Have there been precious studies that look at generic changes in astronauts?
This article is great but it feels like everyone mentioned in it is making a lot of statements on an extremely limited sample size.
Scott Kelly Spent a Year in Orbit. His Body Is Not Quite the Same
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Re: Scott Kelly Spent a Year in Orbit. His Body Is Not Quite the Same
#12Maybe the reality is that all the science fiction stories have got it wrong all these times: that we have to genetically engineer different humans to traverse interplanetary (and in the far future, interstellar) distances and to live in alien worlds, so that we have less in common with them, physiologically, than we have with, say, the Cro Magnons.
I think it's more likely that we would peruse spinning space habitats to simulate gravity regardless of whether zero gravity has long term and irreversible negative effects on the human body. I don't think it'll be quite necessary to genetically modify anyone.
Re: Scott Kelly Spent a Year in Orbit. His Body Is Not Quite the Same
#13Have there been precious studies that look at generic changes in astronauts? This article is great but it feels like everyone mentioned in it is making a lot of statements on an extremely limited sample size.
Yea, it's pretty rare to find identical twins, and rarer still to have one of them enter a space program. Hopefully we'll see more volunteer for research like this in the future.
It is certainly a bad sample size, but it's a start.
Re: Scott Kelly Spent a Year in Orbit. His Body Is Not Quite the Same
#14Maybe the reality is that all the science fiction stories have got it wrong all these times: that we have to genetically engineer different humans to traverse interplanetary (and in the far future, interstellar) distances and to live in alien worlds, so that we have less in common with them, physiologically, than we have with, say, the Cro Magnons.
The Expanse series kinda touches on this. In those fictional books, those raised in space (Belters, Luna, etc.) are often taller being raised in lower gravity.
Kim Stanley Robinson also kinda hits on this describing people who are raised on Mars. I highly recommend the Mars trilogy; best Sci-Fi I've ever read.
Re: Scott Kelly Spent a Year in Orbit. His Body Is Not Quite the Same
#15I guess outline.com doesn't work on NYT any more. Copy/paste here?
Just delete all your nyt cookies.
Re: Scott Kelly Spent a Year in Orbit. His Body Is Not Quite the Same
#16I guess outline.com doesn't work on NYT any more. Copy/paste here?
Re: Scott Kelly Spent a Year in Orbit. His Body Is Not Quite the Same
#17>Drawing his own blood in zero gravity, for example, was a familiar routine. “I’ve had a couple spills in my time,” Mr. Kelly said. “You just reach out and grab the blobs of blood.” That paragraph stopped me short. It reads like something from a Heinlein novel.
I absolutely love hearing stories from astronauts about how quickly they adapt to microgravity and how easy it is to forget when they come back. Things like stories of them suddenly letting go of stuff they are holding on earth and expecting it to float there, or reaching out to grab on to a wall to stop themselves while walking down a hallway.
I've heard a couple of similar stories from people who spend a lot of time in VR and forget that the rules don't transfer back. One guy smacked his head into the fridge door trying to look inside it because he forgot that he would actually collide with the door.
Re: Scott Kelly Spent a Year in Orbit. His Body Is Not Quite the Same
#18Maybe the reality is that all the science fiction stories have got it wrong all these times: that we have to genetically engineer different humans to traverse interplanetary (and in the far future, interstellar) distances and to live in alien worlds, so that we have less in common with them, physiologically, than we have with, say, the Cro Magnons.
I imagine interstellar travel with some kind of Matrix-like hibernation. But all the problems with interplanetary are just a matter of stinginess. Low gravity? Make a 2001 style ring. Radiation? Make a big ass ship with enough isolation. Is that astronomically expensive? Of course. But avoid gravity well. Start building a Moon base with mining facilities, then move to Ceres, and son on. Current Mars fever is a distra…
> Current Mars fever is a distraction.
Yes, but it's a distraction from doing absolutely nothing at all with humans in space. I agree in a saner world we'd have built a Moon base first, and then moved on from there. But it's apparently not how we as a civilization operate.
Instead we set lofty and slightly impractical goals. If we meet those goals, we usually take two steps back and wait for a few generations. But if we are not successful, we usually never try again.
It's not ideal, but yes, I'd absolutely prefer an ambitious Mars program over nothing at all. And for decades, until recently, nothing at all was where we were comfortable.
> We have no idea what Mars gravity could do to babies born there. Do parents have the right to raise their children in Mars?
Historically, we have been very bad at predicting these things, and we usually mispredicted on the side of doom. Yes, there will be a physiological impact, not just on babies, on everybody living there. However, there is no reason as such to assume babies in particular would be unviable there.
Today, parents can and regularly do make decisions about their children's mental and physical health that are absolutely known to be detrimental. For better or worse, we generally accept that children are brought up completely powerless over their lifestyle, their healthcare, their economic situation, their education, their belief system... Compared to that settling on another world with unknown dangers seems at least on par.
I'd wager that a child born on Mars today is way more likely to die of things other than gravity or the lack thereof. We already have animal test data in microgravity.
Re: Scott Kelly Spent a Year in Orbit. His Body Is Not Quite the Same
#19His moustache fell off.
Re: Scott Kelly Spent a Year in Orbit. His Body Is Not Quite the Same
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
I absolutely love hearing stories from astronauts about how quickly they adapt to microgravity and how easy it is to forget when they come back. Things like stories of them suddenly letting go of stuff they are holding on earth and expecting it to float there, or reaching out to grab on to a wall to stop themselves while walking down a hallway.
I've heard a couple of similar stories from people who spend a lot of time in VR and forget that the rules don't transfer back. One guy smacked his head into the fridge door trying to look inside it because he forgot that he would actually collide with the door.
I'm really not looking forwards to VR driving games, then.