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On the devastating effects of a year in space

brisbanetimes.com.au

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Re: On the devastating effects of a year in space

#101

Post by dsfyu404ed »

nindalf wrote: post #91
toomanybeersies wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everyone complains about healthcare. It's a universal thing. In New Zealand, everyone complains about healthcare, even though hospital care is free and doctors visits are really cheap. Everyone in the UK complains about the NHS, people in Canada complain about wait times at hospitals.

> Everyone complains Anecdotal evidence is worthless. Perhaps you could contribute something more substantive than this because it leads the conversation in an unproductive direction - "oh I live in the UK and everyone I speak to loves the NHS"

Except that everyone complaining is the closest thing politicians get to an an RFP.

Re: On the devastating effects of a year in space

#102

Post by pvaldes »

QAPereo wrote: post #5

...And this is why Mars for colonists is still very much a turgid fantasy. We need to dream less, and commit more to the hard and expensive org of solving these problems. Step 1: stop stripping NASA down to bare metal. Here’s some possible insight into the impact of radiation on their brains: http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2015/05/space-radiation-may-d... this is in addition to bones, muscles, eyes, etc. Edit: the pr…

Well, if we know positively than human body can't stand such travel, then the only answer to colonize mars is sending humans that doesn't have a body. This could solve the problem.

Re: On the devastating effects of a year in space

#103

Post by emiliobumachar »

banned1 wrote: post #76
astrodust wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not only possible, it's typically less expensive on a per-capita basis than what the US is doing now. The system isn't perfect here, some people fall through the cracks or live so far away from a doctor that they can't get the care they need, but anyone that's able to see a doctor or visit a hospital will get the same treatment as anyone else who can. I don't think you realize how much money is lost in the black…

The quality of care must go down for some, right? It's not possible to a) keep the same existing standard of care for all, b) maintain prices, or c) keep the same level of profit for the industry. Something has to give. If [a] and [b] are true, then profits will be lower, and therefore quality will suffer next.

Yes, it's possible, in principle, to have all of [a], [b], and [c], by increasing productivity.

If doctors are spending a large time doing billing paperwork, that looks like a thing that could be cut.

Re: On the devastating effects of a year in space

#104

Post by scandox »

everyone wrote: post #60

Astronauts always seem to be these clean-cut godfearing family-men types. Maybe antisocial misanthropic weirdos would be better suited. From a psychological perspective. They wouldnt miss family/friends, and might enjoy living on spacefood.

I am a somewhat antisocial misanthropic weirdo: moody, inconsistent, sometimes very good, sometimes very bad.

My brother is a brick: solid family man, consistent as hell, mountain climber, athlete, scared of absolutely nothing irrational.

I'd send him into space a 1000 times before I'd send me.

Re: On the devastating effects of a year in space

#105

Post by emiliobumachar »

martyvis wrote: post #10
ilamont wrote: post #3

Based on the experience of cosmonauts who spent long periods of time on various Mir missions in the 1980s and 1990s, what is the long-term impact of staying in zero-gravity space for so long? If they lost bone mass, the walls of their hearts became thinner, and they received the equivalent of 10 chest X-rays daily over hundreds of days in space, are they experiencing debilitating effects 20 or 30 years later?

Given that lack of gravity seems to be a major risk factor for well-being I'm surprised a static structure like the ISS doesn't yet have a rotating centrifuge-like structure ala 2001: A Space Oddysey to at least ward off the effects during sleep and downtime

The ISS is, primarily, our single microgravity laboratory. Giving it gravity would make it unfit for that role.

(NASA could duplicate the radiation and confinement here on Earth relatively easily, if not for the ethical issues. These seem to not matter as much when compensated with the privilege of going to space. But making gravity on space just to hack an ethically acceptable experiment would start to get ridiculous.)

Re: On the devastating effects of a year in space

#106

Post by rbanffy »

gwern wrote: post #65
jpatokal wrote: post #26

> But very little is known about what occurs after month six. The symptoms may get precipitously worse in the ninth month, for instance, or they may level off. We don't know, and there is only one way to find out. Actually, there's a second way: call Valery Polyakov. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valeri_Polyakov Or a whole bunch of other Mir veterans: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Avdeyev

Probably not all the relevant data would've been recorded, and as far as Kelly goes, it's not every day that you have an identical twin to serve as the control!

Still, the conditions he described at the end of the article would sure be present. I remember a Mir astronaut that couldn't sleep with anything heavier than the lighhtest blanket.

Re: On the devastating effects of a year in space

#107

Post by rbanffy »

A lot of this seems gravity-related. The answer is relatively simple: if we are going to Mars, use a rotating spaceship (or one with an internal centrifugr).

The SLS Block 1B can carry rigid cargo that's up to 10m wide and the BFR seems to be able to carry up to 9. That's enough for an internal centrifuge astronauts could spend lots of time in, only moving to the zero-g areas out of it when needed. If we think about inflatable modules, the space becomes even larger.

I wonder if a centrifuge could be added to the ISS or if the vibration would be too much of a problem.

Re: On the devastating effects of a year in space

#108

Post by chrismealy »

SCAQTony wrote: post #85

The first three paragraphs sound like he is a PTSD victim from a forgotten war. The next seven, like a nerve gas victim. With all this in mind. This si more than a red flag for space travel, more has to be done before we even consider establishing a base anywhere off-world. Till then, probes and asteroid mining seem more profitable, safe and mind expanding.

People don't want to accept the truth about humans in space.

Re: On the devastating effects of a year in space

#110

Post by abrowne »

jessriedel wrote: post #77
devb wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It worked on me, I'm looking forward to buying the book. Is this the first time you've come across an excerpt teaser on the internet?

It's basically just clickbait on a different scale. Clickbait doesn't stop being annoying just because it's common.

It's a long enough article for me. I feel satisfied reading it without now needing to read the book.
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