Astronauts Archives

November 20, 2024November 20, 2024 by Mark Thompson

How Could Astronauts Call for Help from the Moon?

Exploring the Moon poses significant risks, with its extreme environment and hazardous terrain presenting numerous challenges. In the event of a major accident, assistance might take days or even weeks to arrive. To address this, Australian researchers have created a distress alert system based upon the COSPAS-SARSAT technology used for Earth-based search and rescue operations. It relies on low-power emergency beacons that astronauts could activate with minimal setup and use a planned lunar satellite network for communication and rescue coordination.

October 30, 2024October 30, 2024 by Evan Gough

Artemis V Astronauts Will be Driving on the Moon

NASA astronaut Kate Rubins takes Apollo 17 Lunar Module Pilot Harrison “Jack” Schmitt on a ride on NASA’s LTV rover prototype at Johnson Space Center in Houston. NASA is building the prototype and has selected three other companies to provide the prototype with capabilities for use on the lunar surface. Image Credit: NASA/James Blair

In the summer of ’69, Apollo 11 delivered humans to the surface of the Moon for the first time. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin spent just over two hours exploring the area near their landing site on foot. Only during Apollo 15, 16, and 17 did astronauts have a vehicle to move around in.

Artemis astronauts on the Moon will have access to a vehicle right away, and NASA is starting to test a prototype.

October 28, 2024October 28, 2024 by Evan Gough

Add Astronaut Nutrition to the List of Barriers to Long-Duration Spaceflight

NASA Astronauts Kjell Lindgren (center) and Scott Kelly (right) and Kimiya Yui (left) of Japan consume space grown food for the first time ever, from the Veggie plant growth system on the International Space Station in August 2015. Credit: NASA TV

Though there are no firm plans for a crewed mission to Mars, we all know one’s coming. Astronauts routinely spend months at a time on the ISS, and we’ve learned a lot about the hazards astronauts face on long missions. However, Mars missions can take years, which presents a whole host of problems, including astronaut nutrition.

Nutrition can help astronauts manage spaceflight risks in the ISS, but long-duration missions to Mars are different. There can be no resupply.

October 17, 2024October 17, 2024 by Evan Gough

The Artemis Astronauts are Getting New Spacesuits With Some Help From Prada

This is a mock-up of Axiom Space's Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU) spacesuit that will be used for NASA’s Artemis III mission. They partnered with Prada to design the suit. Image Credit: Axiom Space/Prada

The Artemis program involves impressive technological advancements in robotics, communications, spacecraft, and advanced habitats, all of which are clearly necessary for such an ambitious endeavour. But the mission also requires updated spacesuits. Those spacesuits are critical to mission success, and the Italian luxury fashion house Prada is adding their knowledge and experience to the design.

September 5, 2024September 5, 2024 by Evan Gough

Archaeological Methods Reveal How Astronauts Work on the International Space Station

Archaeology is the study of human prehistory, so it seems incongruous to use its methods to study how humans behave in space. But that’s what astronauts aboard the International Space Station are doing.

August 27, 2024August 27, 2024 by Evan Gough

How Can Astronauts Avoid Vision Loss from Spaceflight?

NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson floats through the Unity module aboard the International Space Station. The microgravity on the ISS can cause vision damage and even loss in astronauts. Credit: NASA

Human bodies are sacks of fluids supported by skeletons. The entire human organism has evolved over billions of years on Earth in harmony with the planet’s specific gravity. But when astronauts spend too much time on the ISS in a microgravity environment, the organism responds, the fluids shift, and problems can occur.

One of those problems is with vision, and scientists are working to understand how it happens and what they can do about it.

July 29, 2024July 30, 2024 by Evan Gough

Astronauts’ Muscle Loss Mimics Age-Related Muscle Loss

Researchers grew muscle cells on tiny chips then sent them to the ISS to study them. Researchers hope to develop drugs to help astronauts combat muscle atrophy during space flight. Image Credit: NASA. CC BY-SA

One of the hazards astronauts must contend with is muscle loss. The more time they spend in a microgravity environment, the more muscle loss they suffer. Astronauts use exercise to counter the effects of muscle atrophy, but it’s not a perfect solution. Researchers want to develop drugs to help, and understanding the muscle-loss process in space is a critical first step.

July 24, 2024July 24, 2024 by Evan Gough

The Shelf Life of Many Medications Is Shorter Than A Round Trip To Mars

Color mosaic image of Mars, taken by the HRSC instrument aboard the ESA's Mars Express orbiter. Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Michael)

Check any container of over-the-counter medicine, and you’ll see its expiration date. Prescription medicines have similar lifetimes, and we’re told to discard old medications rather than hold on to them. Most of them lose their effectiveness over time, and some can even become toxic. We’re discouraged from disposing of them in our wastewater because they can find their way into other organisms, sometimes with deleterious effects.

We can replace them relatively easily on Earth, but not on a space mission beyond Low Earth Orbit.

July 18, 2024July 18, 2024 by Evan Gough

The Most Dangerous Part of a Space Mission is Fire

This AI generated image shows a fire spreading in a spacecraft. Researchers are working to understand how fire behaves differently in spacecraft environments so they can protect astronauts. Image Credit: ZARM/ University of Bremen

Astronauts face multiple risks during space flight, such as microgravity and radiation exposure. Microgravity can decrease bone density, and radiation exposure is a carcinogen. However, those are chronic effects.

The biggest risk to astronauts is fire since escape would be difficult on a long mission to Mars or elsewhere beyond Low Earth Orbit. Scientists are researching how fire behaves on spacecraft so astronauts can be protected.

July 16, 2024July 16, 2024 by Evan Gough

Astronauts Struggle To Eat Their Space Food and Scientists Want to Know Why

Researchers in Australia used Virtual Reality to understand why food tastes bland to astronauts. Image Credit: Seamus Daniel, RMIT University. CC BY-SA

Astronauts sometimes struggle to consume enough nutritious food on the ISS because it tastes bland. But astronaut food is of high quality and designed to be palatable and to meet nutrition needs. What’s the problem?