#humanspaceflighthealth — Public Fediverse posts

"The point of returning #astronauts 🧑‍🚀 to the moon 🌙 is to better understand the vehicles and systems it takes to support human life and navigate such a harsh environment" ☢️. #Orion’s heat shield 🔥🛡️ will also be put to the ultimate test https://edition.cnn.com/2025/12/31/science/artemis-2-astronauts-moon-mission-overview

#Artemis #LabRats #HumanSpaceflightHealth #RadiationProtection

The risks with #SpaceRadiation ☢️ are assigned the highest priority among all risks associated with #SpaceTravel. Active shielding 🛡️ methods, which use #electromagnetic fields to deflect charged particles, can make #DeepSpace 🌌 travel safer and more feasible. Placing the passive shielding before the active shielding is more effective than placing the identical active shielding before the passive shielding of the same thickness https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214552423000391

#HumanSpaceflightHealth #RadiationProtection

#Graphene-based nanocomposites can serve as potential #radiation ☢️ shields against ionizing radiation in the gamma and X-ray ranges, boasting a mass attenuation coefficient exceeding 0.2 cm2/g https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-69628-5

#RadiationProtection #HumanSpaceflightHealth

Increasing evidence shows that the lack of gravity and exposure to the sun’s radiation ☢️ in space can accelerate aging in human stem cells and promote their transformation into cancer cells. But understanding this process could also teach us how to treat ⚕️ #cancer and #aging on Earth. https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/future-drug-discovery-may-be-space-uc-san-diegos-new-astrobiotechnology-hub-set-explore-it

#HumanSpaceflightHealth #MedicalEngineering

📆 1989 Had you been flying around the #Moon 🌙 at that time, you would have absorbed well over 6 Sieverts of radiation ☢️ - a dose that would most likely kill 💀 you within a month or so.

📆 2024 “It wasn’t possible 10 years ago. Using grid-like, porous structures we not only brought the weight down, but we also brought the needed power down from megawatts to 100 watts. Such shields 🛡️ are not #ScienceFiction anymore” https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/03/shields-up-new-ideas-might-make-active-shielding-viable

#HumanSpaceflightHealth #RadiationProtection

Traditional shielding strategies aim to reduce #astronaut radiation ☢️ exposure by increasing vehicle mass, but this is ineffective for the extremely penetrating #galactic cosmic rays. #Astronauts will face radiation hazards resulting from solar ☀️ activity that can create solar energetic particles. Active shielding 🛡️ approaches are likely a required component of any realistic solution (#electrostatic shielding) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0969806X22000494

#HumanSpaceflightHealth #RadiationProtection #SpaceWeather

#Radiation ☢️ shielding is a mandatory element in the design of an integrated solution to mitigate the effects of radiation during long #DeepSpace voyages for human exploration. #Kevlar has radiation shielding 🛡️ performances comparable to Polyethylene, reaching a dose rate reduction of 32 ± 2% and a dose equivalent rate reduction of 55 ± 4% (for a shield of 10 g/cm2). https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-01707-2

#HumanSpaceflightHealth #RadiationProtection

Despite guidelines and the past 30 years of research, there has been little progress on fully defining or mitigating the space radiation ☢️ risk to human crew. Schwadron et al. project that Galactic Cosmic Ray fluences will be substantially higher 📈 during the next solar cycles leading to increased background #radiation exposure and, subsequently, as much as a 20% decrease in the allowable safe days in space (outside of #LEO) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41526-018-0043-2

#HumanSpaceflightHealth #RadiationProtection

#ESA is contributing three key elements to the #Gateway: Lunar #IHab*, #LunarView and #LunarLink. Together, these provide a habitable space for astronauts 👨‍🚀, refuelling, storage and telecommunication capabilities, and windows to view space 🌌 and the Moon 🌙. https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Exploration/Gateway

* Habitable volume: 10 m3, Launch mass: 10 tonnes https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Gateway_Lunar_I-Hab

#HumanSpaceflightHealth #RadiationProtection #Artemis #LunarGateway

#NASA #Orion #radiation protection plan 🗒️ "astronauts will position themselves in the central part of the crew module and #create a #shelter using the stowage bags 🛍️ on board. The crew would in some cases need to stay inside for as long as 24 hours ⌛ https://www.nasa.gov/missions/artemis/orion/scientists-and-engineers-evaluate-orion-radiation-protection-plan/

#HumanSpaceflightHealth #RadiationProtection #Artemis #LunarGateway

"How #NASA will protect #astronauts from #SpaceRadiation". Spoiler alert : #luggage 🧳 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpNa4u997xA

#HumanSpaceflightHealth #RadiationProtection #Artemis #LunarGateway

The fatality rate of people traveling in space is about 3%. That sounds low, but it's higher than extreme sports. Since 📆 1930, improvements in technology 🔧 and safety features have lowered the number of fatal 💀 accidents in the #aviation industry per million miles flown by a factor of 3,000 〽️ https://phys.org/news/2024-09-space-spacex-polaris-dawn-mission.html

#HumanSpaceflightHealth #SpaceTourism

A surprising 😲 #geomagnetic storm hit and disturbed Earth’s geomagnetic field early today. A G2 (moderate) geomagnetic storm level was observed and a G1 (minor) storming was ongoing at the time of this writing. It seems the expected glancing blow from a #CME that left the sun ☀️ on August 23 was a stronger hit. https://earthsky.org/sun/sun-news-activity-solar-flare-cme-aurora-updates/

#SpaceWeather #RadiationProtection #HumanSpaceflightHealth

The #ISS isolated strains were mutated and became genetically and functionally distinct compared to their #Earth counterparts. The strains were able to viably persist in the ISS over time with a significant abundance. E. bugandensis coexisted with multiple other #microorganisms 🦠, and in some cases could have helped those organisms survive. https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/ames/ames-science/ames-space-biosciences/multi-drug-resistant-bacteria-found-on-iss-mutating-to-become-functionally-distinct/

#NASA #HumanSpaceflightHealth

The team found that 91 per cent 📊 of genes were affected, with many switching on and off at the wrong time of day. “#SpaceTravel was once thought to be unachievable; however, the growth of the #SpaceIndustry means it is now a real possibility. In addition, new plans are in place for #UK 🇬🇧 #astronauts 👨‍🚀 going to the #ISS in 📆 2025 via the UK #SpaceAgency #Axiom programme.” https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/03/18/jetlag-astronauts-travel-space-lag/

#SpaceTourism #HumanSpaceflightHealth

National Library of Medicine ⚕️ "As the scope of human #spaceflight expands, the risk ☣️ to space #travelers expands as well" https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10485075/

#SpaceTourism
#HumanSpaceflightHealth

#SpaceStations will be occupied by civilians as #tourists and employees. A “learning period” gives the industry considerable leeway to #experiment with humans 👨‍🚀. We need health ⚕️ #research now to protect future civilians in #space 🌌 https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/health-research-is-needed-now-before-sending-civilians-to-space/

#SpaceTourism #HumanSpaceflightHealth

📆 Jan 30, 2024 The first #surgical #robot 🤖 on the #ISS and one of the first times #RemoteSurgery tasks are tested in #space 🌌 in an experiment to take place in coming weeks https://engineering.unl.edu/news/240130/mira_farritor_launch/

#spaceMIRA #SpaceRobot #HumanSpaceflightHealth

On #Earth, 2.4 mSv is normal. Above 100 mSv, cancer is likely. People on the #ISS face levels of 200 mSv, and #interplanetary levels of #radiation ☢️ are around 600 mSv. Researchers speculate that travel to #Mars 🔴 could involve a 30% risk of #cancer.
#Metals, including #lead and #aluminum, would make poor shields 🛡️ in #DeepSpace https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/308764

#RadiationProtection
#HumanSpaceflightHealth

🇳🇬 #Nigeria 📆 August 2023 Technical Infrastructure for a Self-Sufficient and Sustainable #Intergalactic Hub 👨‍🎓 master's thesis. The importance of #robots 🤖, a completely closed-loop #recycling ♻️ system, and novel #RadiationShielding ☢️🛡️ https://phys.org/news/2023-11-space-station-sunearth-l2.html

#SpaceStation #RadiationProtection #HumanSpaceflightHealth

National Library of #Medicine ⚕️ : In case of #SPE ☀️ occurrence for Intra-Vehicular Activities (IVA) outside a #RadiationShelter, dose reductions to BFO in the range of 44-57% 📉 are demonstrated to be achievable with the #spacesuit designs made only of water 💦 elements, or of multi-layer protection elements (with a thin layer of a high density material covering the water filled volume) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29198316/

#wearable #RadiationProtection #spacesuit #HumanSpaceflightHealth

📆 Oct 4, 2019 “We don’t have a clue 🙈🙉🙊 about #radiation ☢️. The way #NASA handles a lot of the radiation work has been a lot of predictions 🔮. I think that we’re grossly underestimating the effects.”

In reality, some kind of radiation shielding 🛡️ will be needed https://www.theverge.com/2019/10/4/20895056/elon-musk-starship-spacex-human-health-life-support-radiation

#RadiationProtection #HumanSpaceflightHealth

Geophysical Research Letters 📆 02 August 2023 On 📆 28 October 2021, #solar ☀️ eruptions were observed by #spacecraft 🛰️ around #Earth, #Moon, and #Mars, which caused #solar energetic particle ☢️ ground level enhancement (#GLE) on the surface of three #planetary 🪐 bodies. #SEP events can induce much higher (∼100 times) #radiation ☢️ doses on the Moon 🌙 than on Mars 🔴 https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2023GL103069

#HumanSpaceflightHealth #RadiationProtection

Picture : Dosimeter measuring radiation https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dosimeter_measuring_radiation_in_the_Chernobyl_Exclusion_Zone.jpg

Reaching #orbit means accelerating up to around 28,000kph (22 times the speed of sound). A five-gram #bolt 🔩 hitting at #OrbitalSpeed packs as much #energy 💥 as a 200kg weight dropped from the top of an 18-storey building. The typical #radiation ☢️ dose from one day in #space is equivalent to what you’d receive over an entire year back on #Earth https://www.sciencefocus.com/space/space-travel-exploration

#SpaceTravel #HumanSpaceflightHealth #HumanSpaceflightSecurity

📆 January 2, 2020 Active #astronaut 👨‍🚀 surveillance and experimental models are critical to the development of prevention and management strategies for venous #thromboembolism 🩸 in #weightlessness, especially with future plans for prolonged #SpaceTravel to the #Moon 🌙 and #Mars 🔴 https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc1905875

#HumanSpaceflightHealth

"From a #scientific perspective, we have lots of data at one g, where we have billions of data points of how the human body works in this environment. And we have a decent amount of data points at zero g based largely from the #ISS experience. But we have nothing in between one and zero." There would also be other benefits to having a modest amount of #gravity, he said. "It would be nice, sometimes, to be able to pour yourself a cup of #coffee ☕ " https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/07/former-astronaut-says-its-extremely-important-to-study-artificial-gravity

#HumanSpaceflightHealth

Gene expression was at about one third the normal levels while in #space, the study found. This occurred within the first few days in space, but then remained at a stable level.
Other documented effects of #SpaceTravel include #bone 🦴 and #muscle 💪 atrophy, #cardiovascular changes, issues with the balance system in the inner ear and a syndrome involving the #eyes 👁️. Cancer risk from greater #radiation exposure is another concern. https://www.reuters.com/technology/space/study-reveals-how-immune-system-astronauts-breaks-down-2023-06-22/

#HumanSpaceflightHealth

#Reuters 📆 June 8, 2023 #Astronauts 👩‍🚀 who traveled on the #ISS or #NASA #SpaceShuttles on missions lasting at least six months experienced significant #expansion of the cerebral ventricles - spaces 🕳️ in the middle of the brain containing cerebrospinal fluid. It took three years ⏳ for the ventricles to fully recover after such journeys https://www.reuters.com/science/scientists-document-how-space-travel-messes-with-human-brain-2023-06-08/

#HumanSpaceflightHealth

Picture : https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Human_ventricular_system_-_animation.gif

“There’re a lot of hazards we don’t know about. In #LEO, we are protected by our #magnetosphere from #SpaceRadiation. If we go outside of that, all of the sudden we have #galactic #CosmicRays ☢️ we have to deal with, we have a lot of #SolarParticles we have to deal with and we also have variable #gravity”. Even a short flight beyond #ISS altitude impacts various aspects of human physiology and #microbiome 🦠 composition. https://asm.org/Articles/2022/October/Out-of-This-World-Microbes-in-Space

#HumanSpaceflightHealth