NASA researchers are developing an innovative way that will significantly reduce the cost of human missions to Mars. It is planned that the crew will be delivered to the Red Planet in a state of deep sleep.
Anabiosis will slow down the metabolic processes in the astronauts' bodies. This condition can be achieved with pre-existing medical procedures and sometimes occurs naturally in the case of hypothermia.
“Therapeutic hibernation has been in development since the 1980s, and in 2003 it was used in medicine to treat critically injured patients,” aerospace engineer Mark Schaffer told the Toronto International Astronomical Congress. “Most major medical centers have already installed special equipment to induce therapeutic hypothermia. This keeps patients alive until they receive the treatment they need.”
The transit to Mars at best will take 180 days, that is, about six months (and this is one way). It is planned that the crew will be hibernated for this period, and the delivery of nutrients to the body will be carried out intravenously. True, at the moment, medicine can maintain a person's life in a state of suspended animation for about one week.
“Previously, there was no need to keep someone in therapeutic hibernation for more than seven days,” explains Schaffer. "But now, in order to carry out human missions to Mars, we must strive to increase this time to 90, and then to 180 days."
In fact, from an economic point of view, the benefits of this delivery method are quite impressive. For example, the crew may be in very small vessels with fewer amenities, equipment, water, food and clothing.
The SpaceWorks researchers also plan to create a rotating low-gravity environment in which travelers will be located: this should reduce the negative impact of the lack of gravity on bones and compensate for the loss of muscle mass.
Promotional video:
The calculations of the SpaceWorks project team, funded by NASA, showed that if the project is successfully implemented, it is possible to reduce the size of the required space for hibernation fivefold, as well as a threefold reduction in the total amount of cargo, including the necessary consumables (for example, food and water).
In general, putting the ship's crew members into suspended animation should reduce the basic mission requirements from 400 tons to 220 tons.
It is planned that the cooling of bodies will be carried out using the intranasal system. Schaffer admits that this is not very convenient. However, inhaling refrigerant has several advantages over lowering body temperature from the outside (in particular, tissue damage is likely with such cooling).
The already existing intranasal system RhinoChill, which lowers the human body temperature by about 17 degrees Celsius per hour. It takes about six hours to reach the numb state (between 31.6 and 33.8 degrees).
Stopping the flow of the coolant should bring a person out of a state of suspended animation. However, this will take quite a long time, and scientists believe that it is necessary to include special heating pads in the system, which will help speed up the awakening process in the event of any emergency.
An alternative option is to keep one crew member awake for 2-3 days (later he will sleep for the next 14 days). Scientists now assume that no one will be in a state of suspended animation during the trip for more than 14 days at a time. And, as always, there will be at least one person to monitor the ship and conduct scientific experiments.
Schaffer also pointed to the significant psychological benefits of such a system: instead of being in a confined space for 180 days, a person will spend most of the journey in a dream.
Now the researchers plan to conduct a series of additional studies that will confirm that such a prolonged state of suspended animation will not cause significant harm to the health of space travelers.