NASA Wants to Put More People in Space for a Year
Two years ago, NASA began a unique experiment. It put a person in space for an entire year to see what happens. The person it chose to be its guinea pig was Scott Kelly, an experienced astronaut who also happened to have a twin on Earth. When Kelly got back from his year in space, NASA scientists could compare him and his brother to find out what living long-term in space does to the human body.
NASA has spent the past year learning all about the effects of zero-gravity on the human body, and one thing’s clear: It needs more test subjects. Now that Kelly has provided the agency with basic information, many of NASA’s scientists are hoping that follow-up experiments with more astronauts can provide them with a more detailed picture.
“There is no doubt our Human Research Program has a strong desire to fly additional one-year crewmembers,” said ISS program deputy manager Dan Hartman in a news briefing. “Our goal is to try to meet that.”
Unfortunately, NASA might have to wait a few years before it can perform that experiment. “I don’t see [a year in space] happening as long as we are still flying on the Soyuz,” says Hartman. “But once we step into commercial crew and get a good cadence on a regular basis going, then I think you will see one-year crewmembers coming back into play.”
This means that we have to wait until at least 2018 before another astronaut attempts to break Kelly’s record. But once that happens, we’ll likely start seeing astronauts spend longer amounts of time in space, and scientists will begin to understand what the human body goes through in orbit. This information will be crucial once people start making trips to Mars or spending time at NASA’s proposed Deep Space Gateway station that will be built around the moon.
Source: AviationWeek
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