Why Astronauts Are SCARED of Space Travel

 

even though technology has allowed us to  go to space several times  even today space travel is incredibly  difficult for humans  when we think of space we think of  astronauts shaking hands with aliens  traveling to far-off galaxies and  building on new worlds every time  that's at least what the movies have  made viral but it couldn't be further  from the truth  first of all space is huge our closest  neighbor alpha centauri  a is 4.367 light years from us  even if we are traveling at the speed of  light it would take us four full  years just to reach the star that's way  too much travel and a lot of resources  wasted on getting there  if we could travel to the speed of light  we could have a big advantage despite  the gargantuan distance between stars  and planets though it would still be a  big challenge for most people  a popular idea is that of traveling  using wormholes which are essentially  tunnels in space and time  that lets you get from one part of space  to another in an incredibly short amount  of time  however even traveling short distances  in space is a huge  task keeping people alive in space is  another thing  how will people survive for four years  inside a ship without enough resources  to keep them afloat  you need to have enough water food and  air and make sure that all of those  resources are properly recycled  and that the toilets aren't  malfunctioning either however the human  body  wasn't made for space and for astronauts  there are many threats  namely bone density plummeting  cardiovascular problems  muscles wasting away and even getting  cancer  if you've ever been on a long car trip  you'll know that spending  so long in a cramped up space can be  very annoying for you  imagine spending a year or even four in  a small spacecraft with only five of  your friends  without the possibility of seeing your  other friends and family  for anyone that'd be incredibly harsh on  their mental health  which isn't usually analyzed as part of  the problem  it's pretty hard and bleak in terms of  getting people to other planets and  stars and with all the reasons we've  mentioned  one would think mankind would give up on  this pursuit a long time ago  the truth is they haven't star trek and  star wars make things look super easy  and when the heroes get a distant  distress call all they do is use a warp  drive or hyperdrive  and they'll arrive at their destination  just traveling to mars would take a full  year of space travel  it's ironic that space travel has taken  so much to become  big almost 50 years ago humans were  walking on the moon  but we stopped going in 1972 and never  ventured any further except by sending  robotic probes  humans have never gone to jupiter as the  book in the movie  2001 a space odyssey promised us or even  to mars  and the truth is that space is hard  every time a space flight failure occurs  the phrase space's hard will be uttered  constantly  the sentiment is typically being  expressed as disappointment  any high stakes project carries a high  risk of failure  especially if it's on the cutting edge  of technology  spaceflight also has a bunch of problems  that make the conditions for success  super difficult  these are some reasons why this happens  rocket launches are controlled  explosions in the most literal sense  given that combustive power of liquid  oxygen and hydrogen  alcohols and kerosene and leaves little  room for error  using that energy into a usable thruster  requires carefully designed combustion  chambers  nozzles and other components  hydrodynamic instabilities are  so complex and difficult to predict that  the early rocketeers relied on  experimentation  rather than empirical modeling to  perfect their designs  and that's not even talking about the  many hazards of human space flight  let's think of a human journey to mars  for example even though mars has been  numerously probed by human satellites  and machines  a journey there offers a massive amount  of complexities  the first hazard of a human mission to  mars is also the most difficult to  visualize  because well space radiation is  invisible to the human eye  above earth's natural protection  radiation exposure increases cancer risk  damages the central nervous system can  alter cognitive function reduce  motor function and prompt behavioral  changes to learn what can happen above  low earth orbit nasa studies how  radiation affects biological samples  using a ground-based research laboratory  the space station sits just within  earth's protective magnetic field  so while our astronauts are exposed to  10 times higher radiation than on earth  it's still a smaller dose than what deep  space has in store  to mitigate this hazard deep space  vehicles will have significant  protective shielding  dosiometry and alerts research is also  being conducted in the field of medical  countermeasures such as pharmaceuticals  to help defend against radiation  rocket engines have the problem of  causing intense vibrations during their  launch which both rockets and their  payloads must survive  space space-bound components and systems  need to be tested several times on earth  to ensure that they can withstand the  launch environment in the first place  there's also the cleanliness standards  and levels to be upheld for the  spacecraft  if you've watched our article on space  junk then you'll know that we don't want  to make space dirtier than it already is  right now  during assembly on earth dust fluids and  other contaminants will settle to the  bottom of a spacecraft or collect in  spots with little airflow  in zero gravity these particles can  become airborne  so to speak and damage electrical  components shorting them out  this is why spacecraft are assembled in  clean rooms it's to protect the  spacecraft from humans  not the other way around let's also  remember that a spacecraft is not only a  home  it's also a machine the ecosystem inside  the spacecraft is important in the  everyday life of its inhabitants the  astronauts  important habitability factors include  temperature pressure  lighting noise and quantity of space  it's essential that astronauts are  getting the requisite food  sleep and exercise needed to stay  healthy and happy  technology as often as the case with out  of this world exploration  comes to the rescue in creating a  habitable home in a harsh environment  everything is monitored from air quality  to possible microbial inhabitants  microorganisms that naturally live on  your body are transferred more easily  from one person to another in a closed  environment  imagine an outbreak like 19 happening  inside of a spacecraft going to another  planet  how would the astronauts fare in a  situation like that where they're  already  isolated and that's something that could  happen to anybody in space  which is why it's so problematic there's  also the fact that the reliability of a  rocket or any kind of spacecraft has to  be essentially  perfect for things to work unlike most  projects on earth where engineering  mistakes can be fixed as they arise  a space system has to operate correctly  the first time since repairs are  impossible after launch  the reliability or dependability under  stated conditions for a set period of  time of a space system  must be quantified and well understood  before it even gets to the launch pad  on top of that an aircraft and a  spacecraft or rocket are very different  in their automated sequencing  and the steps necessary to properly  operate them  space operations are infinitely more  complex than air operations  and there's also the fact that not even  all of the things we mentioned  are all the reasons why space travel is  hard the truth is that the more we know  about space  the more we understand how little we  know about traveling in it and how it  would affect humans  what we know is only what we've learned  in less than a hundred years of space  travel  and while many people are committed to  turning space travel and possibly future  colonization into something big  for the time being it will be a  nightmare but our species is  characterized by our ability to make  last year's miracle seem like this  year's child's play  just over 50 years ago colored  televisions were a novelty  now we're working on fully immersive  virtual reality  we need a significant attitude shift in  how we think of space flight  rocket science is no longer fringe or  experimental  it's marching into the mainstream and it  should be held to the same high  standards as other pervasive technology  systems  with due time we'll be able to advance  in space flight  and those are the main reasons why space  travel will always be a nightmare  it's definitely not an easy thing to  fathom but someday  we might even be able to travel faster  than light and reach new planets easier