Why You Wouldn't Survive A Mission To Mars
so you think you 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
potatoes
well hold on there major tom there's
many dangers to overcome
even before you land on the red planet
on average the distance from mars to
earth is 140 million
miles 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
and 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
and 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
seven months to reach mars a few days
for research experiments sample
collection and maybe a minor
construction of some sort of permanent
dwelling
then seven months to get back to earth
so do you think you could 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 slash 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 might be affected
of course the last thing you'd want
during interplanetary travel
is cognitive impairment the
international space station or 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 purposefully
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 of a
sense of up and down and disruption of
the proprioceptive system which tells a
human where appendages in 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 strenuous
muscle atrophy and bone mineral density
loss studies of cosmonauts and
astronauts who had long stays on the
mere space station revealed on average
one to two percent of bone mass lost
each month on a 14 month or longer round
trip to mars when astronauts arrive home
they may face bone fragility and
possible 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 space flight
associated neuro-ocular syndrome or
sands
is caused by pressure in the skull on
earth gravity pulls cerebral spinal
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 post-flight examinations were
performed on about 300 american
astronauts
since 1989 showed that 29 of space
shuttle crew members who flew missions
lasting two weeks or less
and 60 of international space station or
iss astronauts who generally spent
between five to six 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 as
to why sand 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 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 an emergency travelers 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 space flight
affects humans
in 2019 nasa put on the serious 19
analog mission
a four-month study where six 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 in the series 20 study
which is set to go in eight 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
crew members 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 might
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 to
22 minute delay depending on the
position of the planets
and receiving communication signals
which travel at the speed of light
that can mean 40 minutes to have a
simple question asked and
answered that also assumes that the
communication comes through clearly
in an emergency it would be impossible
to depend on the 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 the earth from
the moon and orbit we haven't yet viewed
the 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
space flight 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
now that you reached the end of our
video why not keep the watch party going
how would the world be different if
russia had landed on the moon first
click here to find out and what if there
was a war in space
watch this video to find out
