So you think you’ve got the right stuff?
That you’d be a great choice to help colonize Mars.
Even if there was a crisis, you think you could keep a level head and grow poo-tatoes?
Well, hold on there Major Tom, there’s many dangers to overcome even before you land on
the red planet.
On average, the distance to Mars from Earth is 140 million miles (225 million kilometers).
However, this distance is always fluctuating.
Mars is the fourth planet from the sun to Earth’s third and has a different and slower
orbit path around the sun.
Even when Earth and Mars come close together, when Mars is at perihelion and Earth is at
aphelion the planets are still around 35 million miles apart (56.3 million kilometers).
That’s a long way to travel.
Assuming that humanity can get past political turmoil and funding issues to launch a mission
to Mars, the best case scenario is about a 14 month round trip.
Rather than firing a spacecraft at Mars, engineers are likely to aim it in a wide orbit around
the sun.
The sun's gravity would give the spacecraft a boost known as a gravity assist, thereby
saving time and fuel.
The spacecraft's orbit would then intersect with Mars.
It would take an estimated 7 months to reach Mars, a few days for research, experiments,
sample collection and maybe a minor construction of some sort of permanent dwelling.
Then 7 months again to get back to Earth.
So do you think you can handle upwards of 14 months non stop in space?
The trip would be both physiologically and psychologically challenging.
In fact NASA recognizes five classes of "stressor" that can significantly affect human health
and performance on deep-space missions.
They are radiation, altered gravity fields, isolation/confinement, distance from Earth
and hostile closed environments.
Space radiation is one of the biggest hazards astronauts will have to contend with during
a mission to Mars.
Thankfully, the earth has a protective magnetosphere, generated by electric currents in our core,
which shields our planet and diverts much of the radiation back into space.
Also, stray radiation particles are absorbed by our planet’s thick atmosphere.
However, beyond low orbit, astronauts would be exposed to space radiation.
A report by the European Space Agency estimated that on a mission to Mars, astronauts could
receive radiation doses up to 700 times higher than on Earth.
Therefore, the astronauts would have a significant risk for radiation sickness, and increased
lifetime risk for cancer and degenerative diseases.
Cumulative doses of radiation such as received during a long space mission can also damage
astronauts’ central nervous systems.
As a result, the astronauts' moods, memory and learning ability may be affected.
Of course, the last thing you’d want during interplanetary travel is cognitive impairment.
The International Space Station [ISS] orbits within the magnetosphere and its hull also
has radiation shielding properties.
NASA is continuing to explore a variety of materials to create a long haul spacecraft
that could provide radiation shielding for its crew without adding significant weight.
Currently, study of how radiation affects humans is limited to scientists studying lab
animals on earth.
It’s hard to generate deep-space radiation data without purposely poisoning some astronauts.
But that’s just the start of the dangers awaiting you on a trip to Mars.
In addition to radiation, there are other physical obstacles that make traveling to
Mars dangerous, including microgravity.
Living in zero gravity can mean a temporary loss in a sense of up and down and disruption
of the proprioceptive system, which tells a human where appendages and other parts of
the body are oriented relative to each other.
Astronauts generally adjust within a few days.
However, the long term effects of zero gravity are much more serious--muscle atrophy and
bone mineral density loss.
Studies of cosmonauts and astronauts who had long stays on the Mir space station revealed
an average of 1% to 2% percent of bone mass lost each month.
On a 14 month or longer roundtrip to Mars, when astronauts arrive home they may face
bone fragility and possibly osteoporosis.
But what if the trip made you blind too?
While diet and exercise aboard a spacecraft can help mitigate the effects of bone density
loss, scientists have not yet found a way to combat visual acuity impairments which
occur due to microgravity.
Currently it’s thought that spaceflight-associated neuro-ocular syndrome [SANS], is caused by
pressure in the skull.
On earth, gravity pulls cerebrospinal fluid down toward the lower body.
In space, more cerebrospinal fluid flows into the head and surrounds the brain.
The increased pressure of the fluid works its way down the sheath of the optic nerve
and pushes on the back of the eyeball.
In a U.S. National Academy of Sciences study where postflight examinations were performed
on about 300 American astronauts since 1989 showed that 29 percent of space shuttle crewmembers
who flew missions lasting 2 weeks or less and 60 percent of International Space Station
[ISS] astronauts who generally spent between 5-6 months in orbit experienced a degradation
of visual acuity.
The changes in sight may but do not necessarily correct themselves after a return to earth,
resulting in permanent damage to vision.
At this point, there are only theories to why SANS seems to affect some astronauts and
not others.
The last thing needed would be an astronaut piloting a spacecraft to land on Mars with
degraded vision affecting the task at hand.
Scientists are working on ways to provide spacecraft with frequent, regular periods
of artificial gravity to limit slow the effects of zero g.
In space though, your brain itself becomes an enemy.
While sometimes causing physical symptoms, the other main stressors of long term space
flight like isolation and confinement, distance from Earth and hostile closed environments
can definitely take a toll.
Astronaut Scott Kelly and cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko spent 340 days aboard the ISS to
help researchers gauge the impact of very long space missions.
While they were able to successfully complete the study, they were relatively close to earth
and in theory, could easily return if there was any emergency.
Travellers on a trip to Mars wouldn’t be so lucky.
Since the days of the Apollo missions, NASA has studied social isolation to better understand
how long spaceflight affects humans.
In 2019 NASA put on the SIRIUS-19 analog mission, a four-month study where 6 people were isolated
in a metal habitat that acted as their spacecraft, lunar lander and home so researchers could
study their physiological, psychological and behavioral responses.
In May of 2020 NASA put out a call for participants for the SIRIUS-20 study which set is to go
8 months.
In 2022 NASA will host a 12 month isolation study mission.
These studies are being done in preparation of the NASA led Artemis mission which seeks
to send humans back to the Moon, specifically to the lunar south pole by 2024.
This is the first mission in a plan to have humans visit Mars by 2030.
From previous studies NASA has noted that the power of togetherness can combat the symptoms
of isolation.
Crewmembers that develop a strong, positive team dynamic handle problems like stress,
insomnia and circadian desynchronization easier.
They also work better and feel more confident and positive.
So if you’re good at cooperation and working in a team, that might be a mark in your favor.
Complicating matters is a phenomenon called the “third quarter effect”, which is when
astronauts' coping skills may deteriorate in the second half of a long or stressful
mission.
This could result in increased stress and lower performance skills.
Limited communication with earth is likely to exacerbate this issue.
Near Mars, astronauts can expect a 3-22 minute delay depending on the position of the planets
in receiving communication signals, which travel at the speed of light.
That could mean 40 minutes to have a simple question asked and answered.
That also assumes the communication comes through clearly.
In an emergency it would be impossible to depend on information from earth to help.
The greatest danger may be the one we haven’t even discovered yet though...
There’s another psychological issue NASA or any other government study can’t yet
account for.
While humans have viewed earth from the moon and orbit, we haven’t yet viewed earth from
far away.
From Mars, the earth appears as a tiny blip on the horizon.
We don’t know yet what the visual realization of the earth being so far away and therefore
no one being able to help in a crisis will spark in a human.
One last concern of scientists is that the cumulative effect of various spaceflight stressors
might be synergistic.
Ultimately it would be nearly impossible to experiment and attempt to test all the stressors
on a potential astronaut all at once.
So could you survive a mission to Mars?
The simple answer is: no one knows.
But do you think you’re tough enough to try?
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