Medicine Medicine for for MarsMarsKevin Fong

@kevin_fong

1962

1969

MarsMars

How?

When?

1000 day missions

The Next Small StepThe Next Small Step

NASA KC-135 Parabolic NASA KC-135 Parabolic FlightFlight

NASA KC-135 Parabolic NASA KC-135 Parabolic FlightFlight

Human Responses to Weightlessness

Change in Hydrostatic Pressures in 0g

Changes in Body

Functions in 0g

37% loss in muscle mass over 7 days with

gravitational unloading

Fitts et al., Journal of Applied Physiology, 2000

2% loss in bone mineral density per

month amongst astronaut crews

Vico et al. Lancet. 2000 May

Impaired coordination

Hallucinations Space Motion

SicknessBlack, Paloski et al. Acta Otolaryngol 1995

Orthostatic Intolerance

Li-Fan Zhang et al., Journal of Applied Physiology 2001

"All the conditions necessary for murder are met if you shut two men in a cabin measuring 5 metres by 6 and leave them

together for two months.“

Cosmonaut Valery RyuminSalyut6, 1980

Psychological Problems

MIR Program Post-flight

125 days125 days

162 days162 days

Crew Recovery Status: Mir & ISSObserved post-landing capabilities of Mir & ISS Observed post-landing capabilities of Mir & ISS

crewmembers may be predictive for just-arrived crewmembers may be predictive for just-arrived Mars crewmembers.Mars crewmembers.

1 year1 year

approx 500 mapprox 500 m

Habitat

Descent vehicle

125 days125 days

162 days162 days

Crew Recovery Status: Mir & ISSObserved post-landing capabilities of Mir & ISS Observed post-landing capabilities of Mir & ISS

crewmembers may be predictive for just-arrived crewmembers may be predictive for just-arrived Mars crewmembers.Mars crewmembers.

1 year1 year

1000 day missions

Artificial Gravity

Human Adaptation and Countermeasures GroupNASA Johnson Space Center April 2004

1923 Hermann Oberth

                           

    

Mc

Rc

Rr

Mr

CM

Mc = mass of the craft for the crew

Rc = radius of the tether from Mc to the center of mass

Mr = mass of the counterweight craft

Rr = length of the tether from the counterweight to Cm

Angular speed should be no greater than 2 rpm to avoid motion sickness

Mars Mission Concept 1: Fire Baton

Spin axis

Artificial Gravity Map

0

50

100

150

200

1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0

Angular Rate (rpm)

Rot

atio

n R

adiu

s (m

)

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

Design Goal

• Nominal design = 1.0 g– Essentially no data on efficacy of hypo-g as

countermeasure– Acquiring this data would likely be difficult,

time-consuming, and expensive• Rotation levels ≤ 4 rpm

– Acceptable crew adaptation times based on rotating room studies

• Implies rotation radius of ≥ 56 meters

• Alternative to long-duration g crew countermeasures

– 1-g @ 4 rpm• May simplify qualification of some

spacecraft systems operating at 1g• Synergism between Artificial Gravity

(AG) requirements and Nuclear Electric Propulsion vehicle design

– Booms to separate crew from reactor/ AG moment arm

– “Nuclear Power Module” as counterweight• Impacts currently under study

– No show-stoppersso far

~4 rpm

~125

m

1.0-g

Artificial Gravity Option

1969: NERVA1969: NERVA

1999: Bimodal NTR1999: Bimodal NTR

2002: NEP2002: NEP

You are here. . . . The Milky Way

100,000 light years across 100 billion stars

The Virgo Super Cluster: Closest large cluster of galaxies50 million light years acrossContains ~ 2000 galaxies

The Visible Universe

Two thousand billion billion stars

The Solar System

Medicine Medicine for for MarsMarsKevin Fong

@kevin_fong