Miami – Send people into deep space, such as missions to Mars or an asteroid towards it is one of the great ambitions of the NASA , but made with mice studies suggest that prolonged exposure to radiation causes permanent damage brain, according to a study published on Friday.
Damage to the central nervous system and cognitive losses were observed in laboratory animals exposed to highly energetic charged particles, similar to galactic cosmic rays astronauts find during long space flights, said scientists at the University of California at Irvine (UCI).
“It’s not good news for astronauts who will take two to three years and back, to travel to Mars,” said the study’s lead author, Charles Limoli, radiation oncology professor at the UCI School of Medicine.
“Reduction of performance, memory loss, conscience and concentration during spaceflight can affect critical mission activities and exposure to these particles can have long-term adverse consequences for cognition throughout life,” he added.
Currently, international astronauts take turns in shifts that last about six months aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
Last March, the American astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko started the first mission of a year in space station to test the effects of long duration space flight on the body and mind.
NASA plans to send people to Mars in 2030, but critics say does not even exist the technology to do so, nor is it clear whether this type of trip would be safe for people.
The most recent study on the subject in the journal Science Advances exposed laboratory rodents to particle radiation charged for six weeks at the Space Radiation Laboratory of NASA, the Brookhaven National Laboratory.
According to the study, the oxygen and the fully ionized titanium caused inflammation in the brain, affecting the transmission of signals between neurons.
Radiation damaged the brain communication network, interfering with the ability of nerve cells to transmit signals.
“Like a bullet, the particles reach the dendritic branches, causing them to break,” said the study.
“It is well known the relationship between the loss of these dendritic branching and the cognitive decline of Alzheimer’s disease and other diseases,” he said.
Learning and memory tests also showed poor performance of guinea pigs exposed to radiation and that they were prone to confusion when compared with normal mice.
“Animals exposed to radiation lost curiosity (and were less active) in new situations and became increasingly confused,” said the study.
“If neuronal changes demonstrated in mice occur in astronauts, their response to unexpected situations as well as their ability to spatial assessment and remember information can be compromised,” he said.
Similar mental problems can take months to develop in humans, but any Mars mission must take at least a year and a half, probably more.
Living on the ISS is not the same, because the station orbits the planet at an altitude that is still within the Earth’s protective magnetosphere.
Consequently, astronauts are not bombarded with existing galactic cosmic rays in deep space, which are remnants of explosions known as supernovae in the past.
Charles Limoni integrates the Human Research Program at NASA, which shows that the space radiation would affect the explorers of deep space.
He said the spacecraft could include extra protection in some areas, these highly energetic particles persist “and there really is no escaping them.”
Topics: Astronauts , space , Science , NASA
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