The Apollo astronauts are experiencing a mysterious series of heart and vascular problems, likely related to their long stay in space and the effects of cosmic rays, as hinted at by experiments on mice, the scientist said in an article published in Scientific Reports.
“We know little about how cosmic radiation affects human health, and in particular, his heart and blood vessels. This study gave us the first opportunity to assess the negative effects this radiation causes in our body. Experiments on mice have shown that cosmic radiation is indeed harmful to vascular health,”said Michael Delp of the University of Florida (USA).
Delp and his colleagues, including scientists from the Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences, have been studying for many years how life in space affects human health and the functioning of our immune system.
For example, last year they found out why many astronauts complain about vision problems in space, as well as why the Apollo astronauts periodically fell and lost their balance on the moon. It turned out that arteries and veins lose their ability to expand and contract normally in space, which leads to a rush of blood to the brain or problems with its normal supply of oxygen.
In his new work, Delp discovered one of the most interesting medical mysteries of the Apollo - the fact that most of the mission participants died suddenly from heart and vascular problems, and found a potential cause for the development of such a "lunar disease".
According to Delp, more than 43% of the program participants who flew or landed on the lunar surface died from heart attacks and other heart and vascular problems, which is 4-5 times higher than the death rate from similar diseases among other astronauts and NASA employees, not flying into space.
The scientist was interested in this problem, and Delp turned to NASA with a request to involve the still living astronauts of the program in his research. They, he said, were attended by eight crew members of the Apollo, one of whom died while Delp was conducting his research.
The study of their health and the presence of traces of atherosclerosis in the arteries of most of the Apollo men led the physician to the idea that space radiation, which "bombarded" NASA ships during their journey to the Moon and back to Earth, could be to blame for the development of such problems. He tested this idea by placing a group of several dozen mice in a special chamber, which maintained conditions similar to those in which astronauts lived during their flights to the moon.
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This experiment showed that after six months of living in such a chamber, mice developed similar heart and vascular problems as the Apollo participants, confirming the role of cosmic rays in the development of this mysterious susceptibility of astronauts to heart disease.
Delp said the data he collected will help NASA, Roscosmos and the space agencies of China and other space powers prepare protection systems for the crews of spacecraft that will fly to the Moon and Mars in the near future.