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Living in Space & Space Tourism

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Orbital Space Settlement. Colonies (inc. Mars) & Space Stations. S Web of Life. Race to Mars : Known effects of long-term space flights on the human body. Known effects of long-term space flights on the human body Although space travel looks easy on TV and in the movies, in reality it causes both short term and long term health problems for a spacecraft's most delicate cargo: its crew.

Race to Mars : Known effects of long-term space flights on the human body

On Earth, gravity is a force our bodies have to work against, which keeps our cells, bones and muscles strong. Remove the force of gravity from the equation and over the duration of a long-term micro-gravity space flight, human bodies undergo dramatic changes. That's why some experts feel artificial gravity will be necessary for the crew whenever possible during the Mars mission. Artificial gravity at even partial Earth-normal would help reduce the severity of some of the space-related health problems, and helps ensure the crew will arrive on Mars fit enough to carry out their duties there.

Short term: Spinning Brains. One day, astronauts might travel through the solar system onboard spinning spaceships.

Spinning Brains

Can human brains adapt? Next time you go to a playground, try this: Bring along a ball and a friend, and get on the merry-go-round. Try throwing the ball to your friend across the ride from you, or even just a few feet beside you, and see if they can catch it on the first attempt. They won't be able to, guaranteed. In fact, your throw will be way off. Physicists call this the "Coriolis effect," and it happens on any spinning platform. Space Future - Introduction - Living in Space. Some astronauts have complained about being in zero G because it makes their work difficult.

Space Future - Introduction - Living in Space

Objects like screwdrivers and screws don't stay still but float around. You can't use your body's weight to hold things down - you have to brace yourself against something rigid, and so on. It would be easier to do their experiments on the ground. Short stays But most of us will be staying in space for a holiday, not working, and for that zero G is fun. Living in space for longer periods like a few months or permanently, is more complex, as you have to take precautions against the long-term effects of zero-G and cosmic rays. The fact is that anyone can live in space for a few weeks without any problems, without any ill effects, and in doing so they will have endless opportunity to enjoy the pleasures of zero G. Keeping fit. Foale Breaks U.S. Space Flight Record. Foale Breaks U.S.

Foale Breaks U.S. Space Flight Record

Space Flight Record Image above: NASA Astronaut Michael Foale is the new record holder for most cumulative time in space by a U.S. astronaut. As each day passes during the remainder of his stay aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 8 Commander Michael Foale will continue to add to an impressive U.S. space flight record. At 1:47 p.m. EST Dec. 8, Foale surpassed Carl Walz with the most cumulative time in space for a U.S. astronaut. To mark the occasion, Foale received a call from Walz, who was at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C., moments before the record fell.

"Records are meant to be broken," Walz said. Foale is currently in the middle of his sixth mission in space, which began Oct. 18 with the launch of the ISS Soyuz 7 spacecraft. Human adaptation to spaceflight. Humans are physiologically well-adapted to life on Earth.

Human adaptation to spaceflight

Consequently, spaceflight has many negative effects on the body.[1] The most significant adverse effects of long-term weightlessness are muscle atrophy and deterioration of the skeleton (spaceflight osteopenia).[2] Other significant effects include a slowing of cardiovascular system functions, decreased production of red blood cells, balance disorders, and a weakening of the immune system. Lesser symptoms include fluid redistribution (causing the "moon-face" appearance typical in pictures of astronauts experiencing weightlessness),[3][4] loss of body mass, nasal congestion, sleep disturbance, and excess flatulence.

Most of these effects begin to reverse quickly upon return to Earth. The engineering problems associated with leaving Earth and developing space propulsion systems have been examined for over a century, and millions of man-hours of research have been spent on them. Astronauts - Living in space. Yuri Gagarin on his way to the launch pad Like every other living creature we know of, humans evolved at the bottom of a gravity well.

Astronauts - Living in space

We take the Earth's tug for granted, and so do our bodies. So it's not surprising that our bodies behave oddly in orbit. What is surprising is that humans turn out to adapt remarkably well to zero-g (more precisely, microgravity). After all, back in 1961, Soviet scientists were genuinely worried that any prolonged period of weightless might even be fatal - which is why they limited Yuri Gagarin's first space flight to just 108 minutes and a single orbit.

Man In Space Firsts.