Magnification of Space Dangers
“Human beings evolved in gravity, and it makes perfect sense that some systems — especially the immune and skeletal systems — might not do well without it,” said Millie Hughes-Fulford, a former astronaut who is researching the effects of “microgravity” on immunity.
Plans have long been made by NASA and international space organizations for human colonization on the moon, while also involving several years to reach Mars. Billions of dollars have been spent, with hundreds of hours of research and design to further advance space research travel. With all of this in mind, new findings are showing that the human body may not be able to survive living in space for extended periods of time–dangers from bacteria and viruses seems to be magnifying right in front of our eyes.
Concerns for astronauts, whether they are well protected or not, has caused NASA to focus on exposure to cosmic and solar radiation for space research. This has brought about discoveries of loss in bone strength and muscle tone in weightlessness. This is serious enough of a problem for space travelers, making one wonder why we would consider going to the Moon and Mars when eventually our entire body structure would become less of an asset than is needed. Also, new research is finding another physical risk for our future astronauts–the immune systems seem to have become less capable while in space, forcing them to become more susceptible to bacteria and viruses that are present. One major microbe, salmonella, has been researched enough to find that is becomes significantly more “virulent” while in space due to its weightlessness.
These findings originated about thirty years ago in the Apollo program, through NASA research. All three members of the crew become ill with colds at the same time and much less than healthy appearing. This illness ranged from severe chills to a bug that suppressed their immunity. The only way to control this at the time was to isolate the astronauts before launching, attempting to control the germs. Testing theories in space illness has become a major factor in NASA for the protection of further space travel and astronaut travel. These theories were serious scientific theories but so far had not been proven by the scientific field.
The new findings of tangible evidence of bacteria and virus in space and comets, along with the salmonella growth onboard the space flights have been found to have serious effects on the human physiology–and as stated previously, is weakening the bones and muscles of the astronauts, along with impairing the immune systems. The good thing about all of this is that these new findings will possibly offer advanced insights into the increase virulence of the microorganisms, such as salmonella, that will lead to advanced studies and new therapies for infections on Earth.
The Space Shuttle mission STS-115 in 2006 found that the salmonella grown underwent major changes in the expression of 167 genes, a study under researchers led by cherly Nickerson, associate professor at the Arizona State University Biodesign Institute. This study proved that changes “in the gene expression of the microorganism in space. providing evidence that one particular salmonella gene regulated mos tthe the molecular changes of the bacteria.”
This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 25th, 2007 at 10:02 am and is filed under Mission History, Space Agency News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
