Space Travel Essay

Since the discovery of powered flight, man has endeavored to test the limits of traveling higher, faster and longer. With the advent of rocket technology in the early 20th century, “higher” came to mean orbiting the Earth, eventually culminating in NASA’s Apollo 11 mission to the moon. “Faster” meant setting record after record of speeds in excess of the sound barrier, with the very same Apollo missions reaching velocities of almost 25,000 miles per hour. “Longer” can currently be summated by the International Space Station (ISS), which has been continually manned for over 13 years; the longest single period of time in space for an individual in that span is 215 days. In the past few decades, many space programs around the world have experienced dwindling national and international interest, mirroring a decrease in funding. However, one aspect of space travel has recently begun to pique the interests of medical professionals in particular- the effects of long duration space travel on the human body. With recent technological advances, long term voyages through the cosmos have leapt from the pages of science fiction and into reality, with several public and private entities- including NASA- planning manned missions to Mars as soon as the year 2030. While that may seem a long way off from the present, research into the effects of extended cosmic voyages on human beings is still in its infancy, especially with regards to the potential effects such a journey might have on the psychological states of astronauts.

NASA’s planned missions to Mars, should it come to fruition, will be the furthest distance any human being has ever traversed. While this is an impressive feat in and of itself, it becomes even more so when one takes into acco...

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...blems. This spike in stress levels could very well result in increases in anxiety among the crew members, potentially leading to easily avoidable mistakes. Symptoms of anxiety include constant worrying about small or large concerns; restlessness; fatigue; difficulty concentrating; irritability; muscle tension and/or aches; trembling; trouble sleeping; sweating, nausea or diarrhea; and/or rapid heartbeat. The long term effects of anxiety on the body can include gastrointestinal disorders, chronic respiratory disorders, increased risk for heart disease and increased risk of substance abuse.

A third negative psychological effect of long term space travel is insomnia. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders, insomnia can be defined as a sleep disorder in which there is an inability to fall asleep or to stay asleep as long as desired.