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Hibernating to Mars
neutron_p writes "Manned missions beyond the Moon are no longer wild dreams. NASA plans a manned mission to Mars before 2020. With automatic systems in control, astronauts would face the challenge of living in a confined space with not much to do for an extremely long period. 'Might as well sleep it off!' Studies initiated by ESA have gone one step further. Wouldn't it be nice if astronauts could hibernate! ESA biologists are conducting investigations into the physiological mechanisms that mammals use to hibernate."
Am I part of the core demographic for Swedish Fish?
ESA To Study Human Hibernation
Posted by timothy on 10:20 AM -- Wednesday August 04 2004
from the that-report-will-be-a-snooze dept.
colonist writes "The European Space Agency (ESA) plans to study human hibernation for long-duration space voyages (a la 'Alien', '2001'). Although 'practical hibernation mechanisms are at least a decade away', ESA researchers will make initial inquiries into DADLE (D-Ala,D-Leu-enkephalin), an opium-like drug that triggers hibernation in ground squirrels and human cells. Other subjects of interest include dobutamine, a drug that maintains muscle, and the Madagascan fat-tailed dwarf lemur, the only primate known to hibernate."
works for most of USA
Just gather up a bunch of geeks and toss them in the capsule. Once they get away from Earth, send a message letting them know that you accidentially packed decaf. Once the panic wears off, they'll sleep the rest of the trip.
This strikes me as having two BIG problems right from the start:
This would be great, if it works, but I bet we end up doing it the hard way...
"I'm a scientist! I don't think, I observe!" - Dr. Clayton Forrester
Believe it or not, Science Fiction isn't the same as Science Fact. Ever see those clips of astronauts constantly exercising? They need to do that keep up their muscles out of atophy. If muscles will atophy for an otherwise active astronaut, don't you think they'll get even worse for a hibernating astronaut? The issue of hibernating isn't as easy as it seems. Biologists today don't even fully understand animal hibernation on earth.
Don't sweat the petty things. Don't pet the sweaty things. --Stephen J. Simmons
Make them earn their passage by doing some programming along the way. Set up the food dispensers so that if you don't work, you don't eat. That will keep them occupied!
It would suck to be stuck in a spaceship for three years, sure. But it would also suck to fall asleep and wake up three years later -- and three years older, with absolutely nothing to show for it. Sure, external sources of damage would be nearly eliminated, so you wouldn't be three years shorter of telomeres. Also, being in one place for the duration means hard radiation shielding is much more practical than trying to hard shield the entire ship.
Mal-2
How is the Riemann zeta function like Trump rallies? Both have an endless number of trivial zeros.
Expect NASA to announce, in the next few months, that physical requirements for astronauts have now changed. All prospective recruits must now have at least 400 lbs. of body fat.
Stories like this illustrate why people who say things like "why are we spending all this money on space when we have so many problems to solve here on Earth" need to rethink their arguments. Not only would true hibernation open up voyages to destinations much farther away than Mars, but being able to put humans into hibernation would have enormous medical implications -- imagine hibernating through surgery, or in the case of something incurable, being put into hibernation (thus, persumably, greatly slowing the process of the disease) until a cure is found. Also, the advances necessary to acheive this would lead to a much better understanding of human biology generally, with attendant medical advances we can't necessarily imagine at this point.
The usual counterargument to this is, "But if we spent the money studying ___ for its own sake, we would make the same discoveries, without the overhead of space flight!" This misses the point, IMO; we could do the research, but without an obvious need such as space flight creates, we generally wouldn't. Space exploration has provided the justification for some of the most important research the world has ever seen -- the reason "space-age technology" has fallen out of favor as an advertising slogan is because the stuff is now so woven into the fabric of our daily lives that we no longer think about its origins -- and clearly continues to do so.
The correlation between ignorance of statistics and using "correlation is not causation" as an argument is close to 1.
...not to hit the snooze button when you get there.
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One of the problems in space is your body begins to weaken since there is no gravity. That, with the fact that a year of not moving even on earth would make you too weak.. One wonders.
-Eric
Ever see those clips of astronauts constantly exercising? They need to do that keep up their muscles out of atophy. If muscles will atophy for an otherwise active astronaut, don't you think they'll get even worse for a hibernating astronaut?
Slowing down the metabolism slows everything down, including the process of muscle atrophy. You're right, of course, that there's a lot we don't understand about the process -- but if hibernation were the same as bed-rest, then animals that do hibernate would be too weak to move when they woke up. (And yes, being on strict bed-rest for a given period of time produces about the same degree of muscle atrophy and bone density loss as being in microgravity for the same period of time.) Odds are that hibernating astronauts would be in a lot better shape whent they got to Mars than they would be if they were awake the whole time.
The correlation between ignorance of statistics and using "correlation is not causation" as an argument is close to 1.
I say you surf the net and find the biggest net geeks they can find that never log off. After a spot check at their house to see they do in fact only leave their room to shit, get pizza, soda, and beer then sign them up to be astronauts. These guys wouldn't even notice they have left earth, much less have difficulty handling the isolation. That is of course till Halflife 3 came out and wouldn't run on their computers.
Then we would have to have an emergency mission. Of course we could get ATI or NVIDIA to pay for the privlage of being "the official sponser of the graphics card upgrade rescue mission".
I thought that astronauts needed daily exercise to avoid bone and muscle loss.
Wouldn't sleeping during the trip be detrimental to their health?
Oh, and I don't thing that using small electric jolts to stimulate the muscles would work. There was a class action lawsuit against a company that sold such a device as exercise equipment because it didn't work. Repetitive arm movements to type and to use the mouse require more muscular strength than those devices produce but you don't see computer geeks (like me) with super strong forearms and wrists.
Cheers,
Adolfo
Induction of hibernation has a much more practical purpose here on earth -- organ transplant.
If we could force an ex-planted organ into hibernation, then we wouldn't have to rush around trying to get organs into people within 6-12 hrs (it is different for each organ type).
Hiberation may also inhibit the reperfusion injury that often complicates transplant as well.
That's just the obvious use of medical hiberation. We already know that somebody can not be declared dead until they are "cold and dead." This is because the many cases of people appearing to be brain dead --especially children-- who have a complete recovery after warming. (So if you are going to drown, please do so in a very cold lake.)
Imagine the day when people who are dying at home get placed into hiberation until they can be brought to the hospital and worked up. Instead of blindly trying treatments in the field, one could slow down the dying process until a cause of injury is found.
It has always amazed me that so many animals hiberate, but we can figure out how to translate that into humans.
How are they gonna get a brand-new, untried vehicle to run for a six-month trip each way, without multiple someones keeping an eye on things?
All they have to do is have some kind of automated assistant to keep an eye on things!
They could call it the Hybernation Assistance Lifeline.
It could do things like keep the radio antenna lined up with Earth, and manage the opening and closing of the pod bay doors.
I've always wondered why they dont send people who are use to sitting in a chair for months at a time. ;)
I know after I get HL2 I wont be on Slashdot for at least a week!
So they are trying to make a human hibernate for 3 years? I wonder if 4 years is possible.
If Bush wins, I want to sleep right through it.
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