Space Hibernation May Help Astronauts On Their Journey To Mars

October 6, 2014

Image Credit: SpaceWorks Enterprises

Brett Smith for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online

Science fiction has long used the idea of placing astronauts in a state of suspended animation, and yet, as fantastic as that idea sounds it could increase the efficiency of a mission significantly by eliminating large amounts of food, water, clothing, and exercise equipment.

In July 2013, NASA announced the backing of a study by SpaceWorks Enterprises in Atlanta for investigating long-term hibernation for use on a future mission to Mars dubbed the Torpor Inducing Transfer Habitat For Human Stasis To Mars.

Therapeutic torpor has been around in theory since the 1980s and really since 2003 has been a staple for critical care trauma patients in hospitals, Mark Schaffer, an engineer with SpaceWorks, said at the International Astronomical Congress in Toronto last week according to Irene Klotz of Discovery News. Protocols exist in most major medical centers for inducing therapeutic hypothermia on patients to essentially keep them alive until they can get the kind of treatment that they need.

We havent had the need to keep someone in (therapeutic torpor) for longer than seven days, Schaffer added. For human Mars missions, we need to push that to 90 days, 180 days. Those are the types of mission flight times were talking about.

The system proposed by SpaceWorks would lower an astronauts core body temperature by about 10 degrees F, which would place the astronaut in a state of hypothermia and achieve a 50- to 70-percent drop in metabolic rate. Reduction of body temperature would be achieved by either non-invasive pads or ambient temperature reduction according to a SpaceWorks infographic provided by NASA.

Image Above Credit: SpaceWorks (Download full size image here)

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Space Hibernation May Help Astronauts On Their Journey To Mars