NASA study says deep space will cause cancer and destroy stomachs
We’re all gonna die! A NASA study on rats using simulated space radiation suggests that long duration space missions beyond Earth orbit will cause cancer as well as significant harm to human intestines.
The study, published by cancer researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center, used mice to test exposure to heavy ion radiation, which mimics the galactic cosmic radiation found in deep space. If that sounds complicated, essentially researchers compared “space” radiation to X-ray radiation and found its effects to be much more dangerous.
After long exposures to a low dose of galactic radiation, mice had permanent damage to their gastrointestinal tracts and could no longer absorb nutrients in food. The mice also developed cancerous growths in their intestines — raising concerns that astronauts who venture far into space would face the same deadly health issues. “While short trips, like the times astronauts traveled to the moon, may not expose them to this level of damage, the real concern is lasting injury from a long trip,” said Kamal Datta, head of Georgetown’s NASA Specialized Center of Research, in a press release.
More here.
Must I point out the uncertainties and weaknesses of this study? They did the test on rats. They simulated the radiation. And it appears they simulated the radiation dosages assuming the spacecraft would have little or no shielding, an absurd approach.
Space is dangerous, but there is no reason to exaggerate the dangers wildly, unless you wish to generate fake reasons for additional funding, as NASA is prone to do.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
We’re all gonna die! A NASA study on rats using simulated space radiation suggests that long duration space missions beyond Earth orbit will cause cancer as well as significant harm to human intestines.
The study, published by cancer researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center, used mice to test exposure to heavy ion radiation, which mimics the galactic cosmic radiation found in deep space. If that sounds complicated, essentially researchers compared “space” radiation to X-ray radiation and found its effects to be much more dangerous.
After long exposures to a low dose of galactic radiation, mice had permanent damage to their gastrointestinal tracts and could no longer absorb nutrients in food. The mice also developed cancerous growths in their intestines — raising concerns that astronauts who venture far into space would face the same deadly health issues. “While short trips, like the times astronauts traveled to the moon, may not expose them to this level of damage, the real concern is lasting injury from a long trip,” said Kamal Datta, head of Georgetown’s NASA Specialized Center of Research, in a press release.
More here.
Must I point out the uncertainties and weaknesses of this study? They did the test on rats. They simulated the radiation. And it appears they simulated the radiation dosages assuming the spacecraft would have little or no shielding, an absurd approach.
Space is dangerous, but there is no reason to exaggerate the dangers wildly, unless you wish to generate fake reasons for additional funding, as NASA is prone to do.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Several previous studies on the effects of simulated GCR have induced the expected dose from an extended mission, but at a much higher rate over a much shorter period of time, assuming that as long as the total dose matched, that was good enough.
The linked article says a very low dose [of iron ion radiation] was delivered over the equivalent of a months-long period in deep space but doesn’t give specifics. Is the paper publicly available?
Found it: http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2018/09/26/1807522115
Space radiation triggers persistent stress response, increases senescent signaling, and decreases cell migration in mouse intestine
Under: Materials and Methods / Mouse Irradiation
Wild-type mice (C57BL/6J; male, 6 to 8 wk old; n = 10) were irradiated (dose: 0.5 Gy) using a simulated space radiation source at the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory (NSRL), Brookhaven National Laboratory for iron (56Fe; energy: 1,000 MeV per nucleon; LET: 148 keV/μm) irradiation, and a 137Cs source was used for γ-ray (LET: 0.8 keV/μm) whole-body irradiation of mice. Mice were euthanized either 7 d, 60 d, or 12 mo after radiation exposure.
So while not explicitly stated, it appears that the entire dose (0.5 Gy = 50 rad, for those still used to cgs units) likely was given in a single short exposure.
I think the reason they do it this way is that it’s cheaper to get access to a high rate source for a short period than to have continuous access to a lower rate source for a much longer period of time. I would think that rate would be as important as total dose in these tests, but I’ve not read any scholarly arguments on the subject.
It seems that the main researcher is more upset that a drug based cure for this damage has not been found than anything else. Like prevention.
I have been following the development of Ex-Rad or ON 01210.Na for many years now.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ex-Rad
Its not a wonder drug to fight cancer or radiation damage but it does work very well against specific damage. Mainly hematologic cancers and gastric cancers.
Its main problem is its not a cure but a only a preventative. So the person must continually take the drug and it only lasts about a week in the body.
This is the kind of drug that could benefit from a moon based research lab. A years worth of study of pigs taking the drug on the surface of the moon in an unshielded dome. The humans could live in shielded domes.
I don’t think caring for pigs in a zero G environment like fLOP-G would work out well.
I never did like these studies where they administered huge doses of something over a short period of time to “simulate” exposure. They almost never directly relate to real life.
NASA Talk –
“Spacecraft, Habitats and Radiation Protection”
2015 Langley Research Center
https://youtu.be/GIYdF7YlX3o?t=1005
cued to the relevant section:
“Risk of exposure induced death must be kept below 3%, at a 95% confidence interval.”