magnetic field prevents the oxygen and water from cooking off into space, as apparently happened on Mars.
Test it on prisoner volunteers who are slated for execution. If they die, they were gonna die anyway; if they live commute the sentence to life in prison.
those due to undergo major surgeries for more than two decades.”
Must have been at the VA, although that does seem excessive.
Why don’t we spend the money on earth to explore and solve problems?
Forget those "pods"... We just have to survive Apophis twice, Islam, communism, and then be patient for a couple more centuries...
“Test it on prisoner volunteers who are slated for execution. If they die, they were gonna die anyway; if they live commute the sentence to life in prison.”
Now if we were only serious about executions. But, otherwise, not a bad plan!
At the risk of being ‘nitpicky’, ALL money spent on space research is spent on Earth.
Light atoms are what does the trick, such as hydrogen. Beryllium works well if you need a more solid material. Polyethelene (C2H4) is also good.
The airline business is taking note on how to squash more passengers in.
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