#SPYLAB PURSUIT HOW TO#

Picture: NASAĭr Jurblum, who has a Graduate Certificate in Space Studies from the International Space University, has been involved with research groups looking at how to maintain mental health in extreme environments. We’re looking at how to prevent this.” Expedition 48 crew members on board the International Space Station adjusting to cramped station life in orbit. “Any person can break given enough stress. There is little room to move and yoou are in constant danger from radiation and micro-meteorites. Essentially you are floating through an airless vacuum in a sealed-up container, only staying alive because of the machinery recycling your air and water. Space travel is still inherently dangerous. But once they return to Earth, the opposite is true – many of them have to work hard to get their ‘Earth legs’ back. Astronaut Frank Borman suffered such a bad bout of space sickness on the way to the moon that Mission Control considered shortening the mission.įortunately, just like people going to sea eventually get their sea legs, astronauts develop space legs within about two weeks. In 1968, NASA launched its second human spaceflight - the Apollo 8. It’s like being sea sick.”Īnd there are many examples. A lot of them spend days feeling incredibly unwell. “In Zero G, those don’t work as well and, as a result, astronauts suffer a lot of nausea. On Earth, tiny gyroscopes in your brain give you spatial awareness - they tell you when you tilt your head, accelerate, or change position. So, what are the key health issues facing prospective space travellers? Space sickness We have the understanding and the technology to do most of it.” What happened to Mars' atmosphere? “I’d be very surprised if we didn’t see a Mars mission in our lifetime. Its job is to support space medicine research and education outreach across Australia, and the Bioastronautics Australia Network.ĭr Jurblum thinks an odyssey to Mars is only a matter of time. But he’s also a member of the Australasian Society of Aerospace Medicine’s Space Life Sciences Committee. Self-described “space nerd”, University of Melbourne training psychiatrist Dr Marc Jurblum is a medical doctor. How will those who make the trip cope with the mental and physical rigours of the journey? What role will isolation and stress play? And what are the health dangers? There are many health hurdles that need to be overcome before travelling to Mars becomes a reality. Space may be the final frontier, but if the headlines coming out of NASA are to be believed it won’t be too long before humans are boldly going where no-one has gone before - Mars.īut long-distance space travel brings with it a unique set of health problems.

Spylab pursuit