Does anyone here, for starters, even know first hand what "Life in Space" is really like?

You fantasize and romanticize about what life in space would be like. But do you even begin to comprehend what life in space really is? I very much doubt it. In fact, I know it!

Sincerely,

Eric F. Diaz

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So what are your opinions on the subject, Eric?

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My opinions. OK, let us, just you and I for a moment talk about the reality of life in space. Assuming that you can handle the 12 Gs that you will experience while being catapulted into an Earth orbit what then? Well, for the first 24 hours while your body is adapting to being in constant free-fall you will more than likely experience nausea like you've never experienced it before and be vomiting your guts out during that time if not for longer. Of course, while you are throwing up all of that time, it will take your mind off of the very unpleasant sensation of having your blood all of a sudden fill your head and make you feel like you have a very bad head cold, even though you don't. Some astronauts get migraines from this and never recover until they get back down on the surface of our little planet.

But assuming that you're one tough dude or dudess and don't experience any of these problems, then just wait until you close your eyes and try to go to sleep. Because, what will happen is that you will see tiny little flashes before your eyes lids. Only, it's not an optical illusion that you're experiencing but rather high-energy particles passing through your brain, which are referred to as cosmic rays that have come from very, very, far away from a supernova that went off sometime in the distant past. Now if you're not terrible bright, these little flashes won't bother for very long. If on the other hand you know what is actually happening to you, you will know that these high-energy particles have an ionizing effect on the molecules that make up your body, including your brain. So while your trying to sleep, the cells in your body are undergoing mutations at random from these very tiny little particles. Now if you're lucky, your cells' DNA will only be altered to where you will only get some form of cancer down the road. If, on the other hand, you are unlucky, you will experience a certain amount of brain damage from which you will never recover.


Still wanna hear more about "Life in Space"?

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“Out yonder there was this huge world, which exists independently of us human beings and which stands before us like a great, eternal riddle, at least partially accessible to our inspection and thinking. The contemplation of this world beckoned like a liberation.” - Albert Einstein

My Astronomy Site
My Geology Site

Its sad that we as carbon based fragile biological life forms are very limited to the environment we have evolved in. The environment of open space is a very daunting and extremely harsh place to us, as a result we have to try and construct/engineer protection against these extremities. Trying to artificially re-create a mobile environment as close to the one we experience here on earth at sea level is the only way possible for us to endure long exposed periods in space. The alternative to this is either to genetically create or modify arduous biologically life capable of longevity and able to endure space, or to construct intelligent robotic life that is designed to comfortably operate in such extremities. Or we could just try and evolve biologically over the next few million years as we try and expand our habitat into the solar system.

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ooops..... wrong forum!!!

The issue of radiation damage is certainly not trivial, and is probably the major known long-term biological problem. The biological effects of radiation are fairly complex, but I suspect that detectable brain damage is not likely except at accumulated dosages which are going to be lethal for other reasons. Of course, the possibility of cognitive problems from a number of very small insults can't be ignored, as is being found currently with a number of former professional football players.

Launch acceleration is a non-issue; the original specifications for the Shuttle specified an acceleration limit of about 3 gees. There is no need for 12 gee accelerations.

Having dealt with migraines for most of my life, I can testify that they cause nausea, not vice versa. Migraines and sinus headaches can present similar symptoms (again, I can testify to this: I get both, but sinus headaches don't give me the various sensory distortions or tendency to vomit that migraines do). If any astronauts have developed migraines as a result of space sickness, I'd like to see the references.

So, I agree with one of your points: radiation levels in almost all areas of space are problematic, and in some (near-Jupiter orbit?) are absolutely intolerable. I don't necessarily agree with some of your reasons you've given, as I believe that the brain's level of damage tolerance is sufficiently high so that brain injury is not likely at radiation levels that are not great enough to cause acute medical problems.

Many of us here have learned a great deal about those who have been into space and their experiences, and thought a great deal about the problems associated with human spaceflight, long-term space travel, colonization, etc. Some of the posters here, in fact, are scientists who have spent a good deal of their lives studying the prospect. Why do you ask?

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I would say that there are -- possibly-- a lucky few who are more visionary and insightful-- but how does one know for sure?

After "practicing" a little science (within my so-called lifespan) and reading and witnessing the exploits of many different explorers---there just might be as many different "human" interpretations of space-life as there are people?

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I think I've seen numbers indicating that about 1 in 5 astronauts have this problem while adjusting to free-fall, and I'm not sure if they all suffer as much from it as you describe. But I'd love to read more about it

There are hints dropped about a certain smell, that seems to be inevitable when you put several people in a small contained environment..

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To OP: those issues are debated around here all the time, so what's new?

The interesting part is how to address them.
And there's no shortage of ideas and proposals.

Hi EricFD,

Are you asking if anyone here is an astronaut?
Methinks you misunderstand the purpose of this sub-forum.
It's not "human life in space" it's "living critters anywhere but Earth" and as it is, there is but a single example of life in space: it's on Earth.

Therefore the entire topic is inherently conjectural ...

You've reviewed the entire history of this subforum and have established that as fact, that people here have failed to consider those things you raised in your follow-up opinions?

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All the more reason to have great respect for the astronauts and for the ones we have lost. Their dedication is unrivaled.

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I would add all levels of ranks which our astronauts have traversed to ascend to their current positions.

The most important proving ground for any astronaut is the same for all of us. Can we make a family? Can we contribute to society? Can we do the best with which we're givin?

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If I set the budget, we'd have Ares and more. Unfortunately, I don't set the budget, and Ares is just too expensive and too far out for us to accomplish our goals within the budget we were given.

If we halt the ISS, all versions of Ares, and transport Orion and Altair aboard DIRECTv3's Jupiter family of Shuttle-Derived Launch Vehicles, we just might make it back to the Moon by 2020.

In fact, it's both. Since human beings are living critters. . There have been numerous threads in this subforum on human spaceflight and habitation; it overlaps with the Space Exploration sub.

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"If this were play'd upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an improbable fiction."
Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
"The Mayan symbol for "book" looks a lot like a triple hamburger, but I've never seen them claiming it as proof the Mayans had Big Macs." - KaiYeves
"Distance doesn’t matter much in space, where if you just start a thing off with the right kind of shove, sooner or later it will get where you want it to go." -Frederik Pohl, Mining the Oort