Deep space travel may cause brain damage to humans due to interstellar radiation
40 replies, posted
[QUOTE=Quark:;51437711]We've known that deep space travel poses the risk of radiation poisoning for a long time.
We've also known that our current forms of radiation shielding aren't effective for extended, long periods of time in space for as long as we've been using them.
We've known all of this longer than we've known that Trix are for kids. What exactly is this news article saying that isn't already pretty well known?[/QUOTE]
Well fuck me for learning something from this article I guess. The user "Quark" of the facepunch.com forums already knew everything in the article, so why was it written?
You know, you could probably make a pretty horifying movie out of this. Mars mission's astronauts start showing the symptoms of dementia and then it all just goes to hell from there.
As a cognitive neuroscientist, I humbly volunteer to be the resident brain checker for these poor space souls. Admittedly, my going rate is quite high, and I can't work without knowing I have free access to a swimming pool, vr, a complete steam library, and copious amounts of porn.
[QUOTE=viperfan7;51438962]It would make transportation simpler yes, but not cheaper, you'd be able to send up more usable material at a time yes due to size constraints, but it would weight the same, and for the most part weight is the real limiting factor, not size.
Currently there's an inflatable module being tested on the ISS, that is likely a far more viable option then space factories[/QUOTE]
Not quite. I'm currently working on three (kinda four) NASA SBIR's relating to in-space manufacturing. One of them is pretty much my project, and once the NASA white paper is released I'll be the secondary author :D
The first one covers manufacturing of radiation shielding. We use a method (I can't disclose) to mix radiation-shielding filament with regular ABS filament. This means we can continuously vary the amount of radiation protection given by a certain region in a 3D-printed part. This way, we can optimize the weight of the shield to offer maximum protection in key areas while keeping the weight as low as possible. I did a lot of work on this one, and while it can be done in-space it's mainly meant to make shields for satellites before they launch from earth.
Proposal 2 is about recycling stuff in space. Namely, we 3D print packaging that is vibration and G-force attenuating (and does so better than current solutions actually). Once it reaches the ISS, the packaging is removed and instead of being put back in the Cygnus or Dragon capsule to burn up in the atmosphere like most packaging materials, it is fed into our recycler module and turned into more raw materials for the printers on the ISS.
Proposal 3 involves printing utensils and food trays. Currently, astronauts use a set of metal utensils that must be wiped down with wet wipes in between uses. This means that the ISS actually needs a [I]ton[/I] (not literally tbh) of wet wipes. We plan to print utensils that are food-safe, using food safe plastic. Our recycler module will be modified slightly to recycle the utensils, sanitizing the material while it does so. It should result in a very near zero-waste and closed-loop system. Along with not having astronauts use metal utensils that tend to get pretty gnarly on long missions. Also, NASA wants this for interplanetary missions since it'd be not so great hauling enough wet wipes onboard to get to Mars and back.
The last proposal is the coolest though - it involves using raw material to fabricate trusses in space. The trusses are then assembled by a 6U cubesat that is equipped with dual 6DOF manipulator arms. It can weld the trusses together using its arms, and can create new trusses at any time using its internal mechanism (called, unsurprisingly, the "Trusselator"). The system is called Spiderfab - it looks like a spider-bot and is a totally cool tech. We [I]just[/I] got the money for a Phase 2 SBIR on this, and I'm looking forward to working on it more!
Now here's to praying I didn't violate ITAR or company trade secrets with this post ;p
For real though, deep space travel is going to suck. The best way to travel through deep space is to avoid travelling there in the first place, or at least try to expedite the journey as best as you can. This means using more efficient and more powerful drives than what we currently use for long-distance missions. An Ion engine is great for a probe, but not so great for a crewed mission where the crew is pretty much literally baking in radiation. VASIMR and other plasma drives are the big-ticket items for these sorts of journeys, but they require tons of power and until NASA opens back up to using nuclear powerplants on their interplanetary vessels we won't be seeing them (imo).
Also, when it comes to the Van Allen belts, our company actually has an idea on how to mitigate the Van Allen belts: [url]http://www.tethers.com/HiVOLT.html[/url]
Using that tech, we could effectively drain the Van Allen belts of their radiation. It would cut radiation down to survivable levels, and make placing a high-orbit station for refueling and resupply much more feasible.
I feel like death by radiation could be averted just by shielding the spaceship. Give the hull a layer of lead or some other dense material that can block radiation.
[QUOTE=paindoc;51441486]Not quite. I'm currently working on three (kinda four) NASA SBIR's relating to in-space manufacturing. One of them is pretty much my project, and once the NASA white paper is released I'll be the secondary author :D
The first one covers manufacturing of radiation shielding. We use a method (I can't disclose) to mix radiation-shielding filament with regular ABS filament. This means we can continuously vary the amount of radiation protection given by a certain region in a 3D-printed part. This way, we can optimize the weight of the shield to offer maximum protection in key areas while keeping the weight as low as possible. I did a lot of work on this one, and while it can be done in-space it's mainly meant to make shields for satellites before they launch from earth.
Proposal 2 is about recycling stuff in space. Namely, we 3D print packaging that is vibration and G-force attenuating (and does so better than current solutions actually). Once it reaches the ISS, the packaging is removed and instead of being put back in the Cygnus or Dragon capsule to burn up in the atmosphere like most packaging materials, it is fed into our recycler module and turned into more raw materials for the printers on the ISS.
Proposal 3 involves printing utensils and food trays. Currently, astronauts use a set of metal utensils that must be wiped down with wet wipes in between uses. This means that the ISS actually needs a [I]ton[/I] (not literally tbh) of wet wipes. We plan to print utensils that are food-safe, using food safe plastic. Our recycler module will be modified slightly to recycle the utensils, sanitizing the material while it does so. It should result in a very near zero-waste and closed-loop system. Along with not having astronauts use metal utensils that tend to get pretty gnarly on long missions. Also, NASA wants this for interplanetary missions since it'd be not so great hauling enough wet wipes onboard to get to Mars and back.
The last proposal is the coolest though - it involves using raw material to fabricate trusses in space. The trusses are then assembled by a 6U cubesat that is equipped with dual 6DOF manipulator arms. It can weld the trusses together using its arms, and can create new trusses at any time using its internal mechanism (called, unsurprisingly, the "Trusselator"). The system is called Spiderfab - it looks like a spider-bot and is a totally cool tech. We [I]just[/I] got the money for a Phase 2 SBIR on this, and I'm looking forward to working on it more!
Now here's to praying I didn't violate ITAR or company trade secrets with this post ;p
For real though, deep space travel is going to suck. The best way to travel through deep space is to avoid travelling there in the first place, or at least try to expedite the journey as best as you can. This means using more efficient and more powerful drives than what we currently use for long-distance missions. An Ion engine is great for a probe, but not so great for a crewed mission where the crew is pretty much literally baking in radiation. VASIMR and other plasma drives are the big-ticket items for these sorts of journeys, but they require tons of power and until NASA opens back up to using nuclear powerplants on their interplanetary vessels we won't be seeing them (imo).
Also, when it comes to the Van Allen belts, our company actually has an idea on how to mitigate the Van Allen belts: [url]http://www.tethers.com/HiVOLT.html[/url]
Using that tech, we could effectively drain the Van Allen belts of their radiation. It would cut radiation down to survivable levels, and make placing a high-orbit station for refueling and resupply much more feasible.[/QUOTE]
I hope your company has reached out to future asteroid mining companies to seal some deals ;)
The second proposal sounds great; there's so much junk floating around Earth and that's goo potential for raw materials. What about using raw materials from future asteroid mining? Sure most of the targeted asteroids will be mined for rare Earth metals but is there any use for other mined raw materials for 3D printing in space?
NASA has been experimenting with 3D printing in space for a few years now and I hope they make great strides in 3D printing; [url]https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/3D_in_space[/url]
[B]Also[/B], there's a 3D printing competition hosted by The Kepler Space Institute and Enterprise In Space (EIS) with an entry deadline of Feb. 15, 2017 if anyone is interested.
[url]http://www.3ders.org/articles/20161012-students-get-chance-to-3d-print-items-in-space-via-new-print-the-future-competition.html[/url]
Jokes on you space, I already went through depression, anxiety, and impaired cognitive functions thanks to ADD.
Send me to space, NASA.
i've got an idea, guys.
we make lead-lined cryo chambers that's submerged in water, have robots do the piloting and the astronauts just sleep on the ride. that way us humans aren't exposed to all that radiation and don't age ridiculous amounts.
the cryo part might take a while, but the rest could be done easily.
[QUOTE=paindoc;51441486]Proposal 3 involves printing utensils and food trays. Currently, astronauts use a set of metal utensils that must be wiped down with wet wipes in between uses. This means that the ISS actually needs a [I]ton[/I] (not literally tbh) of wet wipes.[/QUOTE]
I would just give astronauts food in fluid form, so no utensils are required. Separately, give them gum or something so they can have something to chew on, like giving a dog a bone. That way they get all the nutrition they need, their jaw muscles don't atrophy, and clean up is minimal.
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.
