floating in space
On the left is the new name of the IG and of the blog so don't get lost when you see the new logo :)
What happens when you float in space??? it looks like so much fun, but it can actually be fatal, if you are floating long enough. So here's the scenario your a human that was born on earth with gravity right? then you go up into space and experience microgravity MG (also known as zero gravity) for the first time, did you know that once you are exposed to MG your muscles start to deteriorate and your bodies functions start to behave differently.
Ever since the fist human was put into space in 1961 we have been looking into the effects that space has on human life forms. Will we be the same as before? can we survive after MG exposure? What are the long and short term effects? I know a million questions but first lets talk about time lines.
Astronauts can be in space for different amounts of time, you may know of astronaut Scott Kelly who recently returned from his one year in space. This is one of the longer missions that the ISS (international space station) has had for astronauts.
The effects are insane bellow is a chart from a journal in the Canadian Medical Association. Journal: CMAJ; Ottawa describing some of the effects, you'll be surprised by some of the things that happen to astronauts while they are up there. Imagine all the way on the right side of the chart bellow is the 1 year time frame for people in space, our guy astronaut Scott Kelly was up there for a year so he may have experiences some if not all of these symptoms to some extent.
Bone demineralization (bone deterioration) is a huge factor, why do they deteriorate? well since the blood flow in your body is not normal and is reduced the blood cells cannot preform their jobs correctly weakening your bones and in turn making you more susceptible to illness since the blood flow is decreased making the blood producing marrow in your bones work less efficiently.
However, exercise can help remedy this. think about it when you go to the doctor for a check up or when you look at things about people ageing and remaining strong, exercise is one of the top things on the list for maintaining healthy bones as you age. Speaking of aging research was conducted on board the ISS to test if MG slowed down aging and you know what, it does! To test this hypothesis they tested it on worms, and found that one age in fact did age slower in compairison to its control group worm who was not exposed to MG.
Williams, David,M.D.C.M., M.Sc, Kuipers, A., M.D., Mukai, Chiaki,M.D., PhD., & Thirsk, Robert,M.D.C.M., S.M. (2009). Acclimation during space flight: Effects on human physiology. Canadian Medical Association.Journal, 180(13), 1317-23. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/204826014?accountid=14541
granted this journal is from 2009 so some of this data may have been updated since then but it is still within the last 10 years so it is mostly accurate.
so all of this to say MG really messes with you, it effects your vision, your balance, your ability to move your ability to fight off illness, it messes with your mental stability. Imagine being in a confined space ship with the same crew mates for a long period of time this would be intense.
What is being done to combat mental issues while in space for long periods of time?? Tune in next time for information about what happens to the mental state of astronauts while they are in space from the brain to psychological effects.
ciao
here are the links to some of the articles I researched
How space flight affects the human body. (2015, Apr 16). The Economist (Online), Retrieved
from https://search.proquest.com/docview/1673978324?accountid=14541
Li, X., Yang, C., Zhu, Y., Sun, J., Shi, F., Wang, Y & Sun, X. (2017). Moderate exercise
based on artificial gravity preserves orthostatic tolerance and exercise capacity during short-term head-down bed rest. Physiological Research, 66(4), 567-580. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.mutex.gmu.edu/docview/1953856531?accountid=14541
