As the COVID-19 outbreak continues, and the virus has spread the whole world, some people wonder and ask, what if the virus reaches space? Rare but possible, astronauts do get sick, and they fall ill in space, as well.
Indeed, as they float off-earth, these spacemen have suffered from upper respiratory infections or URI, or colds, skin infections and urinary tract infections or UTI. This was according to former six-time crew surgeon at the Space Shuttle program of NASA, Jonathan Clark.
Clark, also the current Center associate professor of neurology and space medicine at the Center for Space Medicine said that During the 1968 Apollo 7, members of the crew caught colds in space, and it led to a considerable impact. Recalling what transpired in Apollo 7, Clark also said, Cmdr. Wally Schirra probably came aboard, already with a mild cold, and could have spread it to the other members of the crew.
More so, the astronauts ran out of tissues and medications, and they refused to wear a helmet as they reentered the atmosphere of the earth.
Apollo 8 and 9 Astronauts in the Same Fate
Similar complications befell the space travelers on both Apollo 8 and 9, who suffered from colds, as well. Following these missions, NASA instigated a pre-flight quarantine that called for monitored and limited contact with other human beings to attempt to guarantee that the crew is healthy and safe. But those were Apollo 7, 8 and 9. How about space travels today? How have things changed from those days on? In terms of medical emergencies, spacemen have remotely accessed medical support from space through the growing abilities in communications between Earth and Space.
Once, even the medical experts were able to provide an astronaut who experienced "blood clot while aboard the space station, help. Nevertheless, the ways that virus spread, and the manner these infections and diseases are behaving in the body change when a human travels to space. From the physical tensions coming with the introduction of "off-Earth" to settling in an environment that's confined without the gravity of the Earth, even the ordinary diseases such as colds, for one, may seem quite different for the spacemen.
Viruses, When Transmitted in Microgravity Environments Like the ISS
Clark explained that viruses such as this new coronavirus can easily be transmitted too, in a microgravity setting like the International Space Station (ISS). The gravity's absence, he said, "precludes particles settling down," in order for them to remain suspended in the air, not to mention, is more easily spread.
To avoid this, ventilated compartments need to be assured. The air HEPA filters, then, would remove or take out the particles.
Moreover, scientists have discovered that inactive viruses are reactant to the stresses or tensions of spaceflight, and infections like herpes simplex, for one, have been identified as "awaken" or reactive during spaceflight.
Clark said too, that ongoing research has presented that possibly, the boosted microbial virulence in space can make treatments using antibiotics less effective.
There are antiviral medicines that can be taken to avoid the spread of the virus. Lastly, for their terrestrial mission, the crew are isolated or quarantined when they go back to the Earth, just as they were done in the past space missions which were returning from the moon.
