Spooky Space Travel

Growing up, I have always dreamed about going into space. Floating around without Earth's gravity stopping me and seeing light from other stars always piqued my imagination. Fast forward to today, space travel just terrifies me. Humans have evolved over millions of years on Earth, and though our bodies aren't perfect,  there is still a delicate balance to how we pump blood, filter out waste, and even when we decide to sleep. How we interact with others and how we are orientated to the space around us have all evolved and adapted on the very same planet we came from. But during the last century, we have become a space venturing species. Currently, there are 7 people in space on the International Space Station (NASA, 2024). Though technically, the people aren't traveling through space and just orbiting the Earth, they are still experiencing the effects of microgravity.

Currently, the research on the effects of space and microgravity is a very new field. What we currently know is that prolonged space travel causes bone demineralization, fluid redistribution, muscular atrophy, psychosocial effects, and space sickness (Williams et al., 2009). After about a month in space orbit, studies show that there is a 30% reduction in muscle mass, 60-70% loss of calcium, and about 1-2% bone density reduction (Williams et al., 2009). People in space also have to worry about dangerous levels of ultraviolet radiation due to the lack of a protective atmosphere. Since space travel is often times very long, the people aboard must also learn how to live and work together. I cannot imagine myself living on a cramped spaceship with other people for a long time. It would drive me crazy.

Thankfully, there are many countermeasures being used to prevent or reduce the harmful effects of space travel. Daily exercise and nutritional support for astronauts are a big priority that can slow down the atrophy of muscle and density loss from bones (Williams et al., 2009). Cool inventions such as the use of a rotating spaceship for a gravitational simulation, electrical muscular stimulation, and even the use of a negative pressure suit are being utilized to help astronauts. Still there are many things that must be studied before we can call our self space explorers. A lot of research is being done on kidney filtration, the immune system, and UV radiation.

After hearing about the effects of space travel, would you still like to space travel? I certainly don't. Living on Earth is already difficult enough, but that is the beauty of our species. There are always new avenues in the world for us to explore, and our curiosity has no bounds.

Sources:

NASA. (2024, July). International Space Station facts and figures - NASA. https://www.nasa.gov/international-space-station/space-station-facts-and-figures/

Williams, D., Kuipers, A., Mukai, C., & Thirsk, R. (2009). Acclimation during space flight: effects on human physiology. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 180(13), 1317–1323. https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.090628