Disease May Prevent Manned Journey To Mars

Posted by Soulskill on Friday October 30, 2009 @09:14PM from the get-your-penicillan-to-mars dept.

Pickens writes "Science Daily News reports that human missions to Mars and all other long-term space flights might be compromised by disease, first because space travel appears to weaken astronauts' immune systems; and second, because it increases the virulence and growth of microbes. 'When people think of space travel, often the vast distances are what come to mind first,' says Jean-Pol Frippiat from Nancy-University in France, 'but even after we figure out a way to cover these distances in a reasonable amount of time, we still need to figure out how astronauts are going to overcome disease and sickness.' Frippiat says studies show that immune systems of both people and animals in space flight conditions are significantly weaker than their grounded counterparts and that common pathogens such as Salmonella, E. coli and Staphylococcus reproduce more rapidly in space flight conditions, leading to increased risk of contamination, colonization and serious infection."

2 of 177 comments (clear)

Min score:

Reason:

Sort:

Re:We'll have to invent sanitation droids... by syousef · 2009-10-30 23:14 · Score: 0, Offtopic

Fucking hell. Has slashdot just plain lost its sense of humour? If that wasn't an obvious joke, what the hell is? Instead I get -1 overrated and a serious response.

--
These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
Another two words... by turing_m · 2009-10-30 23:32 · Score: 0, Offtopic

Day care

--
If I have seen further it is by stealing the Intellectual Property of giants.