Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. Space Travel News .




SPACE TRAVEL
Space: The final frontier ... open to the public
by Staff Writers
Galveston TX (SPX) Sep 19, 2014


The centrifuge allows researchers to mimic the acceleration of a rocket launch or of a spacecraft re-entering through the atmosphere. Astronauts regularly use centrifuges to train for their own spaceflights.

Historically, spaceflight has been reserved for the very healthy. Astronauts are selected for their ability to meet the highest physical and psychological standards to prepare them for any unknown challenges. However, with the advent of commercial spaceflight, average people can now fly for enjoyment.

The aerospace medicine community has had very little information about what medical conditions or diseases should be considered particularly risky in the spaceflight environment, as most medical conditions have never been studied for risk in space - until now.

The aerospace medicine group at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston recently studied how average people with common medical problems - high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, lung diseases like asthma or emphysema and back and neck injuries, surgeries or disorders - would be able to tolerate the stresses of commercial spaceflight.

Overall, they found that nearly everyone with well-controlled medical conditions who participated in this project tolerated simulated flight without problems. The study can be found in the journal Aviation, Space and Environmental Medicine.

"Physiological stresses of flight include increased acceleration forces, or 'G-forces,' during launch and re-entry, as well as the microgravity period," said lead author Dr. Rebecca Blue. "Our goal was to see how average people with common medical problems, who aren't necessarily as fit as a career astronaut, would be able to tolerate these stresses of an anticipated commercial spaceflight."

Some medical conditions are of particular interest within the commercial spaceflight industry, either because of the high rate of occurrence or because of the potential to cause sudden, serious medical events. The researchers studied how people with these common conditions performed when put through centrifuge simulations of spaceflight launch and re-entry.

The centrifuge allows researchers to mimic the acceleration of a rocket launch or of a spacecraft re-entering through the atmosphere. Astronauts regularly use centrifuges to train for their own spaceflights. The acceleration forces expected in a commercial spaceflight profile are tolerable, but can be uncomfortable, for healthy individuals.

The researchers wanted to see if they were equally tolerable for individuals with complex medical histories or whether there were certain conditions that would make it more difficult for them to handle the flight.

"This study further supports the belief that, despite significant chronic medical conditions, the dream of spaceflight is one that most people can achieve," said Blue.

.


Related Links
The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston
Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








SPACE TRAVEL
Spaceship designer who helped send Gagarin into orbit dies at 92
Moscow (AFP) Sept 18, 2014
A spaceship designer who worked on Yury Gagarin's Vostok spaceship and was the last to shake his hand before liftoff, Oleg Ivanovsky, died on Thursday at 92, the Russian space agency said. Ivanovsky was a senior designer at the facility codenamed OKB-1 which built the Vostok spaceship that blasted Gagarin into orbit in 1961. "He participated directly in preparing the flight of the world' ... read more


SPACE TRAVEL
SpaceX is not only taking a 3D printer to space, but mice too

United Launch Alliance Launches Its 60th Mission from Cape Canaveral

Lockheed Martin-built CLIO Satellite Launched From Cape Canaveral

SpaceX cargo capsule nears International Space Station

SPACE TRAVEL
NASA's MAVEN spacecraft enters Mars orbit

Why India went to Mars

Two Martian Probes Set to Orbit Red Planet

India to enter Mars orbit on September 24

SPACE TRAVEL
Lunar explorers will walk at higher speeds than thought

Year's final supermoon is a Harvest Moon

China Aims for the Moon, Plans to Bring Back Lunar Soil

Electric Sparks May Alter Evolution of Lunar Soil

SPACE TRAVEL
Miranda: An Icy Moon Deformed by Tidal Heating

Awaiting New Results on Pluto's Atmosphere

New Horizons Crosses Neptune Orbit On Route To First Pluto Flyby

From Pinpoint of Light to a Geologic World

SPACE TRAVEL
Chandra Finds Planet That Makes Star Act Deceptively Old

Solar System Simulation Reveals Planetary Mystery

'Hot Jupiters' provoke their own host suns to wobble

First evidence for water ice clouds found outside solar system

SPACE TRAVEL
Amazon founder strikes deal to build US rocket engines

Analyst: US to Finish Human Space Launcher by 2018 at Best

Boeing, SpaceX to send astronauts to space station

Space Launch System Will Use Massive Welding Tool

SPACE TRAVEL
Astronauts eye China's future space station

China eyes working with other nations as station plans develop

China completes construction of advanced space launch facility

China to launch second space lab in 2016: official

SPACE TRAVEL
Dawn Operating Normally After Safe Mode Triggered

'J' marks the spot for Rosetta's lander

'J' marks the spot for historic comet landing

A Map of Rosetta's Comet




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service.