Human adaptation to space

The human adaptation to space is necessary to make possible the conquest and the Colonisation of space. This adaptation is a particularly important research field if one wants to consider voyages from long lives in the space medium. The current studies relate to the effects to more or less long run of the stays in space.

The man went in space for the first time in 1961 and to date, only approximately 500 astronauts went in space. The data thus are limited enough in quality and in quantity and it is thus difficult enough for the scientists studied the effects of the life in space. The majority of the data come from stays of short duration and certain physiological effects appearing long-term are thus only far from known.

As example an outward journey return for Mars, with the technological current one, is estimated at least 12 to 18 months just for transport. However the current record of the longest space flight of the history of humanity, held by Russian Valeri Vladimirovich Polyakov is of a little more 14 month of sharp on board the space station Mir.

How the human body behaves and adapts to the living conditions in space, such is the subject of this article.

Physical consequences

The physical consequences due to the space voyages are mainly caused by the Impesanteur, or a Pesanteur different from that of the Earth. Indeed, as of the first space flights the cosmonauts and astronauts were confronted with the Mal of space. 40% of the astronauts are touched by this evil which touches its direction of the orientation. It is not serious, but it can, so nothing to achieve during four to five days. In space, all these sensors are disturbed and send contradictory signals to the brain. Fortunately, at the end of a certain time, our organization adapts. It is thought that the sight would replace the other directions. Other problems more serious are also due to weightlessness: astronauts saw their bone weakening following long stays in space, because on Earth, the renewal of the bones is ensured by the weight that we exert on them. This weight is caused by terrestrial gravity. In weightlessness, this weight disappears. We thus do not exert any more pressure on our skeleton. This is why the astronauts grow of approximately 7 cm at the time of their space stay, and take again their normal size with their return to earth. It is not the only effect of weightlessness on the bones. A decalcification of the bones is observed: part of the Calcium which is used to reconstitute the bones passes in blood and is evacuated by the urines. one can lose thus approximately 100 calcium Mg per day, with a reserve from approximately 1 kg.

Psychological consequences

References

Random links: