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Vision Problems For Some Returning Astronauts
astroengine writes "A newly discovered affliction has some doctors wondering if astronauts traveling to Mars could have problems with their eyesight by the time they got there. About one-third of U.S. crew members aboard the ISS return with impaired vision, one case of which was permanent. The reason for the late discovery of this mysterious affliction is the reluctance of astronauts on active service to come forward — the risk of being grounded after complaining of blurry vision is considered too great."
The visual degradation is from the optic nerve, not from a mishaped cornea, if you had RTFA.
Occasionally living proof of the Ballmer peak.
No, the flap completely reseals permanently afterward - after a week or so there is no chance of the flap reoccuring because it no longer exists.
Yes, I have had laser eye surgery. Yes, I investigated such things thoroughly beforehand.
And yes, I fly aircraft.
Doesn't have to be that big. Put space station at one end of many tethers (for redundancy), put weight at the other end (weight could be power plant or other stuff), spin them.
They might as well work on this first before doing stupid stuff like going to Mars. Once you have space stations which people can actually live on, going to Mars or elsewhere is much easier.
And in fact, once they have such space stations, going to Mars might actually be not as interesting as starting space colonies among the asteroid belt (for easier access to raw materials).
As a retired Navigator (17 years in KC-135's (A/E/R) I think that this post is absolutely correct on the mindset of flyers. They don't want be sick and go DNIF (Duties, Not Including Flying-- Grounded) and the schedulers sure don't want you off flying status. If you were grounded, once you got back on flying status, there was punishment in terms extra duty and crappy flights. I flew when I probably shouldn't have, but most everybody did. Maybe more information will come out now the shuttle program is over.
Well your nickname sure reflects the sentiment of your post in this case...
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