Roaming space seems cool, but astronauts face many "death threats"

Titanium Media Note: At 7:30 this morning, the Changzhou No. 2 F. No. 11 carrier rocket, carrying the Shenzhou XI manned spacecraft, was fired at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong successfully astronauts Into space. After the spacecraft enters the orbit, it will follow the scheduled procedure and conduct an independent flight for about 2 days. Then it will automatically rendezvous with Tiangong 2. During the flight of the combination, the astronauts entered Tiangong 2 and completed a 30-day residency, and conducted space science experiments and applied technology tests, as well as popular science activities.

But do you know? The seemingly cool space travel actually hides many "death threats." Let us now understand the astronaut's physical limitations.

Yang Liwei once described to the media that he had experienced a tens of seconds of death illusion when he performed his task: “It seems that there is a big drum on the side that keeps knocking (the strong vibration of the engine and the arrow body after the rocket throws away the escape tower). The body seemed as if it couldn't stand it anymore. It felt like it had experienced tens of seconds of death. There was also a 180-degree upside down and it was almost unbearable."

This time, Shenzhou 11 will carry two astronauts living and working on the Tiangong 2 space station for 33 days. In the non-gravity space environment, astronauts' bodies will undergo various changes just like teenagers. This means that athletic diseases, bacterial infections, space blindness, psychological problems, and toxic dust can all cause astronauts to face death threats.

For the aerospace industry, perhaps the latest American study results are not good news. A few days ago, an article from the United States Research Team in the United Kingdom’s “Science Report” objectively elaborated the possible consequences of implementing the “Mars mission”. Cosmic radiation may cause long-term damage to the astronauts’ brains. In severe cases, it may even lead to dementia.

Charles Limoli, professor of radiation oncology at the University of California, Irvine, led his team to study the effects of cosmic radiation on the human brain. With the support of NASA, they received radiation from high-energy charged particles in their space radiation laboratory.

During the experiment, the researchers used completely ionized oxygen and titanium ions, which is very similar to the cosmic radiation scenario that astronauts suffered during long-term space travel. Six months later, Limoli's team found out that the brains of these mice had already suffered partial inflammation and suffered neuronal damage. The data shows that there are fewer dendritic spines on mouse neurons, which in turn disrupts the transmission of signals between neurons, resulting in impaired neural network function in the brain.

If the above is mapped to the human body, this degree of damage will lead to very disappointing human results in the learning and memory test. Limoli said that this similar cognitive impairment is common in brain cancer patients receiving high-dose radiation therapy.

In addition, cosmic radiation may also affect the mood of astronauts after they are ascended to the air, making them more prone to anxiety in space and affecting the body's "fear subsidence" mechanism. Here, "fear subsides" refers to the brain's active inhibition of the unpleasant sensation of fearful memories. For example, people who have drowned will slow down the fear of water under this mechanism. Limoli therefore believes that this should be bad news for astronauts who need to travel to Mars for two or three years like the movie Mars Rescue:

"The space environment has some special harm to astronauts and can cause a series of potential neurological complications such as memory loss, anxiety, depression, and poor decision-making capabilities. These problems will occur during the actual space travel and It will last a long time after the journey and it may even last for life.”

Of course, they are also looking for cosmic radiation related solutions, for example, spacecraft in the rest or sleeping areas to strengthen protection, by taking drugs to reduce the harm of cosmic radiation and so on. However, Limoli emphasized that those radiation shielding processes used to make spacecraft are definitely not the “ultimate prevention strategy”:

"At present, there is no one technology that can prevent these particles from penetrating the spacecraft and affecting the astronauts' physical and mental health." Although the "Mars mission" is the focus of this study, it is separated from China's current space missions in China. A "moon distance." However, "cosmic radiation" is a cruel test that every astronaut who left a footprint in space has to face.

In addition, with the official launch of China’s exploration of Mars in April 2016, the debut of the China Mars Rover in August, and the official launch of China’s Mars Exploration Program in 2020, we will always face this at some point in the future. The problem that cannot be evaded - what death threats such as cosmic radiation will bring to human beings, such as "occupying space", "colonial Mars" and "invading the moon"?

What is more interesting is that this time, the two astronauts of the Shenzhou 11 have a very important task - to launch our first space brain-computer interaction experiment at Tiangong-2. This experiment can be thought of active astronauts into operation command, and monitoring mental workload and other astronauts state. In other words, astronauts in science fiction films do not need to use their hands, and "thinking with your brain" can "direct" the various operations that may become reality.

In an interview with the China Youth Daily, Ming Dong, a professor at Tianjin University's Jingyi College, pointed out that astronauts in the space environment will be greatly limited in their ability to complete complex tasks. With brain-computer interaction technology, astronauts can convert thinking activities into operational instructions without relying on peripheral nerves and motor systems.

At the same time, this technology can also monitor the astronauts' mental workload and other neurological status, achieve human-machine interaction and reduce workload. To a certain extent, this should be the most ideal human-computer interaction we can think of.

However, the problem has arisen - if the cosmic radiation mentioned just now has an adverse effect on the "fear retreat" mechanism after astronauts adapt to space life, if there are strong emotional fluctuations, the astronauts have enough confidence to control it through the brain. Various tasks? However, it can be confirmed that the brain load and visual function test system in the brain-computer interaction experiment can obtain and analyze the physiological information changes (related to sensory and cognitive functions) of the astronauts during the task.

However, monitoring still does not mean that the problem can be solved. The current significance of cutting-edge technology only allows us to be more confident in the future. Whether it is China’s Shenzhou 11 space journey or Mars and Bezos’s Mars colonization plan, the road to search for it is still long.

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