NASA's 5 hazards of human space flight with layman's commentary

Here I read NASA's articles on the five hazards of space flight and provide my layman's commentary along. These hazards include radiation, gravity fields, distance from earth, isolation, and hostile environments.

Radiation. The large and severe hazard of radiation. Ionizing radiation is zipping through space unabated and endlessly from the moment we leave the earth's protective atmosphere and magnetic field. It causes all kinds of harm to cells which cause deadly illnesses like cancer. Radiation shielding is an option, but one that is undeveloped and primitive currently. We are yet to build any space craft with radiation shielding adequate for long term space flight.

Gravity. Changing and weak gravity fields remain debilitating problems for astronauts. Too much, too little, or shifting gravity harm the human body. The more often and longer the body is exposed to these irregular gravity fields, the more the body decays and vital systems are strained. Artificial gravity or even adequate centrifugal force gravity are undeveloped technologies as of now. Germs, disease and bacteria remain health problems with low gravity, as they may mutate much faster and morph into deadly strains.

Isolation. Isolation will likely be inevitable is early deep space missions. Space is vast and distances to other planets are bafflingly large. And, problems of stress, crew health, and crew interactions remain unsolved problems. Germs, disease and bacteria remain health problems with isolation. Communication and many other human factors are also unsolved problems with isolation in space flight.

Distance from earth. The distances that humans will need to traverse to go to places like mars and beyond are vast. No human has traveled so far and for so long while isolated in a small spacecraft. Our current propulsion technologies are primitive and wholly inadequate to achieve speeds that would allow for shorter travel times to mars and beyond. Round trip times remain over 24 months at the very least. And, the distance of other celestial bodies are much more. So, our technology would need to leap ahead to shorten these vast travel times or to make the travel less harmful to the human body.

Hostile environments. Finally, hostile and confined spaces. That will be very hard to overcome. Our current technology limits the size of any spacecraft. And, rocket power limits us to very small payloads to be lifted into space. This severely curtails the size of any trans mars' ships. Again, bacteria, germs, and disease pose threats to human health in confined spaces. They can evolve rapidly to very harmful strains in the micro-gravity of space. And, confined spaces may bring conflict and unearth many disagreements among the crew. Natural human traits may allow hostility and violence onboard.

Hector Vladimir 2024