Summary
The objective of this article is to explore all assets and facts that are included in developing a mission to Mars.
The Space Race started human exploration into space in multiple steps that culminated to just proving that a country could make a human could survive a trip through space. Starting with animals in space, then trips to barely the edge of space, a trip around the Moon, and finally landing on the Moon. They were all just focused on survival. Then, the Skylab, Space Shuttle and eventually the International Space Station (ISS) was created and it trended toward an evolution in space. First, adaptation and endurance in space, then developing the fundamentals and protocols in launch systems and finally research and observation on the ISS. Now, developments in space have advanced to exploring missions to Mars and setting up outposts on the Moon and eventually Mars. One of the developments in the way is Space Medicine and lack of epidemiological data based on Men and Women Astronauts from different backgrounds.
A thorough review of the difference in Astronaut to the average civilian mortalities by cause has not been completed. In a small batch research, it showed that 20 percent of Astronaut mortalities were due to neoplasms and another 20 percent were due to cardiovascular conditions (Reynolds, et al., 2016). The importance of doing this can be emphasized by looking into conditions that Astronauts would face that the average civilian wouldn’t, like low gravity. In research conducted in the Journal of Neuro-Ophthalmology, 10 crew members were exposed to low gravity environments for over 3 years and they incurred visual impairments and elevated intracranial pressures (Mader, et al., 2016).
Researched comparisons in Astronaut to civilian mortalities and how time in low gravity affects the human body.
Three references influenced the results of the research. Two publications from the Occupational and Environmental Medicine that provided good evidence of the subject. The third and final reference was from the Journal of Neuro-Ophthalmology and it provided strong evidence to low gravity effects on cranial pressures.
As space medicine is being realized as being essential to space missions, the political climate has been abrasive. The general population wants space exploration, but when asked, they are not willing to sacrifice life or quality of Astronauts lives to get it. This raises the ethical dilemma of running a mission without full knowledge of the impacts it will have on the Astronauts. Therefore, if the mission to Mars is executed and everyone goes and comes back fine, then it would be a political and ethical win even without proper protocols and standards in place. But, if anything bad happens, then the general population, researches, and publicists will dissect the protocols and standards that lead to the failure.
The peer-reviewed articles are applicable to the questions being asked, but there needs to be more research done to cover all aspects of the question. The future research should include every Astronaut and it should be compared against an average civilian in multiple sections of the world.
The research batch was too small to give a definitive answer on the matter. There must be an epidemiological data set made that incorporates a diverse array of Astronauts to base policies and procedures off of.
Objective
To explore all assets of a mission that is destined for Mars to include, but not limited to, health risk factors, crew composition, factors affecting the implementation of protocols and procedures, and the importance of self-reliance in missions with no ability to abort.
Background
The Narrative
The assignment narrative for this research project states: “A high-tech commercial entity is collaborating with NASA and the international community to design a program to send crews consisting of mostly civilian experts on a 2.5-year round-trip journey to explore the planet Mars by 2050 and set up a base for future explorers, workers and tourists. It is assumed that by the time of this mission a Lunar outpost will serve as a crew launch site to Mars. This first mission is planned to begin during the closest approach of Earth, Moon and Mars. The length of the journey and Mars surface stay time will include about 6 to 8 months transit time and up to 6 to 18 months stay on the Mars surface. The transit time will rely on microgravity technology, while the Mars sojourn will be under 1/3 Earth’s gravity. You have been tasked to write a paper for the mission investors, backers, the press and the policy makers, introducing them to the medical and technological challenges of human space travel and exploration. You will be requesting additional funding to increase systems reliability and develop necessary human support systems. Please note that by the time of your assessment, there will be a lunar outpost/settlement of at least 30 people and some of the Mars’ transit and resupply missions can originate from the Lunar surface or cis-lunar laboratory”.
Assumptions
There are a few assumptions that have been directed to the above narrative for the research project. First, mission will be launched from a base on the Moon. This location will be the joint training and quarantine location for the 15 to 20 Astronauts for the month leading up to the mission. These 15 to 20 Astronauts are a diverse group of people with differing skillsets. Second, the mission will take place a time where the Earth-Mars-Earth system is at its closest approach, making the travel time from the Moon to Mars 6 months and the stay on Mars at least one and a half years. Third, the communication delays are complicating the mission by delaying assistance for unforeseen health and life support emergencies. This is requiring the mission to be self-sufficient on critical components in regards to health and life support. Fourth, assume that robotic technology can construct a base on mars and give considerations to controlling back contamination. Fifth, the crew is self-reliant on growing their own food and producing water. Consider the shelters that must be built to protect against radiation and electrostatically charged dust particles in storms. Sixth, state the optimum size, composition and organizational structure of the crew. Seventh, state health impacts from the long-duration mission in the presented environment and the impact of health on the mission. Eighth, compare the International Space Stations protocols and procedures against what would be used in the mission to Mars. And finally, detect any limitations and biases that are present in detecting unknown and potential health risks.
Knowledge Base / Historical Data
The Space Race started human exploration into space in multiple steps that culminated to just proving that a country could make a human could survive a trip through space. Starting with animals in space, then trips to barely the edge of space, a trip around the Moon, and finally landing on the Moon. They were all just focused on survival. Then, the Skylab, Space Shuttle and eventually the International Space Station (ISS) was created and it trended toward an evolution in space. First, adaptation and endurance in space, then developing the fundamentals and protocols in launch systems and finally research and observation on the ISS. Now, developments in space have advanced to exploring missions to Mars and setting up outposts on the Moon and eventually Mars. One of the developments in the way is Space Medicine and lack of epidemiological data based on Men and Women Astronauts from different backgrounds.
A thorough review of the difference in Astronaut to the average civilian mortalities by cause has not been completed. In a small batch research, it showed that 20 percent of Astronaut mortalities were due to neoplasms and another 20 percent were due to cardiovascular conditions (Reynolds, et al., 2016). The importance of doing this can be emphasized by looking into conditions that Astronauts would face that the average civilian wouldn’t, like low gravity. In research conducted in the Journal of Neuro-Ophthalmology, 10 crew members were exposed to low gravity environments for over 3 years and they incurred visual impairments and elevated intracranial pressures (Mader, et al., 2016).
Methods
The method for this research was developed throughout Dr. Nicogossian’s Psychology and Physiology of Space class. Research was conducted throughout the course and the references provided were considered to have strong evidence to the questions at hand and subsequently the question of the semester paper. Some searched terms to find peer-reviewed research articles were: radiation, low gravity, effects on the human body, space medicine, Mars mission, lunar outposts. All of these terms will lead research toward the problems that are faced by Astronauts and mission developers in long duration and high exposure missions like missions to Mars.
Results
Low Gravity
Three references influenced the results of the research and were found throughout the Dr. Nicogossian’s course. Two publications from the Occupational and Environmental Medicine with the first author of R.J. Reynolds that provided good evidence of the subject. The third and final reference was from the Journal of Neuro-Ophthalmology by the first author of Thomas Mader and it provided strong evidence to low gravity effects on cranial pressures.
Radiation
There were eight references that influenced the results of the research and were found throughout the Dr. Nicogossian’s course. The first publication from Nadin Abualroos was developed by Radiation Physics and Chemistry and it provides good information on the development of a new lead-free radiation shielding for long space flights. The second article from the European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging has Michel Bourguignon as the first author and it has strong evidence of radiations effects on genetic features. There are two more references from G Baiocco and the Radiation Prot Dosimetry and they provide strong peer-reviewed evidence of two garments that can shield Astronauts from radiation in space. The rest of the articles provided good evidence of radiation effects on Astronauts, but not on solutions that could be implemented on long duration space missions and couldn’t be used in space mission design and development.
Health / Medical Policy
Five references influenced the results of the research and were found throughout the Dr. Nicogossian’s course. The first two articles had R.W. Sanson-Fischer as the first author and both were published by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. The first has strong evidence of limitations with randomized controlled trials that evaluate population-based health interventions and the other has strong evidence as it provides factual data through public health’s research outputs. Another article provided a fair overview of space medicine through D. Hodkinson and the British Journal of Anesthesia. The last two articles provided strong evidence for evidence-based policymaking and decision making for clinical decisions, one is by J.P. Metlay and the Annals of Internal Medicine, the other by P. Cairney and the Health Research Policy and Systems.
Discussion
The Crew
On this mission, there is enough room for 15 to 20 individuals that will launch from the Lunar base after a month of quarantine. To start, with the first individual, you must have a commander or someone who will govern the mission and the crew. This person should be intimately familiar with the mission, but must also understand the importance of the surrounding members. The second and third member of the crew must be a space medicine practitioner that is capable of sustaining the health of the crew and administering emergency lifesaving treatment since there is no abort option. There are two of these members just in case one of them is in need of care, the other one can administer it. The fourth, fifth and sixth crew member will be engineers that are capable of manipulating the ship and responding to emergency situations onboard the ship. One of these three will be the lead engineer and responsible for navigation. If needed, the navigator could take the spot of the commander or be the co-commander in his or her absence. The seventh and eighth crew member will be Astro-botanists that specialize in creating and sustaining plant life in space environments. One of these two should also be knowledgeable in hydrology to be able to create and sustain a water source during the travel to Mars and while on the planet. The ninth member of the mission will be psychologists that specialize in isolation and long periods in remote and hopeless environments. The tenth member will be a chaplain with the capability to provide relief to all crew members diverse religious beliefs.
The other five to ten members will be determined as the mission development deems it necessary. For example, if there is a probability that there is harsh electrostatically charged dust storms on Mars, then there should be a survival expert onboard that can protect the team from such events. It is also important that every state that is involved in the mission to Mars be represented with an individual on the crew. For instance, if the United States, Europe, India and Japan have dedicated time, research, resources to executing this mission, then the crew should have at least one member of the supporting country. Out of all of the individuals on crew, there should be representation from both sexes throughout.
Low Gravity
There are no reservations from the average citizen when it comes to sending a man or woman into a low gravity situation. Most think its fun and some companies like Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic are making money off of sending civilians to space to experience a small bit of weightlessness. However, whenever a mission is set for as long of a duration as a trip to Mars, then it becomes a mission critical factor. This mission is planning on departing the Lunar base at its closest rotation to Mars so the trip will only be 6 months there, then spending up to a year and a half on the planet and then a trip back which will be longer than 6 months. So two and a half years total at least.
There is a peer reviewed research paper that gives strong evidence that the Astronauts will experience degraded eyesight and intracranial pressures during their trip from the lack of gravity. In this research, 10 crew members spent over three years in low gravity. It is a small sample size, but it is safe to say that there should be counter measures in place. One solution may be to create some type of artificial gravity or to create a helmet that levels out pressures and require it to be worn for certain amounts of time.
Radiation
Radiation is a problem that will need to be addressed before embarking on this mission. There is the ability to surround the ship with the propellant or to add shielding to the ship for lower energy radiological events like a solar particle event. There is also aluminum shielding that can protect against galactic cosmic rays. There are also 15 pharmacological agents that can reduce the radiation’s dose factors and one of these are even approved by the FDA to treat radiation toxicity (Langell, et al., 2008). But the problem is that the shields cannot cover all of the radiation that is going to affect the Astronauts and the pill will be a post exposure measure. The best way to cover the excess radiation is with personal suits. Using this radiation protective suit when there are high volumes of low energy exposure or during emergency events like solar particle events (Baiocco, et al., 2019).
Conclusion
The difference in this mission and any other mission that has previously been conducted in space is that it is a long duration mission that is far away from the host planet. This presents a few problems in the eyes of mission design and particularly with space medicine. The distance from the host planet means that the ship and crew must be self-sufficient because there are no abort abilities. They must have the crew and resources available to handle any emergency health concern that comes up.
The fact that the mission’s duration is so long brings up other concerns. Anything in space that is already harmful will be exacerbated due to the long exposure. So spending a long time in low gravity is usually a nuisance, but now it is a mission critical item. There is strong evidence that shows that these Astronauts will experience degraded eyesight. If it goes unchecked, then it could leave the Astronauts unable to complete the mission.
Another problem is that all of the Astronauts will experience long exposure to radiation. The countermeasures to radiation must be handled before the mission commences. The ships layout and shielding should protect the Astronauts from normal exposure. And there should be the ability to add additional protection through wearable gear or on-board safety shield huts. There is strong evidence to show that a mission to Mars is capable of shielding the Astronauts from the radiation, but the best way must be determined.
Limitations / Bias
The research batch was not substantial enough to give a fully researched and developed answer and the development of a mission to Mars. There must be an epidemiological data set made that incorporates a diverse array of Astronauts to base policies and procedures off of. There also must be research conducted, perhaps on the ISS, to show the effectiveness of the radiation suits and shields against real world radiological events like solar flares. The research that was conducted on 10 Astronauts over 3 years was not a big enough data set to set policies on long term exposures to low gravity. More Astronauts will need to be exposed and monitored in Earth’s orbit, or somewhere that there is the capability to abort a mission, before sending the Astronauts on a long-term mission with no possibility of aborting. There is also no evidence to show that emergency care can be sustained by an Astronaut crew for long duration missions without having multiple doctors and engineers on crew to minimize risk of them needing emergency care. The health and medical standards and procedures cannot be set off of this small batch of data, more research will need to be done.
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