Everyone is anticipating the long awaited space exploration to Mars. But even if astronauts could travel to Mars, they could die along the way. Astronauts are reporting health issues connected to long-duration stay in space that ranges from blindness, kidney stones, and other health issues that could eventually lead to their deaths. Will these space-related health issues halt the space exploration to Mars even it begins?
Astronauts who are in their physical prime before they go to space are reporting health issues while in space and after they land back on Earth. The health issues are the effect of microgravity on the body. Temporary vision problems, muscle atrophy, kidney stones, rashes, and radiation poisoning are the most common health issues astronauts are reporting. All of these space-related health issues are happening during short-duration space travel and exploration.
Short duration space travel and exploration are just a few weeks while long duration space travel and exploration could take up to three to six months. What will happen then to the astronauts who needs to travel around six months one-way to get to Mars? Will they all die along the way? Is going to Mars more of a death mission instead of a space exploration mission?
NASA and other space agencies are working on keeping the astronaut safe and healthy in space in anticipation of the long space travel and exploration to Mars. NASA and the rest of the expert scientists in the world are studying the effects of space on the body and how they can prevent or stop it from happening to the astronauts.
American astronaut Scott Kelly and a team of scientist aboard the International Space Station will study the effects of space on the human body in a year-long, uninterrupted stay in space. Astronaut Kelly along with Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko are looking into the effect on the human body on long-duration stay in space. The yearlong duration of Astronaut Kelly and his team is to mimic what could be the long-duration space travel and exploration to Mars.
According to Astronaut Scott Kelly, who has been up to space three times, NASA and other space agencies have already provided the needed medications on the most common health issues astronauts experience in space. For the degradation of vision, there is an ample supply of eyeglasses of different grades. For the formation of kidney stones, rashes, nausea, and insomnia, a variety of medications and ointments are available to use for the astronauts.
NASA does acknowledge that is not only the effects of space on the human body that they are anticipating. Factors like the quality of air on the space station and overall quality of life in space for the astronauts are being improved for the long duration space travel and exploration to Mars. It is the safety of the astronauts, barring no accidents happen along the way, that will be the key to the eventual success of the Mars expedition.
