The horrifying truth that causes death to astronauts
A recent study found a worrying fact about astronauts' higher risk of cardiovascular disease after their time exposed to radiation.
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| Cosmic rays and solar particles emitted from solar storms are responsible for the radiation. |
Scientists are preparing to send humans into space for longer and deeper missions. Mars is a target for both private companies and government space agencies. And the pioneers of such expeditions will expose their bodies to dangerous radiation conditions in space.
A recent study found a worrying fact about astronauts' higher risk of cardiovascular disease after their time exposed to radiation.
In the first study of deaths among astronauts on the Apollo missions – the furthest manned missions ever into space, including the Moon landing mission – it found that nearly half of them died from cardiovascular disease.
The team of authors conducting the study published in the scientific journal Nature in mid-2016 evaluated the health records of seven astronauts (out of a total of 24) who had traveled on the Apollo spacecraft and had passed away.
The researchers compared the deceased to astronauts who had only flown in low Earth orbit and to those who had recently completed training but had not yet left Earth. The results showed that those who had flown in deep space had a 43% higher risk than the other groups.
The cause is believed to be cosmic radiation. Cosmic rays and solar particles emitted from solar storms are responsible for the radiation.
The high-energy form poses a challenge to future long-duration missions. The US space agency (Nasa) calls it a “significant threat”.
In 2013, Nasa's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft measured radiation levels on the Moon and found that even low levels of radiation cause a lot of damage when entering the body.
To test the radiation theory, scientists conducted an experiment on 44 mice to see the long-term effects of weightlessness and radiation simulating space conditions on the cardiovascular system. The test lasted 6 months, with the weight and body size of the mice being equivalent to that of a human in space for 20 years.
The results showed that radiation conditions similar to those in space cause vascular endothelial cell dysfunction.
Not only that, many studies have shown that it can cause astronauts to suffer from hearing and vision damage, kidney stones, lung dust, immune system disorders and many other problems.
