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Time-in-Space Record Broken
NoFrance writes "Russian cosmonaut, Sergei Krikalev has taken the record for most time spent in space away from fellow Russian Sergei Avdeyev. At 748 days in space, Krikalev has an impressive list of accomplishments to his name, including : back-to-back 6 month tours on mir, he flew on the first joint US-Russian space shuttle mission, and a member of the first crew to live on ISS. He is currently commander of the ISS in a six-month stint that began on 14 April. Most impressive is his ability to deal with the physical hardships in space. In space most people lose around 1.5% of their bone mass per month, even with a disciplined exercise regime. And growing the bone mass lost from a 6 month stint back, can take a long time."
748 days? Wow. Think about that - it's more than two years. Quite an accomplishment indeed.
Out of curiosity, what's the record amount of time spent in space by a US-American astronaut?
quidquid latine dictum sit altum videtur.
In Soviet space, bone loses you!
Did you know subscribers can see articles in the future? Holy shit!
Frequent Flyer miles he accumulated?
(And Sergei, man, I'm so sorry you had to hear about it like this...)
Man is a slave because freedom is difficult, whereas slavery is easy.
I thought there was a problem with the space-time continuum.
Then you would understand just how short a time 748 days in space truly is.
A simple Troll, born of Rock and Fire, leaving in the basement of my parents volcano and typing on an asbestos keyboard.
"Sergei Krikalev has taken the record for most time spent in space away from fellow Russian Sergei Avdeyev"
Man- that Sergei Avdeyev must be pretty annoying if Sergei K has to go to space to stay away from him.
And growing the bone mass lost from a 6 month stint back, can take a long time.
. over..whelming......
I hate comments like that. Immediately I want to know how long, but all I know is that it's the ever-subjective "a long time". Gee, thanks.
From TFA
"And it takes a good long time to get it back," says Buckey, adding that it can take years to recover the bone mass lost from a six-month stay in orbit. Researchers are also not sure whether the quality of the new bone matches that of the bone mass lost, he told New Scientist.
Argh! The..strain...of..finding..this..infor..mation...
*gasp*
Calcium suppliments don't help. The problem is your body realises that you have too much muscle mass and that you are too strong for microgravity, so it stops reinforcing your bones until it percieves a need to strengthen your bones. It's not a lack of available calcium. It is the exact same phenomenon that plagues people on bedrest. Even though they are given the best food and nutrition available when they are off bedrest they are weak and frail.
-everphilski-
In previous discussions about a mission to Mars, the suggestion often comes up about a one-way trip -- one or more explorers who make the trip with no intention of coming back. Pioneers, really, rather than explorers.
This poor guy, who keeps getting tapped for "hey, ya think you can spend another year or so in zero-g, tovarisch?" is probably having it worse and worse when he comes back to Terra. How much of his "stamina" is due to some freak of biology, and how much comes straight from a Soviet-era "We invented it first, and better!" mindset?
If he's starting to feel those months in space when he's back on Earth, maybe Krikalev might want to take it easy in his retirement. Like, about 62% easier? Although medical facilities on Mars might be a bit lacking, even by Soviet standards.
Stressed? Me? Of course not. Stress is what a rubber band feels before it breaks, silly.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaceflight_records#T otal_time_in_space_-_top_50_space_travelers
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
RIMMER: How are we fuel-wise?
KRYTEN: Unchanged for today, sir. However, the supply situation grows
increasingly bleak. We've recycled the water so often, it's beginning
to taste like Dutch lager.
Centripetal-force-generated artificial gravity systems, like those envitioned by Arthur C. Clarke shown in the film 2001, have been studied by NASA and the Air Force for decades. Basically, it would require a structure of a few hundred meters radius rotating at a few rpm. The scale of such a habitat would be enormous, and the cost associated has not been shown to be warranted as of yet. However, the commercialization of space will probably bring about such an innovation out of necessity (for comfort).
Links here, here, and here.
Neither. There's a click-through EULA in the shuttle's boot sequence.
Even more impressive, Sergei can write English better than the average Slashdot editor. He doesnt have too many or too few commas, his clauses match their antecedents, and adverbs are not nine words away from their verb. That is something the up of which he will not put.
what else makes the bone mass come back?
I can answer that. Although this comes as a surprise to many people, bone is actually living tissue. It undergoes two continuous processes. On the one hand bone is continually reabsorbed by the body, and the minerals (mostly calcium and phosphate) end up in the blood stream. And on the other hand, new bone is always created as well. Those self same minerals are taken out of the bloodstream and deposited to make new bone.
Now the problem occurs because of the following. One of the main factors that determines where and how new bone is deposited is the constant traction against the bone by tendons. These tendons are attached on one end to the bones, and on the other to muscles. So muscle activity, which puts tension on the tendons, actually favors bone formation along the stress lines in the bone.
The only problem is that there is just so much muscle activity that you can get from an excercise program. This pales in comparison to the CONSTANT activity that your support, or anti-gravity muscles are doing all the time, 24hrs a day, in an involountary fashion. Now in space, the effects of gravity are gone. So the anti-gravity muscles stop working. So you end up losing the most part of the stimulus that promotes new bone formation. Hence, you get bone loss. The rate of reabsorbtion is now greater than the rate of formation.
How does it come back? Only through time, excercise, GRAVITY, calcium supplements, vitamin D, and in extreme cases, PTH (parathyroid hormone). Although the physiological function of this hormone is to promote bone reabsorbtion (ie loss), no one is sure why it actually does the opposite when used as a drug. Remineralizing a bone is a slow process however. This astronaut will NEVER get back to where he was when he left Earth.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
> Immediately I want to know how long, but all I know is that it's the ever-subjective "a long time".
I could look up how long it takes for you, but it'll take a while.
We need to figure out how to get rid of the fallout though
;-)
Supposedly, they have. Pratt and Whitney only need a buyer before they start constructing the engines. The engine is a tri-mode jobbie that can do high Isp thrust in space, and low (for NTR) Isp afterburning for high thrust, atmospheric work. Once in space, the engine can idle to produce ship's power.
Nice engine, eh? I want one.
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