Traveling to The space should be an eye-opening experiencesomething that gives you a new perspective on humanity and its place in the universe. But while you might think an experience like this would make a person a lot wiser, a new report discovered that space travel was actually possible makes you a little more stupid.
With number of tourists recently traveling into space On private missions run by companies like Blue Origin, scientists have jumped at the chance to see how real people react to time in space. Now then billionaire and retired actor is heading to space, it offers a unique look at how normal bodies react to the pressures of space flight rather than astronauts who have been training for their mission to orbit for decades.
Currently, a new report from New York Times has revealed what that impact looks like, and it doesn’t look great for anyone hoping to get into orbit soon. According to a recent study of four private companies astronaut aboard Inspiration4 in 2021, short periods of time in orbit can affect your brain function, your immune system, and even your physical condition. Like time explain:
Four people who spent three days off Earth in September 2021 experienced physical and mental changes, including modest declines in cognitive tests, stressed immune systems and genetic changes in their cells, scientists report in a package of papers published Tuesday in Nature and several other journals. other related journals.
Almost everything that changed in the astronauts returned to normal after they landed on Earth. None of the changes appear to cause surprising caution among future astronauts. But the results also highlight how little medical researchers know.
Christopher Mason, a professor of genetics, physiology and physiology at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City and one of the study’s leaders, called the collection of papers and data “a the most in-depth investigation we have ever had of a research team.” ” as he said at a press conference on Monday.
The four chosen to represent “a broader social group” include billionaire Jared Isaacman, the mission’s leader; Hayley Arceneaux, physician assistant; Sian Proctor, community college professor; and Christopher Sembroski, an engineer. However, the researchers anonymized each person’s data from the Inspiration4 mission.
Because their journey into spaceAs well as the buildup and days after the flight, participants provided researchers with everything from blood and urine samples to cognitive data collected using specially designed tasks .
Studies analyzing collected data show that kidney function is affected by time in space, making kidney stone formation slightly more likely, and genetic markers that indicate age also increase, means you show up genetically younger in spacebased on an article published by Nature. The team also looked at the crew’s ability to focus and maintain attention while in space. Like time more:
The astronauts took several tests on iPads to measure their cognitive performance in space. One test assessed what is called psychomotor vigilance, a measure of the ability to focus on a task and maintain attention. The astronaut stared at a box on the screen. Then a stopwatch suddenly appeared in the box, counting the time until the button was pressed.
If the response is too slow, longer than 355 milliseconds, it is considered distracting. On average, performance in space decreased compared to when Inspiration4 astronauts performed the same test on the ground. Other tests show deficits in visual search ability and working memory.
Testing showed astronauts’ reaction times decreased in space, but researchers admitted that this could also be because participants were distracted by the majesty of the universe.
Despite the study’s limited sample size, studies like this will be important as more and more humans travel to orbit in the coming years. It may help mission similar to NASA’s Artemis program develop warning and control instructions for anyone in orbit and can influence how next generation space station designed.
