 |
|
Space Exploration, Mars, and the Nervous System
Robert Kalb, MD;
David Solomon, MD, PhD
Arch Neurol. 2007;64(4):485-490.
When human beings venture back to the moon and then on to Mars in the coming decade or so, we will be riding on the accumulated data and experience from approximately 50 years of manned space exploration. Virtually every organ system functions differently in the absence of gravity, and some of these changes are maladaptive. From a biologic perspective, long duration spaceflight beyond low Earth orbit presents many unique challenges. Astronauts traveling to Mars will live in the absence of gravity for more than 1 year en route and will have to transition between weightlessness and planetary gravitational forces at the beginning, middle, and end of the mission. We discuss some of what is known about the effects of spaceflight on nervous system function, with emphasis on the neuromuscular and vestibular systems because success of a Mars mission will depend on their proper functioning.
Author Affiliations: Joseph Stokes Jr Research Institute, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pa, and Department of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia (Dr Kalb); Kennedy Krieger Institute, and Departments of Neurology and Otolaryngology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Md (Dr Solomon). Dr Solomon is now with Pathology at The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore.
RELATED ARTICLE
Mars on Balance: Twitching and Dreaming
Roberta L. Bondar
Arch Neurol. 2007;64(4):483-484.
EXTRACT
| FULL TEXT
THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES
Mars on Balance: Twitching and Dreaming
Bondar
Arch Neurol 2007;64:483-484.
FULL TEXT
|
