NASA and other similar space-exploring agencies have made it their goal to send humans to explore space beyond the Earth and Moon. Interestingly, such a goal carries in it the potential to send humans on a mission to Mars over the next few years. Therefore, maintaining crew health in a closed artificial environment in space during this period is one of the key aspects to be addressed on a priority basis. In other words, conducting an observational clinical trial to study the effect of space station environment on human body may have a trailblazing effect in space medicine.
Space medicine is a developing medical practice that studies the health of astronauts when they are in outer space. The primary purpose of this academic pursuit is to discover how well, and for how long, humans can survive the extreme space conditions and also how quickly they can readapt to the Earth’s environment upon their return from space. Additionally, space medicine seeks to develop preventive and palliative measures to ease the suffering brought on by living in an environment that humans have not yet adapted to.
The International Space Station (ISS) is a unique platform offering valuable insights on human health in space. This ISS-driven research on human health aims to reduce the negative effects of space environment on human health and performance. The International Space Station National Laboratory is a research facility, observatory, and engineering test bed that can provide powerful insights into fundamental and applied scientific investigations.
Outlined below are some of the characteristics of the space environment:
• Microgravity or weightlessness can have deteriorating effects on various types of organisms, and it impacts the body in three important ways: loss of proprioception, changes in fluid distribution, and deterioration of the musculoskeletal system.
• Extreme environmental conditions include exposure to intense heat and cold cycling, ultra-vacuum, atomic oxygen, and high energy radiation.
• In low-Earth orbit (LEO), the Earth’s magnetic field protects astronauts from harmful radiation. Although they are more exposed to radiation than humans on the ground, they are still protected by the Earth’s magnetosphere. LEO is a valuable environment for the accelerated testing of technologies and materials in extreme space conditions.
• A unique vantage point based on location of ISS within LEO allowing insight into diverse fields ranging from atmospheric modeling to agriculture.
• Spaceflight benefits research & development in drug discovery, nanotechnology, materials science, tissue engineering, agriculture, Earth observation, technological advancements, and more.
Recent studies examining astronauts’ clinical and pathophysiological parameters before, during, and after spaceflight reveal cellular changes in their spinal cords, eyes, and brains that, in several cases, resemble deterioration due to diseases identified on Earth, particularly those related to aging. Many of these, including arthritis, osteoporosis, glaucoma, and vertigo do not currently have any permanent remedies. Further, scientists are studying aging in the case of astronauts and the mysterious effects of outer space on their body.
Although the psychological effects of living in space have not been clearly analyzed, the enormous stress experienced by the crew, coupled with the fact that their bodies are adapting to other environmental changes, may result in anxiety, insomnia, and depression.
The ISS orbits the Earth approximately 400 km above the ground and is completely sealed off from any biological ecosystem, except for cargo exchange and the arrival of new crew members roughly every 6 months. One of the ways in which microbes can enter the sealed and closed space station is through crew members. The microbiome of the ISS environment has a huge impact on human health and therefore is a topic of interest for researchers. These controlled ISS environments harbor a variety of organisms and unraveling their interactions is key to a better appreciation of the factors that shape the microbiome even in extreme conditions, which can help devise appropriate safety measures for long-term space travel.
During spaceflight, crews may have altered immunity and limited access to ground medical facilities; thus, studying the microbes inhabiting the space station becomes important to understanding the effects of short- and long-term space travel on astronauts’ health, which makes it a strong candidate for future clinical applications in space travel.
In addition to opening the doors of space travel to lay people, researchers’ efforts are continuing to ensure safer travel into space. For successful long trips to Mars and beyond, astronauts will have to find solutions to the issues outlined above. Moreover, the scientists aiming to find ways to overcome these challenges are translating their findings such that solutions can be found for similar medical conditions on Earth.
At the space station, astronauts execute tasks that they have spent several months training for. In other words, huge amounts of effort, money, and time have been invested in the space mission and nobody can afford astronauts being grounded or missions being aborted for reasons such as ill health. Offering remote healthcare of the highest standard in outer space requires a passionate, dedicated team with domain expertise in space medicine, space nutrition, space pharmacy, space nursing, biomedical engineering, and so on. Bioviser has a specialized team that can help enhance the presentation of your work in space medicine on a bigger platform.
Be with us on this page to read about the latest technologies to measure the effect of space environment on the space tourist’s health in our upcoming blogs.
