How “Cryosleep” may open doors to space travel
Before we get started, here’s some information about CRYOPRESERVATION. Cryopreservation is the science of freezing cells that are alive, so they can be used at a later stage. It involves a process that preserves organelles, cells, tissues, or any other biological constructs by cooling the samples to very low temperatures.
Now here’s what this article is really about: Using Cryopreservation to elongate space travel!
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, for the past couple of years, you’ve probably heard “Elon Musk is going to Occupy Mars.” Elon Musk’s company SpaceX has been trying their best not only to get to Mars but also colonize it, for future generations. But why would you want to stop there? Why stop at a planet that is so close to us, when there is a whole universe out there which may be able to offer a lot more than Mars? Here’s why: Space travel takes a long time. Just going to Mars and back takes about 1.5 years. Travelling to Neptune and back to Earth, takes 24 years, and finally travelling to our closest galaxy, Andromeda takes about 2.5 Million years! In April 1970, the crew of NASA’s Apollo 13 mission swung around the far side of the Moon putting them 248,655 miles (400,171 km) away from Earth. As of today (April 1st 2020), that’s the farthest astronauts have been able to travel.
However, in movies such as “Interstellar”, and “Passengers”, people have been able to travel much farther into deep space, and dark matter. In science fiction, when characters travel vast and immense distance, they go into a deep sleep for a very long period. For doing so, these characters put themselves into rusticated animation.
It sure would be convenient if real-life astronauts were able to bed themselves for space travel, and wake up decades later, not having aged a day! But unfortunately, we’re still pretty far from this happening in real life.
Nevertheless, there are a few scientists and engineers at NASA and other space agencies working tremendously hard to produce rusticated animation projects for space missions to Mars and beyond. Although instead of freezing, time, these scientists would be freezing astronauts. Freezing human mammalian cells would be able to knock out astronauts for weeks, months, and even years in a state called Torpor, which resembles hibernation.
On an excursion into deep space, humans are a lot more demanding than a robot, rover or a satellite. Firstly, humans must consume food to ensure survival. Next, we also need open spaces/rooms to escape our cramped quarters from time to time. During space travel, our bodies would be blasted with cosmic rays, and we would face an increased number of health problems caused by decreasing gravity. These health issues may include loss of muscle mass and even bone density. Placing astronauts into hibernation-like states may help with some of these obstacles. While in hibernation, a living organism’s metabolism comes to a near standstill. The heart tends to slow down, and body temperature begins to drop. The composition and hormones in the blood are also altered. Brain activity decreases and cellular replication (mitosis) might even come to a complete halt. “Its kinda like a movie that progressively slows down,” stated Matteo Cerri, a physiologist at the University of Bologna in Italy.
Here’s the catch though: HUMANS CANT HIBERNATE! “All we’re trying to do is make them appear to hibernate, or rather creating the benefits of hibernation,” says John Bradford, President of SpaceWorks enterprise, an Atlanta based engineering firm, working with NASA.
If the flight crew were able to spend the majority of the flight in Torpor, they would require lesser resources and may even occupy a smaller living space. (Putting anything into outer space incurs a massive cost, due to fuel costs, therefore occupying lesser room would mean a smaller spacecraft). Torpor could help fit more people on smaller ships to help rapidly populate space colonies. Torpor also has additional health benefits. For example, while hibernating, large animals don’t suffer from degenerative diseases such as muscle atrophy, or bone deterioration. Therefore Torpor might provide astronauts with added protection against these risks, and also from radiation during their voyage.
Currently, SpaceWorks has a team of engineers, former astronauts, physicians, and hibernation researchers that are pondering how to send astronauts into Torpor safely and how a spacecraft could be designed to accommodate them. SpaceWorks’ idea is to build a procedure used in emergency rooms called therapeutic hypothermia, in which the body is cooled to prevent brain damage after crises like cardiac arrest. But this has been done for days, not weeks or months. And it’s unclear whether it causes side effects because the people who receive this treatment are already ill.
Using Torpor in outer space also has some disadvantages. To enter Torpor, astronauts would need to decrease their internal temperature by 9 degrees Fahrenheit. Astronauts would consume a sedative to relax and prevent shivering while slipping into Torpor. While in hibernation, astronauts would require life support systems to observe their vitals and take care of their wellbeing. Food could perhaps be delivered intravenously.
Astronauts could enter Torpor in shifts which would ensure that someone is always alert. As of today, SpaceWorks is aiming to place astronauts into Torpor for about two weeks; however, in the future, this may be stretched into several months, which in turn may help with colonization. Awakening from Torpor, however, will not be immediate. Astronauts must gradually be roused so their bodies can adjust at the right rate, after their deep slumber. As the body starts to regain and normalize its temperature, every organ will be craving energy, but the brain must first provide for itself, the heart and other more vital areas. Contrarily, those areas could be deprived of blood flow, possibly leading to a heart attack or stroke.
Researchers will also need to examine the possible side effects of Torpor, like an erratic heartbeat, infections, or blood clots. And scientists are still unaware of how Torpor will affect cognitive functions, memory, or the overall health of an individual.
One thing deep slumber can’t do is, stop ageing. Hibernating animals do tend to live longer compared with other species similar in size, so it’s possible that Torpor would slow human ageing a little, but not enough to send people on 100-year voyages through space. For doing that, scientists would be required to freeze astronauts, replacing their blood with a Cryopretective agent (CPA) to prevent their cells from becoming turgid. Since we are unaware of how to revive people from this chilly slumber, cryonics isn’t a practical option for deep space voyage yet.
Torpor, would not only be helpful for space, but instead could also serve as a spinoff for wounded soldiers, and even to keep donor organs viable for elongated periods. Scientists are now investigating whether Torpor or hypothermia can protect healthy cells from radiation damage. If so, people could be put into Torpor for cancer treatment. Doctors could then use a more intense dose of radiation to blast tumours because the surrounding tissue would be less vulnerable. The SpaceWorks’ team thinks technologies to use Torpor could be ready by the early 2030s when people are setting off on the first missions to Mars.
Aeronautic engineers believe long-term cryogenic and hibernating sleep may be the key to getting humans to Mars, and beyond.
If this project is successful, space travel may be changed forever!
