Researchers believe that the biggest challenge for humans will be the absence of Earth-like gravity.
Scientists from the Australian National University conducted simulations that showed how the human body would behave on Mars. As reported on the website of the institution, this model can be used to understand whether astronauts will be able to transfer the journey to the Red Planet, as well as cope with the tasks on it.
During the study, scientists sought to understand how the lack of gravity, similar to Earth's, will affect the health of the human cardiovascular system. This is necessary in order to understand how people will cope with the Martian gravitational forces, which are not as strong as on our planet, without fainting and without the need for emergency medical care.
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According to Lex van Loon, the lead author of the study from the Australian National University School of Medicine, although there are many risks involved in traveling to Mars, the biggest concern is being in microgravity, which is close to weightlessness. It, together with the combination with the influence of harmful solar radiation, can lead to “fundamental changes” in the body.
“We know that it takes six to seven months to travel to Mars, and it can change the structure of your blood vessels or the strength of your heart because of the weightlessness that comes with space travel,” Wang Loong said.
< p>According to astrophysicist Emma Tucker, in microgravity conditions the heart can become “lazy” because it does not have to exert as much effort to overcome gravity by pumping blood through the body.
“When you're on Earth, gravity pulls fluid to the lower half of our body, so some people have swollen feet by the end of the day. But when you go into space, that gravitational pull disappears. This means that the fluid moves to the upper half of your body and this causes a reaction that tricks the body into thinking there is too much fluid… This is why you can see on the news astronauts passing out when they set foot back on Earth. “It's a fairly common occurrence as a result of space travel, and the longer you're in space, the more likely you are to pass out when you return to gravity,” said Dr. Tucker.
As the article states. scientists, published in the journal Microgravity, being on Mars can lead to a 10% decrease in cardiac output, despite a compensatory increase in heart rate by 7% while maintaining average blood pressure. It is also noted that astronauts may have problems after returning to Earth if they stay on Mars for three or more years.
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