I'm ready
future explorers will venture in harsher
environments than ever before at
distances never encountered in human
history for durations never achieved by
any space program
a future mission to Mars could take as
long as three years astronauts would
work four years at a lunar base three
Americans undertook the first
long-duration mission in 1974 returning
safely to Earth after 84 days aloft two
Soviets have spent a year in space both
programs have shown that there is much
yet to learn to enable astronauts to
undertake long missions to keep them
healthy physically and psychologically
to provide them with medical care and
life-support and to protect them from
the hazards of the space environment
when astronauts travel beyond the
sanctuary of the magnetic field
surrounding our planet they're no longer
protected from cosmic rays and solar
flare radiation without shielding an
astronaut exposed to a solar flare event
would become ill with radiation sickness
chronic exposure to cosmic radiation
could increase an astronauts risk of
developing cancer before explorers can
undertake long missions far from home
life sciences researchers must find out
more about the hazards of space
radiation high on a hillside overlooking
the university campus in Berkeley
scientists use an accelerator to whip
tiny fragments of matter faster and
faster to higher and higher energies and
then hurl them at a target to simulate
space radiation on earth this is the
only way we have to learn more about how
space radiation damages living cells
Greg Nelson of the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory uses this unique facility at
Berkeley to irradiate microscopic
roundworms
it's a nematode or a roundworm called
scene Arab Titus elegans and what we
actually look for after the worms have
been exposed to these artificial cosmic
rays is the presence of mutations or
damage to known populations of cells in
our bodies our ultimate goal is to be
able to use our model animal C elegans
to extrapolate to the cancer risk for
human beings earth-based experiments can
only simulate space radiation soon
scientists will have the opportunity to
study the effects of long-term exposure
to the real space radiation environment
flying round worms and insects plants
and human cells aboard NASA's life's at
what we learn will help physicists as
they investigate the different
spacecraft materials that will protect
our astronauts from space radiation
developing shielding is a difficult task
the shield the skin of the spacecraft
has to be thick enough to stop
micrometeorites but not too thick
because when high-energy particles
collide with the shield the collisions
produce secondary particles that can
also damage the cells of an astronauts
body the thicker the shield the more
collisions the more damaging secondary
particles are produced shielding has to
be thin enough to hold down the effects
of the collisions and still protect the
craft with real data life sciences
researchers will set radiation exposure
limits that will drive the development
of new shielding materials and other
protective measures so that our
explorers can safely undertake extended
missions beyond Earth's magnetic
sanctuary
for most astronauts microgravity is fun
once they get used to it virtually all
of the body's systems systems that have
evolved for millions of years in the
presence of gravity begin adapting to
the absence of gravity within hours of
liftoff but these changes in the body
can cause problems when an astronaut
skeleton is no longer needed to support
his body his bones grow thin and porous
muscles that on earth work against the
downward tug of gravity to remain strong
atrophy if not used the heart shrinks
when it no longer has to pump blood from
the feet to the head against the pull of
gravity because of these and other
changes astronauts on an extended
mission would lose the strength and
stamina needed to return to Earth or
explore the surface of another planet
chief of the Life Sciences Division at
NASA's Ames Research Center Joan Vern
echoes when they return to Earth even
with all the exercise and
countermeasures they do Romanenko for
instance and other Soviets so they
cannot walk unassisted for at least 48
hours well you can't do that on landing
on Mars you have to be able to either
egress rapidly in case of emergency or
get out in this relatively alien
environment and build a shelter or a
habitat before you go exploring around
the Martian surface and therefore you
cannot afford to be weak or unable to
move to help our astronauts overcome
space deconditioning researchers at the
Johnson Space Center are developing
countermeasures chief of the medical
operations branch Jeff Davis on the
Space Shuttle we employ countermeasures
that range from things as simple as flu
loading to replace volume that's lost
during flight to exercise for a
cardiovascular conditioning and muscle
strength to the use of a g-suit to help
the body overcome the forces of gravity
during entry during a recent space
shuttle flight bonny Dunbar tested a
countermeasure device that could help an
astronaut prepare for the return to
gravity completely enclosing her lower
body the device uses a partial vacuum to
pull blood down to the feet in the same
way that gravity does on earth for Space
Station we'll be interested in looking
at research into areas such as bone loss
and potential use of medications as a
countermeasure to diet and dietary
supplements high school teacher Vincent
du is in perfect health but beginning
today he'll be confined to bed for the
next 17 weeks he'll never get up or sit
up even to eat keeping his feet higher
than his head shifts fluids to his upper
body and takes the stress off his
muscles and bones to simulate the
changes that astronauts experience in
the absence of gravity through bedrest
studies like this one conducted at the
Ames Research Center scientists can
experiment with different combinations
of diet medication and exercise to
offset the effects of space
deconditioning for Vincent the
experiment ends with a ride in a
centrifuge to simulate an astronaut's
rapid return to gravity
since Vincent had no problem with his
reentry these same countermeasures might
work to keep an astronaut in good
condition during an extended mission
exercise has been an effective
countermeasure for Soviet cosmonauts but
near the end of an 11 month stay aboard
the Soviet space station Mir cosmonaut
Yuri Romanenko was working out as much
as four hours a day severely limiting
the time he could devote to his mission
so in a parallel effort nasa researchers
are investigating the benefits of the
artificial gravity produced by
centrifugal force such as the gravity
produced by the spinning spacecraft of
science fiction scientists don't yet
know if artificial gravity will work or
if it does just how much is needed would
an hour a day spend in a small exercise
centrifuge keep astronauts fit or would
the entire spacecraft have to rotate 24
hours a day
answers to these questions will
significantly influence the design and
cost of the spacecraft that will carry
our astronauts further into the space
frontier
a spacecraft bound for Mars will be so
massive that it won't be launched from
Earth in one piece it will be assembled
on orbit to do the job our astronauts
will spend many long hours working evey
a so biomechanics engineers at the
Johnson Space Center are working to make
sure that the tasks they'll be
performing don't ask more than an
astronaut has to give tests are
conducted in simulated weightlessness
under water the crank measures how much
strength the space-suited astronaut can
exert underwater video captures the
action sensors record which muscles
produce the motion engineers analyze the
data and determine how much force an
astronaut can deliver they then
developed computer models of human
capabilities these smart tools will help
researchers see how astronauts will work
in environments that don't even yet
exist real requirements can then be set
to make sure that tasks can be
accomplished a million miles in space
when gene cernan Ronald Evans and Jack
Schmitt departed earth on the last and
longest Apollo mission they took some
500 pounds of air food and water with
them were those same three men to go to
work at a lunar outpost for a two-year
tour of duty using the same life-support
system we have today each man's
provisions would require a dedicated
launch a prohibitive expense what's
needed is a life-support system that can
recycle food and air water and waste in
a closed system astronauts will grow
their own crops just like the wheat
grown in this environmentally sealed
chamber at the Kennedy Space Center with
this component of a closed life-support
system researchers here are
demonstrating the feasibility of using
plants to provide fresh air clean water
and nutritious food by carefully
controlling the nutrient solution the
moisture in the atmosphere and exposure
to simulated sunlight this biological
system is proving to be very reliable
but will it work as well without gravity
the space station freedom will serve as
a testbed to qualify the life-support
system that will sustain our space
explorers on long missions far from home
for researchers in the Antarctic it is
difficult to handle a medical emergency
in this remote corner of the globe the
nearest medical care is hours away on an
expedition to Mars when an emergency
occurs there is no place to go
crews must handle medical emergencies
and treat routine illness themselves so
doctors and engineers at the Johnson
Space Center are putting the
capabilities of an emergency room a
medical laboratory and an x-ray facility
into a compact clinic for use in space
for tightly packed racks of specially
engineered medical equipment and
supplies will provide what's needed to
perform diagnostic tests treat injuries
and illness and keep track of patient
records but medical systems and
procedures for use in space must be more
than compact they must work without
gravity and so they're tested by a team
of doctors and technicians in a very
unusual test facility research engineer
Terry yes just like a roller coaster the
kc-135 flies in a parabolic flight path
as the plane reaches the peak of his
path it starts to nose over and at that
point you get 25 to 30 seconds of zero
gravity this doesn't sound like a lot
but it's the only way we have on earth
of simulating zero gravity
performing medical procedures without
gravity requires an entirely different
approach to medical care with much
development and testing yet to be done
astronauts may seem very different from
aquanauts but this diver experiences
some of the same psychological stress
from isolation and confinement that an
astronaut will on a long mission the
diver works for weeks at a time cut off
from family and friends he lives in a
facility that is cramped and closed with
a tiny kitchen and living area and six
bunks stacked three on a side it is a
habitat for aquanauts not unlike that of
astronauts which is why human factors
researchers study the divers behavior
how do people handle the isolation the
lack of privacy and the prolonged
confinement how do different
personalities mix how does the group
function as a whole
continued human factors research with
divers and others at work in remote
environments will determine selection
criteria and training and psychological
support techniques that will help ensure
the well-being of future space travelers
life sciences researchers are at work on
a variety of fronts studying the
physical and psychological impacts of
extended missions this research is
critical if we are to sustain nurture
and protect our space explorers it is
this research that will turn our dreams
of space exploration into reality I
believe that this nation should commit
itself to achieving the goal before this
decade is out of landing a man on the
moon and returning him safely to the
earth I believe before Apollo celebrates
the 50th anniversary of its landing on
the moon the American flag should be
planted on Mars the goal is clear the
challenge is upon us