NASA has of course long been monitoring the affects of spaceflight on astronauts’ health, but a recent study sponsored by the space agency is now shedding some new light on one potentially significant problem: their eyesight. While the study only involved seven astronauts, all reported that they suffered some degree of blurry vision while on the space station for more than six months, and some reported that the effects persisted for months after they returned to Earth. The study also found specific abnormalities in all of the astronauts affected, including changes in tissue, fluids, nerves and other structures in the back of the eye. Those problems are all relatively minor and correctable, but researchers are now also taking the findings and working on ways to determine who might be most resistant to any such changes, which could be critical on something as long as a three-year mission to Mars. Additional details of the study are in the press release after the break, and the full report is published in the latest issue of
Ophthalmology.
[Image: NASA]
Continue reading NASA-sponsored study finds lengthy spaceflight can impair astronauts’ vision
NASA-sponsored study finds lengthy spaceflight can impair astronauts’ vision originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 05 Nov 2011 07:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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The Air Force’s mysterious X-37B “space plane” is only on its second mission. But manufacturer Boeing has already drawn up plans for a major upgrade to the nimble, 29-foot-long robot — one that could more than double the vehicle’s size and make room for up to six astronauts.
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Day job just too darn terrestrial? Maybe you should score a gig at Boeing, which’ll apparently sling two of its very own into space come 2015. What’ll be their chariot? The company’s CST-100 — you know that spiffy capsule that can hurtle a lucky seven humans 100km into the dark abyss. Strapped to ULA’s Atlas V, the crew will follow two unmanned missions, eventually reaching the International Space Station. If that all goes to plan, commercial service will start in 2016. Now about those extra five seats…
Continue reading Boeing’s CST-100 to shoot non-NASA astronauts into space by 2015
Boeing’s CST-100 to shoot non-NASA astronauts into space by 2015 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 07 Aug 2011 12:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Y’know, there are only so many pristine beaches and spectacular slopes one can see before terrestrial tourism becomes blasé. That’s why Space Adventures — who lets folks vacay in space via suborbital jaunts — is offering to shoot you to the moon during your next work sabbatical. Amateur astronauts won’t actually land on the lunar surface, of course, but their Soyuz spacecraft will get within 62 miles of it. To indulge in your lunar fantasy, it’ll only cost you 150 million bucks, or roughly the GDP of a [insert small island nation here]. One of the two seats is already taken, but the company needs another would-be moon man or lunar lady before the trip’s a go. The only thing stopping us (and everyone we know) from signing up is an empty bank account — does Fastweb do spaceflight scholarships?
Space Adventures will shoot you (and your ego) to the moon for 0 million originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 08 May 2011 08:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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