Naked Science Forum

Life Sciences => Physiology & Medicine => Topic started by: thedoc on 13/01/2013 13:33:42

Title: How will we maintain sleep cycles on a mission to Mars?
Post by: thedoc on 13/01/2013 13:33:42

Astronauts on a mission to Mars may encounter meteorites, exposure to radiation and microgravity, but it also seems they will suffer from poor performance due to a disrupted sleep-wake cycle.  With manned interplanetary travel predicted to start this century, this suggests that it’s our understanding of space medicine, and not just the rocket technology that we need to develop before we can visit other planet...

Read the whole story on our  website by clicking here (http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/content/news-archive/news/1000045/)

  

Title: Re: How will we maintain sleep cycles on a mission to Mars?
Post by: Bored chemist on 13/01/2013 19:52:22

Is there some really complicated reason why the answer is not "with an alarm clock"?

Title: Re: How will we maintain sleep cycles on a mission to Mars?
Post by: CliffordK on 13/01/2013 22:17:13

Would one have natural lighting through windows, or artificial interior lighting?  Nonetheless, one could close shades,or turn lights on/off on a daily schedule.  Or, have a sleeping module that would be dark and windowless.

With a large crew, there may be advantages of having one person on "watch" all the time.  However, there is likely little that would need to be done for months during the middle of the voyage, and there may not be a problem with synchronizing the wake/sleep cycles for everyone, and relying on rapid response to alarms.  That is, unless one would have better space utilization with 1/3 of the crew sleeping at all times.