Another problem with longer flights
- From: jacob navia <jacob@xxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2009 16:02:51 +0100
In any trip for humans beyond the moon (mars and beyond)
artificial gravity is a necessity.
Space.com reports:
[1]
<quote>
Astronauts that spend long months aboard the International Space Station lose bone strength faster than previously thought and have a higher risk of breaking their hips later in life, a new study reports.
A survey of 13 space station astronauts found that their bone strength dipped by at least 14 percent on the average during their half-year stays aboard the orbiting laboratory.
Three of the astronauts lost up to 30 percent of their bone strength during their long-duration spaceflights, putting them on par with the bone strength of older women with osteoporosis on Earth, the study reported.
<end quote>
If in only 6 months trips they lose 14% of their bone strength,
in a trip of 2 years (the minimum time for a Mars trip) the strength
of their bones would disminish in such a measure that it would be a one
way trip only. They could not resist earth gravity when they come back.
This means that artificial gravity is a must for any trip that takes
more than 2-3 months. Note that the risk of breaking their bones much
later in life increases since apparently is very difficult to get
the lost strength back.
This is another big problem with humans in space and with human
spaceflight.
[1] http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/090126-astronauts-bone-strength-loss.html
--
jacob navia
jacob at jacob point remcomp point fr
logiciels/informatique
http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~lcc-win32
.
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