Re: Another problem with longer flights

"jacob navia" <jacob@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:497f2225$0$4066$ba4acef3@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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.


I've been advocating artificial gravity for many many years now, but it seems NASA is suffering from some sort of tunnel vision, convinced they can solve the ill effects of weightlessness by medicines and exercise.

That is why '2001 A Space Odyssey' is still one of my favorite movies, because both the space station and Discovery used artificial gravity systems, and it seems people in the 60's were far better informed than we are. Decades of research has come up naught, there *is no* way to combat the absence of gravity but to produce it artificially. The evolution of species on Earth has depended on gravity for billions of years. Why are we so ignorant to think that we can solve the adverse effects of weightlessness within a couple of decades? Why aren't we more pragmatic?





























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Relevant Pages

  • Re: Another problem with longer flights
    ... Astronauts that spend long months aboard the International Space Station ... A survey of 13 space station astronauts found that their bone strength ... in a trip of 2 years the strength ... This means that artificial gravity is a must for any trip that takes ...
    (sci.space.policy)
  • Re: Another problem with longer flights
    ... Astronauts that spend long months aboard the International Space Station ... A survey of 13 space station astronauts found that their bone strength ... in a trip of 2 years the strength ...
    (sci.space.policy)
  • Another problem with longer flights
    ... In any trip for humans beyond the moon ... 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. ...
    (sci.space.policy)