From the moon to Mars, NASA is aiming to use new technology to get astronauts there safely!
Join me as we explore the use of cryogenic sleep in space!
What Kind Of Sleep is It?
Cryogenic Sleep, or if you want to think of it in more loose terms, it's the idea of putting
people into hibernation in space travel so that they don't need to worry about piloting
the space shuttle or have to do daily routines and such.
Or, heaven forbid, be bored in space while waiting for something to happen (and yes,
boredom in space does happen).
Now you might think that this is an odd thing to consider in space travel, but, if you think
about many classic sci-fi movies, including 2001: A Space Odyssey, the idea of cryogenic
sleep chambers in spacecraft has been around for a while.
Yet, we've never used it for a whole host of reasons.
Not the least of which was that at the time of early space missions, and even in the early
21st century, the idea of having astronauts "sleep" on their way to missions was basically
ludicrous.
Someone NEEDED to fly the ship, make repairs, and whatnot.
If something went wrong while in cryogenic sleep, the whole mission would be in jeopardy.
Not to mention the lives of the crew.
But now, with the advent of new technology, including wireless communication and massive
jumps in computer programming, scientists are honestly starting to wonder if this could
work.
And they've realized something rather interesting.
If they were to put the crew in sleep pods or chambers...they wouldn't need as big a
ship to fly in: “We worked on adjusting the architecture
of the spacecraft, its logistics, protection against radiation, power consumption and overall
mission design,” comments Robin Biesbroek of the CDF.
So IF they do this, theoretically, space travel could be done in more compact ways, saving
time, money, and energy and getting people to the moon and Mars faster.
Could Humans Really Survive In Pods For Long Periods Of Time?
Of course, one of the biggest questions right now in regards to space travel cryogenics
is, "How would we survive?"
Well to explain this, you need to go back to the other word I used earlier, "Hibernation".
Many animals in the world hibernate in their own forms.
Mammals though have true hibernation abilities, including being able to shut down their bodies
in a way to conserve warmth, not require food, and more.
Then, when winter is over and spring arrives, they wake up and go on with their lives as
if nothing happened.
Humans technically can't do that naturally, which is why many scientists are working on
creating stasis pods that will invoke a state of being known as Topor.
Which is another word for "short-term hibernation".
Now if you think about it in the broader sense, there are some cases where humans are in a
state of hibernation for long periods of time without the need for major "maintenance" if
you will.
One of these is a coma.
Granted, that's a reaction to severe trauma, but the effects are the same.
The body is in an unconscious state, only light touches are needed to keep the person
alive, and so and so forth.
“And the basic idea of putting astronauts into long-duration hibernation is actually
not so crazy: a broadly comparable method has been tested and applied as therapy in
critical care trauma patients and those due to undergo major surgeries for more than two
decades,” said one person on the project.
“Most major medical centres have protocols for inducing hypothermia in patients to reduce
their metabolism to basically gain time, keeping patients in a better shape than they otherwise
would be.”
Many of these same procedures would be done if Topor statis is able to be achieved on
the spacecraft.
For example, the obvious question of food and water is apparently.
But not unlike certain sick patients, an IV can be put into the astronaut in question
and deliver the necessary vitamins and minerals to keep the human body strong.
What's more, the breathing part is relatively simple.
After all, you breathe less when you're sleeping because it's more of regulated action versus
your constant breathing in and out and reacting to certain situations with heightened breathing.
That wouldn't happen in topor because your body would be on a baseline level.
Finally, there is of course the need to...relieve yourself in space.
Because your body is still going to be breaking down stuff in your body and needs to get it
out of you.
But again, not unlike certain hospital patients, there is a simple method of having that work,
it's a called a catheter.
It's disgusting, but it works.
All in all, the more basic factors of doing hibernation in space are already taken care
of.
There would just need to be certain factors put in to make sure things don't go horribly
wrong.
Including one you might not be thinking of...
Like...muscle problems?
Yeah, if you know about coma patients, you'll know that the longer they are in a coma, the
longer they have to rehab their bodies once they get out of it.
After all, if your body isn't moving, it's not getting stronger, or even more basic,
it's not staying active enough to keep your body going in a strong enough state.
This is similar to how in space microgravity affects your bones and muscles to where if
you don't work out for long periods of time in space...your bones and muscles will weaken.
Obviously in space travel, and potential on missions that could have astronauts sleeping
in pods for months, that would be a bad thing to wake up to.
Because if your body isn't in peak condition, or at least close to it, you're not going
to be able to do much on your mission.
So what is the answer to this?
That would be muscle stimulation via electric pulses.
This will trick the muscles in a way into thinking that the body is still active, and
with that, it'll keep muscle decay or atrophy at bay.
Allowing the astronauts to get to work right after they get out...you know, after a few
minutes to get their bearings and all that.
So what is the immediate plan for this you may be asking?
Well the scientists and teams who are honestly working on this idea for the long term (this
is not planned for upcoming space missions to be clear) have been looking at all the
parameters and expectations that would need to be done with this project.
Not to mention, how it would affect the spaceship as a whole.
“We looked at how an astronaut team could be best put into hibernation, what to do in
case of emergencies, how to handle human safety and even what impact hibernation would have
on the psychology of the team.
Finally we created an initial sketch of the habitat architecture and created a roadmap
to achieve a validated approach to hibernate humans to Mars within 20 years,” said Biesbroek.
We'll get to the Mars bit in a little while, but let's continue to talk about the plan
itself.
Because one of the most shocking things that came from their breakdown of what topor hibernation
could mean on a space mission is that the weight of the spaceship itself...would be
cut by AT LEAST half.
At least!
Think about that, the space shuttles that we have now have such massive frames and rockets
and external boosters BECAUSE of all the things to not just get them off the ground, but into
space.
So, IF this could work, and if it took only half the weight to ensure the minimum requirements
for a successful mission were met, that could open up more possibilities for space travel
as a whole.
Including more missions with smaller ships.
This is a big reason why people are trying to make this at least a possibility.
Because if it works, it would change how we view space travel as a whole.
“For a while now hibernation has been proposed as a game-changing tool for human space travel,”
explains SciSpacE Team Leader Jennifer Ngo-Anh.
“If we were able to reduce an astronaut’s basic metabolic rate by 75% – similar to
what we can observe in nature with large hibernating animals such as certain bears – we could
end up with substantial mass and cost savings, making long-duration exploration missions
more feasible.”
Which is obviously a big plus for the space program (in regards to the ideas of all agencies
as a whole), as there isn't just missions to Mars in the works, but possibly ones to
Titan and of course, Alpha Centauri.
But that's another topic.
The point here is that this could work, this could be the thing that helps accelerate humanity
into the next phase of space exploration.
But... ...there are still a TON of problems to figure
out.
Let's talk about the elephant in the room here.
Mainly, "Who's going to be flying the ship if the astronauts are going to be in pods?"
A very good question, and one that raises a lot of problems both in the short term and
the long term of missions.
In theory, and honestly in practice as it's been done on Earth for a while, it's easy
enough to program a ship to go to a certain destination.
Self-driving cars, Google Maps, UAV drones, and more have this kind of programming.
So, if you put the right computer...or dare I say...an AI...in the ship, it could handle
the basic day to day running of the spacecraft should it need to.
The other option is that the people would be in pods for "shifts".
Such as having a 4-person crew, have two people active at the helm for say...two weeks of
the 2 month travel mission, then they'd "wake up" the others and switch places with them.
Both sides of this equation though have severe problems.
Because while an AI can account for most issues, it can't be programmed for all of them, what's
more, there's a chance it could get glitchy, radiation could make it defect...and then
of course...it could just turn into HAL and try and kill everyone.
I'm just saying, I would kill the AI on sight just to save the crew...
(do HAL voice for this line) "I'm sorry, I'm afraid I can't let you do that..."
Did you hear that?
No?
Ok, let's move on.
Anyway, AI is risky, especially at long distances.
And you likely can't pilot a spaceship from Earth because of the speed of signals and
such.
Which is why rover missions take so long because of the distance between the rover and mission
control.
Furthermore, if ALL of the crew are in the pods, should an emergency arise that the AI
can't handle (and thus it would wake the crew up) that would mean that the crew would have
to be alert and ready for action within seconds more than likely.
Which is...problematic because these stasis pods would likely need time to not just wake
them up, but the crews minds and bodies would need to get adjusted to the zero gravity of
the vessel, as well as get a grasp on their surroundings.
Which can take minutes if not more, which could lead to the crew dying.
And that would be bad.
As for the "on again off again" solution, that would be risky too.
Not the least of which is because the "on again off again" approach to hibernation likely
isn't that good on your body.
Hibernation is meant to last for long periods, even if it's only a month or so.
That kind of "switching" is likely to mess with the bodies and minds of the crew.
And if that happens, the missions could be in jeopardy.
And this brings us to what might be the most surprising bit of revelation on this whole
project.
Mainly...there honestly hasn't been that many tests on this kind of hibernation/stasis on
humans in the past.
That's right!
While this kind of stasis has been teased and theorized by many over the years, there
have been NO human trials on this kind of thing...ever!
And no, coma patients and hypothermia patients don't count as that was a forced medical issue
not a voluntary one.
Which is a big difference in things like this.
So that raises the question of, "How long would it take to make this happen for real?"
We don't know, and that's the truth.
Human trials in the medical field are something that takes a LONG time to get to, which is
why medical creations often don't get released to the public because they can't make it to
the human phase.
Or when they do, they fail horribly in patients.
Which would be very bad for this hear.
There are specialists in the field for the record who are at least attempting to do this,
and get to the human trials stage.
But that is going to take time.
And considering the nature of this practice as a whole, there are a TON of questions that
would need to be asked before it would EVER be tested in space.
This brings us to our final question, "Why would we want this with all the risks?"
Well, the space program itself had to answer that question after all the false starts,
blow up spaceships and more that have happened over the years.
The answer is still the same, it's a risk now...but if we figure it out, it opens up
new venues to us.
Imagine being able to launch into space in a sleep state, and then waking up when you
KNOW that you are in orbit of Mars, or Titan, or Alpha Centauri.
That would be a huge thing, and it could lead to massive leaps in the exploration of space
as a whole.
Yes, it's a risk now...but who knows what technology might come along to fix that and
make it more of a certainty...
Thanks for watching everyone!
What did you think of this look at cryogenic sleep and whether it's the future of space
travel?
Are you excited about this possibility?
Would you be someone who would volunteer to do something like this?
Let me know in the comments below, be sure to subscribe, and I'll see you next time on
the channel!