The dream of going boldly where few of you have been before has inspired hundreds of people to go to space travel companies such as Virgin Galactic.
But NASA astronaut Anna Fisher, who made history as the first mother in space, warned that many would not be ready to endure the harsh spaceflight, as well as the damage they would cause.
Dr. Fisher said she felt unwell during the first two days of her mission on the space shuttle Discovery in 1984. She expressed concern that people who pay hundreds of thousands of pounds are not fully aware of what could happen to them.
When she became the godmother of the new ship Viking Orion, in an interview with Telegraph she said the following: “The only thing that worries me about tourists in space is people who think that you can just sit down into the rocket and immediately go into space."
“It's not like flying on a commercial liner. At all. I can imagine the problems that the people up there will have when someone vomits and someone's $ 250,000 flight is ruined."
“The first moments in space are far from the best. I remember when we were in the shuttle, for the last two minutes or so, we experienced overloads of the order of three atmospheres. It was a little hard to breathe, and then the engine turned off and boom, you're zero gravity. It's all so fast."
"I felt my blood boil, and in 30 seconds I was going to do 'Ooh' - to be one of those who don't feel well. I was extremely glad that I hadn't eaten absolutely anything for breakfast."
“I'm lucky that I never vomited. If you think vomiting is hard here on earth, then [know that] it's really hard to do it in space."
Promotional video:
To date, only the Russian space agency Roskosmos has been sending tourists into space - in the period from 2001 to 2009 at a price of $ 20 to 40 million. However, a number of other aerospace companies, such as Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic and SpaceX, are hoping to launch commercial flights over the next decade.
Those who have already bought tickets include actors Angelina Jolie, Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio. And Stephen Hawking had planned to fly with Virgin Galactic until his death earlier this year.
The Apollo 8 crew members in 1968 were the first to report space sickness. The Apollo 9 astronauts felt so bad that their spacewalk had to be postponed. The NASA training plane, where one can experience weightlessness, is informally called the "vomit comet" because people are so unwell on board.
It is widely known that microgravity seriously affects metabolism, thermoregulation, heart rate, muscle tone, bone density, vision, and the respiratory system.
A 2016 U. S. study also found that astronauts who traveled into deep space on lunar missions were five times more likely to die of cardiovascular disease than those who went into low orbit or never left Earth.
And last year, Russian scientists discovered that microgravity causes such alarming changes in the immune system that astronauts, if they become infected, will have a hard fight against even a minor virus like the common cold.
Speaking aboard the Viking Orion, NASA flight surgeon Smith Johnson also warned that space travel has a serious impact on the health of many astronauts who, when they return to Earth, look like a “boneless chicken”.
They also suffer from a condition called Mal de debarquement, similar to what seafarers experience after being at sea who need to re-acclimate to return to land.
“This is a dangerous business,” said Dr. Johnson. “The bottom line is that microgravity affects every system in the body, whether it's kidney stones, receptor effects, fluid redistribution, changes in the inner ear, or a tenfold loss of bone mass.”
“We also receive ten times the dose of radioactive radiation. Sometimes the astronauts after the descent look like a chicken without bones.
“There is also a mismatch between what you see and what you feel in the sensory channels. Therefore, time for adaptation is required not only for your cosmic legs. When you return, you will find that you are actually walking down the hallway at an angle, so you need to readjust to avoid confusion."
Dangers lie in wait for them not only in space, but also after returning back to Earth. According to Dr. Johnson, it takes about two weeks to recover from space flight, and the astronauts themselves warn against driving for the same period and advise against flying on an airplane for a month.
In addition, in the few weeks that the spine adjusts to Earth's gravity, space travelers are 13 times more likely to suffer from a dislocated spinal disc.
“In space, your body lengthens and collapses, so back pain can persist for weeks to months. But if you think that three days after landing you will be able to roller-skate, you will be in a ditch,”he added.
Space agencies are especially concerned about solar and cosmic radiation and have yet to figure out a way to protect astronauts on long journeys to Mars or the Moon. The Apolon 14 mission escaped a dangerous solar flare that occurred just two weeks before launch. It could cause cancer or even kill the crew.
Sarah Knapton