Mysteries of Space Travel: How Human Bodies Respond to the Journey Beyond Earth

People may travel to other universes in the future, but first, we must learn how going to space makes our bodies feel.

New research, like that done during the SpaceX Inspiration4 journey, sheds light on these essential effects.

Mysteries of Space Travel How Human Bodies Respond to the Journey Beyond Earth — (Photo: Getty Images/ NASA)

The Inspiration4 mission from SpaceX

The Inspiration4 journey made up of only civilians, went around the Earth thrice in September 2021. Hayley Arceneaux, Chris Sembroski, Jared Isaacman, and Sian Proctor were in the group and had thorough medical exams before, during, and after their trip. This gave much information about how being in space changes the body.

One important finding was that the pilots were getting old very quickly. Although they looked old, 95% of these changes returned to normal within a few months of returning to Earth. This shows how well the body can adapt and heal from space flight stresses.

Radiation is still a big problem because it can hurt cells and speed up the development of diseases in a short amount of time. A radiation cancer biologist named Susan Bailey stressed the importance of quickly developing ways to protect people from radiation for longer trips. Her research shows that radiation exposure speeds up the development of diseases.

Differences Between Genders and Genetic Changes

According to the study, women may be able to heal faster than men from damage caused by space travel. This finding fits with other studies, but it needs more research. Women who recover faster could significantly affect how crews are chosen, and recovery plans are made for future flights.

The mission led to the surprising finding that telomeres, the caps that protect chromosomes, were getting longer. This behavior, also seen in NASA pilot Scott Kelly, points to a complicated genetic adaptation to life in space. Nevertheless, telomeres gradually got shorter after the astronauts returned to Earth, showing a short-term protective reaction.

The mission's mixed crew taught us much about how people of different ages and health conditions react to space travel. Hayley Arceneaux, a cancer patient, was a unique case study.

She was the youngest person to go to space at age 29. Her experience gave us essential information about how younger people react to space conditions.

Uses for the Earth and Beyond

The Inspiration4 mission's study has uses outside of space travel. Learning how to keep cells safe from radiation could lead to better treatments for people with cancer and people who are exposed to radiation in other places. Reversing the aging processes in space could also help people live longer on Earth.

Long-duration missions, like those to Mars, face serious health risks, such as kidney damage from being exposed to radiation for a long time. Protection against cosmic rays from other galaxies is still an important study area. The safety of the astronauts on these kinds of trips is paramount.

The Space Omics and Medical Atlas (SOMA) stores biological data from space missions. The Inspiration4 mission's data will be added to it. With this resource, academics can predict and improve how people's bodies react to space. The aim is to make more people safer when they move through space.

We have learned a lot about how our bodies react to space travel, thanks to the Inspiration4 project. This study will be significant for ensuring that future astronauts are healthy and safe as we prepare for longer and more complex missions. Not only does the information help us learn more about life in space and could also help people's health here on Earth.