Safety and health risks such as space radiation, cosmic rays, gamma rays, ultraviolet rays, x-rays, solar flares, space junk, meteoroids, mechanical failure, human failure, the physical or mental effects of long term exposure during a prolonged stay in space and the list continues is not fully comprehendible. Safety and health associated with space travel has not been a top priority until after several astronauts were killed. At the beginning, air flight was more of an experiment to see if a plane could fly; such a historical event as the Wright brothers. During World War II, so many planes crashed because of mechanical design, but each time a disaster occurred people dared and got back into the airplane until the design was altered in such a way to correct the defects and have planes fly safely. Flying was more trial and error. Flying in a spacecraft to outer space is also trial and error.

At the time, the United States barely understood how to get a spacecraft to fly upward without falling back towards Earth and exploding on the ground. In the 1960s, during the cold war with Russia, the competition was so intense for who would reach the moon first that President John F. Kennedy and Congress made the Space Agency a high priority for developing a rocket to do just that. NASA obtained most of their financial backing at that time with the support of Congress. Congress spent millions of dollars on a vision that the United States would reach and land on the Moon and safely return to Earth, without really knowing how safe it would be for the astronauts.

Ever since the end of the Cold War, Congress has relegated monies for other priorities, and NASA is critically short of funds for research and development, but is still expected to operate on target projects. Without such funds to reach appropriate goals of space travel, it will notably affect the quality of life for future space travelers. “Without a significantly large infusion of funds to supply the equipment and to support a larger crew, the collection of basic information about the hazards of space travel will not be accomplished within the next 10-20 years” (Setlow). Plainly put, “space travel is inherently risky,” since there are so many variables and lacking funds is an added difficulty to delay the space program further (Hayes).

NASA has since learned to make do with limited funds and still put new satellites into space using robotics and high definition photo imagery cameras. Until scientists are able to collect more data concerning the safety and health of space personnel, further studies or travel may be instituted and funded with the use of robotics. “On January 14, 2004, President George W. Bush announced the Vision for Space Exploration. The President’s directive gave NASA a new and historic focus and clear objectives” (Readdy). President Bush’s statement concerning the Nation’s space exploration detailed a plan, “…to advance U.S. scientific, security, and economic interests through a robust space exploration program” (Readdy).

One of the newer projects that NASA has implemented in preparation for a future human mission, and so far successful, on March 10, 2006 NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California received signals from their new spacecraft, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) when it emerged from the shadows of Mar’s orbit. It is a $720 million dollar mission consisting of a two-ton spacecraft with has much more advanced technological equipment to obtain essential data than any other mission attempted. It is scheduled to orbit the low atmosphere of Mars for four years while accumulating pertinent data concerning the climate and landscape. In the fall of 2006, it began collecting data of the Martian atmosphere. Two important tasks will be to determine whether or not there is evidence of water and secondly, locate future selected sites for landing robotics and astronauts.

For the past seven months the MRO has made a journey of 310 million miles which arrived into Mar’s dangerous orbit insertion phase on March 10, 2006. Mars has a nasty record of “swallowing scientific probes,” but the Orbiter made the maneuver without any incident (Chang). Mission control anticipates having the Orbiter move in as close as 250 miles above the surface of Mars. Previously, NASA had lost other spacecraft during the orbit insertion phase to Mars, so the Orbiter will be able to send back significant photographs of the surface and is also equipped with radar to survey beneath the surface for ice, water, or other signs of past life.

NASA is eagerly anticipating receiving data and photo images beginning in November 2006, as well as scan for potential landing locations for future land rovers and humans to explore the dusty planet. The next phase of communication will be an intermediary for the Phoenix Mars Scout which will be designed to “explore the icy north pole in 2008 and the Mars Science Laboratory, an advanced rover scheduled to launch in 2009” (Chang). The conclusion of the Orbiter is scheduled in 2010, so it is imperative that the MRO will prove successful in its mission for human exploration to the Red Planet.

From a health prospective, “the reality is, however, that the astronaut is (in most cases) the only individual from whom clinical information relevant to space travel can be collected” (Hayes). Surviving astronauts may be the best models in which to study such biological effects from exposure to the upper troposphere and the Earth’s moon.

Such innovations, if proved successful, can ensure a high reliability of success for the survival and safety of space travelers. Any prolonged deep space mission will require necessary protection from a harsh and hostile space environment.

The main concern that astronauts face when going into space is how to avoid or reduce exposure to radiation. From the article: Who knows what dangers lurk in space? Garget discusses the types of radiation found in space and the potential pitfalls of radiation exposure from the sun and galactic cosmic rays, so radiation can damage human DNA, as well as spacecraft. Since NASA anticipates future missions to the Moon and Mars, protection from radiation is of serious concern.

Where Earth’s magnetic field deflects harmful energy-charged particles from the Sun, it also grabs the trapped particles within the natural barrier, an action of the magnetic poles of the Earth. Additionally, our Earth’s atmosphere will disperse and absorb harmful cosmic rays in order to shield life forms from these deadly rays. Earth’s magnetosphere extends outward into space to allow protection from this radiation for the International Space Station to operate. “Neither the Moon nor Mars has a protective magnetic field, but the solid mass of each world provides some shielding” (Garget). In outer space beyond Earth’s magnetosphere, radiation can be found anywhere. The point considered in future space missions is how to protect astronauts on the Moon or Mars when cosmic rays strike.

The Sun appears to cycle approximately every 11 years between quiet and throwing out solar flares containing immense radiation. At its maximum, sunspots cover its surface. “Flares and coronal mass ejections (CME) occur frequently, hurling billion-ton clouds of energetic matter into space” (Garget). When this solar activity occurs, it becomes increasingly unsafe for anyone traveling beyond Earth’s atmosphere. Immense radiation is released during these climactic episodes. Also influencing high-energy protons and nuclei of heavier elements such as iron are the galactic cosmic rays. This phenomenon is thought to be produced during supernova explosions traveling at super high rates of speed. Cary Zeitlin, a radiation expert stated, “The galactic cosmic rays include particles that are highly ionizing and can cause very significant tissue damage” (Garget).

To provide radiation shields, it has been suggested to use hydrogen in water or plastic form, as a form of protective material having a low atomic mass. The discussions of using plasma or a strong magnetic field are concepts being considered for future spacecraft. According to Garget, it is hoped that a new design will be successful in using “electric fields to deflect charged particles.”

Preventing the onset of cancer is a main concern, as well as “cataracts, radiation sickness, damage to the central nervous and immune systems and possibly, heart disease” (Garget). Also, Dr. Keith Manuel, senior vision consultant with Johnson Space Center Flight Medicine adds, “While we thoroughly examine each astronaut prior to and following a mission, we must always concern ourselves with the harm that is sustained during a mission but may not manifest itself for years” (Borsche). As studies suggest, there is a higher incidence of cataracts occurring between astronauts versus non-flight persons. Additionally, scientists hope of discovering “a drug or a dietary supplement” to deter potential health risks (Garget). Medical scientists see a link associated with taking preventative drugs or dietary supplements before, during, and after space missions in reducing tumors, cataracts, cancer, and muscle degeneration.

The scientists associated with the National Space Biomedical Research Institute, conducted a preliminary study using nutritional supplements on test subjects and found that taking “nutritional supplements may lessen muscle atrophy” related to extended time in space in 0 gravity during space missions (Graham). In a discussion with Dr. Arny Ferrando, professor of surgery at UTMB and Shriners Hospital for Children in Galveston added, “Early results suggest that the amino acid supplement is able to maintain synthesis rates and body mass” (Graham). So in developing a preventative means to retain travelers and astronaut’s physical health while in space, doctors are implementing new and safer technology to protect those and their equipment from excess radiation while traveling in outer space.

According to the article, NASA’s New Ride, the future “Fantastic Four” will be making an orbital flight in 2012 and walking on the moon in 2018. Since the moon requires more exploration, one goal is to successfully locate frozen water beneath the surface in an attempt to establish a “human outpost” (Weed). Another goal is to manufacture rocket fuel on the surface of the moon which will provide the astronauts the necessary fuel to make their Earth-bound return trip, or to refuel and continue on to Mars. Also, at the NASA Ames Research Center in California, Michael Flynn who is a research scientist there says, “Plans are now underway developing a water recycler enabling reuse for three years without re-supply are being developed on a timeline to fit into exploration plans” (Hogan). Eugene Trinh, director of the Human System Research and Technology Program, NASA Headquarters, Washington adds, “We are working to improve technology used on board the International Space Station (ISS) and have several research projects under way for future missions to the moon and Mars” (Hogan).

NASA Administrator, Michael Griffin has design specifications available for the next spacecraft which is good news. The Crew Exploration Vehicle or CEV will be built by either Lockheed Martin or Northrop Grumman-Boeing experts, depending on who is awarded the contract. NASA is very optimistic that the new spacecraft will not only be capable, but also safe and cost-effective as well. Future plans for the CEV include outfitting it “for a 240,000 mile flight to the moon,” […] and “add expanded life-support and crew-living modules for the long trip to Mars” (Weed). Foreseeable, are the “cost-saving factors of $104 billion over the next 13 years or 55 percent of Apollo’s cost, its reliability of a 1 in 2,000 chance of failure or 10 times as safe as the shuttle” is the incentive for the future of space travel, especially with the budget constraints that NASA must consider (Weed).

The three key advantages of the CEV, is that NASA plans to go back to Apollo-era designs but will use modern systems and hardware. Also, the CEV will carry much less loads, making it more versatile and cost-effective. Additionally, the third advantage will allow all of the astronauts to visit the Moon’s surface, while the command module continues in its lunar orbit. “NASA wants the service module’s rockets to be powered by liquid oxygen and liquid methane” (Weed). The argument for using these particular ingredients for fuel energy is that both chemicals can be extracted from Mars.

In conclusion, there are other hurdles to consider, besides a “$5 billion shortfall in NASA’s proposed budget for human spaceflight programs over the next five years.” Developing dependable and protective “life support and radiation protection” for the crew and CEV is paramount (Weed). Surmounting these challenges with updated medical technology, greater saftey precautions in the construction of space vehicles will lay the foundation for greater exploration going forward. For the crew members making these missions a reality, it will require increased dietary regiments as a precautionary measures to prevent prolonged radiation exposure. Greater emphasis on medical research and followup checkups after missions in deep space should prove that space cowboys can still laso a few planets in their tracks.

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