Sleeping in space is tough, but developing an addiction to sleep aids?
That would be bad in space too.
Howdy friends!
Trace again here for DNews.
Sleeping in space is difficulty level, advanced.
The ISS is constantly humming with the noise of condensers, fans, air filters, and other
equipment -- the sun rises and sets every 90 minutes as the football-field-sized craft
falls around the planet causing weightlessness, and there's no up or down, so laying on a
comfy mattress is definitely out.
There's not even a 24-hour clock to set an alarm to!
Astronauts can be on the ISS for weeks or months, and some crewmembers don masks or
earplugs to help them get forty winks.
Eventually, most learn to tune out all these distractions, but many astronauts resort to
taking sleeping pills to get through their mission.
New research in Lancet Neurology, studied sleep deprivation in 85 astronauts on the
ISS and space shuttle.
They found, in-flight, Earth's explorers don't get too much beauty sleep on their own, and
instead are popping all sorts of z-drugs [a]to catch some shut-eye.
As you might recall from an older DNews piece, sleeping pills don't help you sleep as much
as they sedate you.
Which can cause all sorts of mental compromises and physical effects.
Space sleep meds have been provided to astronauts since the Mercury missions in the early 1960s.
Being launched into a completely alien, high-stress environment does have some negative effect
on the sleep cycle.
Mission control provides 8-and-a-half hours a day for every astronaut to sleep, but according
to the Canadian Space Agency, most are only able to get a six hour siesta.
Astronauts can sleep in ANY module, provided they're tied to the wall… we don't want
a sleeping astronaut floating around.
Crew on the ISS use sleeping bags, and some of the pics are kind of funny[b].
But the Lancet Neurology says they're taking pills 73-percent of the nights studied, and
that's no laughing matter.
The pills they're taking are reportedly prescribed to treat insomnia and anxiety, or even brain
disorders and muscle tension.
On the ground, users of these hypnotic drugs have experienced amnesia and anxiety, even
behaviors like sleep-driving.
Most astronauts say they take medications because of the distractions, discomfort with
weightless sleep, or simply that it's too warm or cold.
But a drowsy astronaut can also self-medicate with caffeine, which introduces a cycle of
uppers and downers -- as caffeine has a half-life of three to seven hours.
This can cause more problems with sleep schedules and the need to pop a sleep aid only a few
hours later.
Of course, chronic sleep deprivation isn't good either.
It can cause false memory formation, increased stress, decreased alertness, risk of mistakes,
injury and long-term health problems like high blood pressure, stroke, obesity, heart
failure and depression.
It's a mission priority to keep astronauts healthy and safe, so the drugs they're taking,
and their vital signs are being monitored.
These humans are living on the edge, and studies like these reveal the heavy toll it can take
on the body.
As NASA plans for a long-duration space mission to Mars, they're highly focused on making
the experience safe for the body and the mind -- and that includes learning about how astronaut
slumber parties.
How would you solve this problem?
More pills?
More on-the-ground sleep training?
More free time to nap or doze?
What do you think?
We've got that empty box below, so get down there and fill it up with your thoughts.
Thanks for watching DNews if you want to suggest more stuff we can cover, tweet me at-Trace
Dominguez, or at-DNews!
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