ianstone
08-19-2010, 04:24 PM
Space flight can cause astronauts' muscle tissue to waste away by nearly half
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The muscles of astronauts waste away on long space flights and reduce their capacity for physical work by nearly a half, a new university report has revealed.
Damage caused to the tissue is such that it is equivalent to a 30- to 50-year-old crew member's muscles deteriorating to that of an 80-year-old.
Despite in-flight exercise, the report warns that the destructive effects of extended weightlessness to skeletal muscle poses a significant safety risk for future manned missions to Mars and further afield.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/08/18/article-1304053-0AD08C7F000005DC-664_468x367.jpg Muscle damage: A new study has shown that astronauts travelling to Mars would struggle to carry out space walks because of wasting to their muscles
NASA currently estimates it would take a crew 10 months to reach Mars, with a one year stay, or a total mission of approximately three years.
The study, led by Professor Robert Fitts of Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, reveals that if astronauts travelled to Mars today their ability to perform work would be compromised and, with the most affected muscles such as the calf, the decline could approach 50 per cent.
More...
[URL="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1303823/Astronauts-repair-International-Space-Station-cooling-system.html"]Feeling the heat: Astronauts successfully repair International Space Station cooling system after third spacewalk in ten days (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1304053/Space-flight-cause-astronauts-muscle-tissue-waste-away-nearly-half.html)
It reveals that crew members would fatigue more rapidly and would have difficulty performing even routine work in a space suit.
Even more dangerous would be the return to Earth, where they would be physically incapable of evacuating quickly in case of an emergency landing.
The study - the first cellular analysis of the effects of long duration space flight on human muscle - took calf biopsies of nine astronauts and cosmonauts before and immediately following 180 days on the International Space Station.
The findings show substantial loss of fibre mass, force and power in this muscle group.
One of the study's findings was that crew members who began with the biggest muscles also showed the greatest decline.
The results highlight the need to design and test more effective exercise countermeasures on the ISS before embarking on distant space journeys.
New exercise programmes will need to employ high resistance and a wide variety of motion to mimic the range occurring in Earth's atmosphere.
Proffesor Fitts said: 'Manned missions to Mars represent the next frontier, as the Western Hemisphere of our planet was 800 years ago.
'Without exploration we will stagnate and fail to advance our understanding of the Universe.'
In the shorter term, Prof Fitts believes efforts should be on fully utilising the International Space Station so that better methods to protect muscle and bone can be developed.
'NASA and ESA need to develop a vehicle to replace the shuttle so that at least six crew members can stay on the ISS for 6-9 months,' recommends Prof Fitts.
'Ideally, the vehicle should be able to dock at the ISS for the duration of the mission so that, in an emergency, all crew could evacuate the station.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1304053/Space-flight-cause-astronauts-muscle-tissue-waste-away-nearly-half.html#ixzz0x5M69iPa
[/URL]
The muscles of astronauts waste away on long space flights and reduce their capacity for physical work by nearly a half, a new university report has revealed.
Damage caused to the tissue is such that it is equivalent to a 30- to 50-year-old crew member's muscles deteriorating to that of an 80-year-old.
Despite in-flight exercise, the report warns that the destructive effects of extended weightlessness to skeletal muscle poses a significant safety risk for future manned missions to Mars and further afield.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/08/18/article-1304053-0AD08C7F000005DC-664_468x367.jpg Muscle damage: A new study has shown that astronauts travelling to Mars would struggle to carry out space walks because of wasting to their muscles
NASA currently estimates it would take a crew 10 months to reach Mars, with a one year stay, or a total mission of approximately three years.
The study, led by Professor Robert Fitts of Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, reveals that if astronauts travelled to Mars today their ability to perform work would be compromised and, with the most affected muscles such as the calf, the decline could approach 50 per cent.
More...
[URL="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1303823/Astronauts-repair-International-Space-Station-cooling-system.html"]Feeling the heat: Astronauts successfully repair International Space Station cooling system after third spacewalk in ten days (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1304053/Space-flight-cause-astronauts-muscle-tissue-waste-away-nearly-half.html)
It reveals that crew members would fatigue more rapidly and would have difficulty performing even routine work in a space suit.
Even more dangerous would be the return to Earth, where they would be physically incapable of evacuating quickly in case of an emergency landing.
The study - the first cellular analysis of the effects of long duration space flight on human muscle - took calf biopsies of nine astronauts and cosmonauts before and immediately following 180 days on the International Space Station.
The findings show substantial loss of fibre mass, force and power in this muscle group.
One of the study's findings was that crew members who began with the biggest muscles also showed the greatest decline.
The results highlight the need to design and test more effective exercise countermeasures on the ISS before embarking on distant space journeys.
New exercise programmes will need to employ high resistance and a wide variety of motion to mimic the range occurring in Earth's atmosphere.
Proffesor Fitts said: 'Manned missions to Mars represent the next frontier, as the Western Hemisphere of our planet was 800 years ago.
'Without exploration we will stagnate and fail to advance our understanding of the Universe.'
In the shorter term, Prof Fitts believes efforts should be on fully utilising the International Space Station so that better methods to protect muscle and bone can be developed.
'NASA and ESA need to develop a vehicle to replace the shuttle so that at least six crew members can stay on the ISS for 6-9 months,' recommends Prof Fitts.
'Ideally, the vehicle should be able to dock at the ISS for the duration of the mission so that, in an emergency, all crew could evacuate the station.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1304053/Space-flight-cause-astronauts-muscle-tissue-waste-away-nearly-half.html#ixzz0x5M69iPa