SHRINKAGE!
Posted on 06/09/2004 7:37:05 PM PDT by KevinDavis
A Russian scientist says manned Martian flights could render a male astronaut sterile, shrink his musculature and weaken his bones
(Excerpt) Read more at spacedaily.com ...
You bet, I've had my heart beating so fast, it almost beat a hole in the windshield.
Space is possibly the harshest environment there is for living things, especially for more complex vertibrates such as primates. It requires a lot of genetic information to make a petunia, and at least an order of magnitude more to make a human being.
The hard radiation in which the universe is awash cuts through DNA strands like a hot knife through warm butter, causing cancers, sterility, and the potential for offspring to bear serious mutations.
But problems with radiation and the harmful effects of long periods spent in micro-gravity can be overcome with creativity and engineering.
The radiation problem can be beaten with magnetic plasma shielding. (VERY cool technology) Also, building the ship with a double-hull and filling the gap with water would help to shield the crew.
As far as the loss of bone and muscle tissue, that can be easily dealt with. Just put a spin on the habitat module and that will generate artificial gravity in the form of centrifugal force.
The real problem lies in finding a method of propulsion that would minimize the time spent in interplanetary transit. Our present chemical rockets' specific impulse just doesn't have the long-lasting punch we need. Also, ion propulsion can run for extraordinarily long periods of time, but acceleration is too weak for any manned mission. It's going to have to be some form of nuclear power - fission, fusion, or some combination thereof.
Maybe for interplanetary expeditions, but for interstellar travel, rockets won't cut it.
Indeed. Interstellar travel could rely on rockets - if powered by the raw fury of a matter-antimatter reaction.
Not if you go fast enough. Some researchers in Israel found that americium-242m was about 100 times more powerful than plutonium and could get a rocket to Mars in two weeks.
SHRINKAGE!
I don't know about the sterility bit, but the decalcification of the bones and atrophy of the skeletal muscles are known factors, which NASA has been struggling for decades to address without much success.
Re: "A Russian scientist says manned Martian flights could render a male astronaut sterile, shrink his musculature and weaken his bones"
Gad! They said that about going to Discos back in the 70s! Luckily, I didn't listen...
I will pay for a ticket for Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-Tex).
I wouldn't care about the sterilization risks. I would be willing to go.
I can see it now as I step off the ship onto the martian soil. My first words would be:
"I Chewbacca, do hearby declare myself Emporer of Mars and claim all the land as mine!"
Very good -- and thanks for the ping. However, I wonder why you pinged me to this...not that I'm complaining. :)
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