Experts in space medicine from the Australian National University (ANU) have developed a mathematical model to evaluate the impact that space travel to Mars would have on the human body.
The lead author of the paper, Lex van Loon, a Research Fellow from the ANU Medical School, said in a news release that with the advent of space travel trips to Mars inspire many concerns on the health front due to the lengthy exposure to microgravity, often called “zero” gravity.
Van Loon said that prolonged time in zero gravity combined with subjection to the damaging radiation emitted by the Sun, has a potential to cause “fundamental” changes to the human body. An example of which is the changes to the human body’s blood vessel structure and reduction in heart muscles that occur when a person lives in zero-gravity for extended periods like a six to seven-month journey to Mars….