{"id":42152,"date":"2024-09-01T12:15:01","date_gmt":"2024-09-01T06:45:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=42152"},"modified":"2025-05-01T05:03:36","modified_gmt":"2025-04-30T23:33:36","slug":"what-does-spaceflight-do-to-human-body","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/what-does-spaceflight-do-to-human-body\/","title":{"rendered":"What does Spaceflight do to the Human Body?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><strong>What\u2019s in today\u2019s article?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Background<\/li>\n<li>Understanding Space &amp; Microgravity<\/li>\n<li>Effects on Human Body<\/li>\n<li>How Does Astronauts Counter These Effects?<\/li>\n<li>How Much Time are Humans Spending in Space?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Background<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>On August 24, NASA announced that Boeing&#8217;s Starliner crew capsule, which had transported astronauts <strong>Sunita Williams<\/strong> and <strong>Barry Wilmore<\/strong> to the International Space Station (ISS) for its first crewed test flight, was deemed unsafe for their return journey.<\/li>\n<li>As a result, NASA has extended Williams and Wilmore&#8217;s stay on the ISS until February 2025.<\/li>\n<li>They are scheduled to return aboard a SpaceX crew capsule, set to launch in September 2024.<\/li>\n<li>Meanwhile, Boeing&#8217;s Starliner will undock and return to Earth without any crew on board.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Understanding Space &amp; Microgravity<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Space is defined by its conditions, which differ vastly from Earth.<\/li>\n<li>Space begins at the <strong>Karman line<\/strong>, 100 km above sea level, where gravity significantly weakens but does not disappear.<\/li>\n<li>This microgravity environment affects various bodily functions, leading to several health issues for astronauts.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Effects on Human Body<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Bones<\/strong>: In microgravity, bones weaken due to the lack of weight-bearing activities, which may cause the body to deposit excess minerals in the kidneys, leading to kidney stones.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Digestion<\/strong>: The digestive system slows down, potentially leading to weight gain.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Eyes<\/strong>: Spaceflight-associated neuro-ocular syndrome (SANS) is a condition affecting eyesight, caused by fluid accumulation in the head.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Heart and Muscles<\/strong>: The heart may shrink due to reduced workload, and muscle mass can decrease, leading to overall weakness.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Blood and Brain<\/strong>: The body loses more red blood cells, requiring dietary adjustments. The brain works harder to maintain balance and orientation due to altered signals from the body in microgravity.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>How Does Astronauts Counter These Effects?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Countermeasures and Research<\/strong>:\n<ul>\n<li>Space agencies have implemented strict exercise regimes and predictable routines to help mitigate these effects.<\/li>\n<li>Researchers are also exploring the impact of different nutrients and drugs in space, as well as developing new technologies and protocols to monitor and manage health issues.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Japan\u2019s <strong>KAKENHI programme<\/strong> is studying biological responses to various parts of the space environment.<\/li>\n<li>Europe\u2019s <strong>Space Omics<\/strong> Topical Team is developing space omics tools and methods.<\/li>\n<li>In the U.S., the \u2018Complement of Integrated Protocols for Human Exploration Research\u2019 project allows astronauts to sign up for experiments in space that will study their health in standardised ways.<\/li>\n<li>Scientists from around the world, including India, are part of the <strong>International Standards for Space Omics Processing<\/strong> to develop research and ethics guidelines.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>How Much Time are Humans Spending in Space?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Increase in Space Mission Duration<\/strong>:\n<ul>\n<li>In the 1960s, astronauts spent an average of one month in space. By the 2020s, this has increased to six months.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Each expedition to the ISS now lasts up to six months<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Evolution of Space Missions<\/strong>:\n<ul>\n<li>Less than a century ago, going to the moon was considered a long-duration space mission.<\/li>\n<li>Today, space agencies from various countries, including China, India, Japan, Russia, and the U.S., are planning permanent stations on the moon and human missions to Mars.<\/li>\n<li>These new long-duration missions will introduce new safety challenges.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Records in Space:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>11 individuals have spent more than 300 days in space on a single mission.<\/li>\n<li>The record for the longest single mission is held by Russia\u2019s Valeri Polyakov with 437 days.<\/li>\n<li>The American record is held by Frank Rubio with 370 days.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Oleg Kononenko is the only astronaut to have spent more than 1,000 days in space across multiple missions<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Peggy Whitson, a U.S. astronaut, has spent 675 days in space, making her the second active spacefarer on this list.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>If Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore\u2019s current trip ends on February 15, 2025, they will have spent 256 days in orbit<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure class=\"media\">\n<div data-oembed-url=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=siL97hz8o2w\">\n<div><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/siL97hz8o2w\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Q1. What is a Galactic Halo?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Galactic halo, in astronomy, is a nearly spherical volume of thinly scattered stars, globular clusters of stars, and tenuous gas observed surrounding spiral galaxies, including the Milky Way\u2014the galaxy in which the Earth is located.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Q2. What is the difference between Asteroid and Meteor?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Asteroids are smaller than a planet, but they are larger than the pebble-size objects we call meteoroids. A meteor is what happens when a meteoroid \u2013 a small piece of an asteroid or comet \u2013 burns up upon entering Earth&#8217;s atmosphere, creating a streak of light in the sky.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/sci-tech\/science\/what-does-spaceflight-do-to-the-human-body-explained\/article68571578.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>What does spaceflight do to the human body? | Explained<\/u><\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Space is defined by its conditions, which differ vastly from Earth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":42153,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-42152","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42152"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42152\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}