(ORDO NEWS) — A new era of space flight could begin with NASA‘s Artemis program, which aims to establish a base camp on the Moon and lay the foundation for future travel to Mars.
The US space agency intends to send humans to the surface of the Moon in 2025, but its manned missions to the Red Planet won’t take place until the 2030s.
Meanwhile, prominent billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk believes he can beat NASA by sending manned missions to Mars as early as the second half of this decade.
The problem is that the conditions on Mars can severely damage multiple body parts, hastening illness and death even while wearing a spacesuit. Problems range from cancer-causing radiation to thinning muscles and weakening bones, experts say.
Radiation
Scientists are already well aware that Mars has an incredibly thin atmosphere of about 0.6% of Earth‘s, which means that it is constantly bombarded by intense galactic cosmic rays and solar protons.
Anyone on its surface would be exposed to this extreme level of harmful radiation and risk cancer, cardiovascular disease, brain damage, “cognitive decline” and more.
NASA estimates that during a six-month trip to Mars, astronauts will be exposed to 300 millisieverts of radiation, the equivalent of 24 CT scans, before they even reach the planet.
“Because astronauts will be exposed to this level of radiation for longer than passengers or pilots on transatlantic flights, this is a significant exposure,” said Robert Wimmer-Schweingruber of the University of Kiel in Germany.
Astronauts on Mars could be bombarded 700 times more than on Earth, according to a study by the European Space Agency in 2019.
The areas of the body most at risk of developing cancer due to cellular mutations would be the eyes, lungs and intestines, and the breasts and uterus in women.
And a 2020 study found that astronauts would be exposed to 2.6 times more radiation than aboard the International Space Station, increasing their risk of cancer and infertility.
Meanwhile, radiation also damages the brain, impairing learning and memory abilities, and can leave astronauts confused and unable to make decisions, other studies show.
Cosmic rays, such as iron and titanium atoms, severely damage the cells they pass through due to their very high ionization rate.
“Mars exploration will require missions of 900 days or longer and include more than one year in deep space, where exposure to all the heavy ion energies of galactic cosmic rays is unavoidable,” said Francis Cucinotta, a physicist at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas.
Microgravity
Microgravity is a major problem for astronauts during long-duration spaceflight, as it reduces bone density, increases the risk of bone fractures, and reduces muscle activity.
In space, the lack of gravity means there is little to no muscle work, and astronauts have to do vigorous exercise to keep from losing a lot of muscle mass.
On Earth, every time a person sits or stands, gravity rushes blood to the legs. The work the heart does to maintain blood flow against the earth’s gravity helps it maintain its size and function.
According to a 2021 study, the removal of gravitational effects leads to a decrease in this heart output, and it is steadily declining.
Microgravity is also thought to increase fluid pressure inside the head, potentially at the back of the eyes, which can damage vision.
What’s more, since astronauts operate in zero gravity, they require very little muscle contraction to support their bodies or move.
Without regular use and exercise, our muscles weaken and wear out, and bones no longer have to support the body against gravity, and they weaken too.
A 2021 study found that even a long-term program of low-intensity exercise in space is not enough to counteract the effects of prolonged weightlessness on the heart.
Mars dust
On Mars, dry and freezing conditions average -63°C at mid-latitudes, making the Red Planet seem inhospitable to life.
But the rocky surface is also covered in extinct volcanoes, canyons and debris, and regular meteorite impacts pose a constant risk to any future colonists.
Any visitor will spend all of their time in a closed enclosed habitat or inside a space suit, breathing recycled air if outside.
But even so, they will face the threat of ubiquitous Martian dust and respiratory contamination. What’s more, perchlorates, a type of chemical compound, are known to exceed toxic levels for Martian dust and soil.
“Perchlorates are thought to exert their toxic effects at high doses by interfering with the uptake of iodine by the thyroid gland,” said Carl K. Winter, a toxin researcher at the University of California, Davis.
“This inhibition of iodine uptake can lead to decreased secretion of thyroid hormones, which are responsible for controlling growth, development, and metabolism.”
Malnutrition
In addition to all the atmospheric and environmental problems of Mars itself, another problem is the potential lack of food and, as a result, malnutrition.
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