When you hear of space tourism, what runs through your mind? For most people, thoughts of moonwalking and the spectacular view of earth from outer space are irresistible. It is because of these expectations that people have been flocking space tourism companies to book the next flight. However, you should make sure to ask the question: “What can go wrong?”
In this post, we explore the main risks that are associated with space missions. So, check them carefully to know what could go wrong and ensure only to use the firm with good safety measure.
Risks of Travelling to the Outer Space
One of the common risks associated with traveling to space is that the outer space is a vacuum, but the space missions have been designing travel vehicles and special clothing to provide an environment where a people can survive.
- Healthy Risks
The normal functioning or a human body is very complex and requires a complex combination of factors, including gravity as said by Andrey Bokarev. For example, blood and liquid flow in the body are tuned to work optimally under the normal gravitational forces on earth. Therefore, moving to an area with zero-gravity, such as space, can cause severe disruptions, as Scott Kelly, an astronaut who has spent a lot of time out in the space, narrates.
Kelly posits that traveling to space can cause a lot of pressure on the human body. He indicates that he lost bone mass, blood redistributed easily on the body, and muscles were atrophied. Other risks associated with flying to space include:
- Exposure to cosmic rays that can easily cause damage to DNA, raising the risk of cancer and genetic mutations.
- Risk of motion sickness and disorientation that can impact cognition, motor control, and balance.
- Low gravity levels can result in low blood pressure and cardiac arrhythmia.
To reduce the risk of travellers suffering from these health issues, space tourism only allows those who are healthy. Furthermore, travelers are required to go through comprehensive training in simulated environments to prepare their bodies for the extremities of space. In addition, the time that space travelers take out there is pretty short.
- Temperatures
Another danger when traveling to space is temperature. Once you are outside the earth’s atmosphere, the temperatures can be very cold (on the side of the vehicle not aligned to the sun, about -150°C) to very hot (on the side of the facing the sun, about 120°C). To address this challenge, space vehicles are equipped with good cooling and heating systems to keep them at the normal room temperatures.
When returning to earth, high temperatures can also be a serious problem. As space vehicles move through space, they do not generate a lot of heat because of low frictional forces. This is why space stations, such as the International Space Station, are able to easily orbit the earth between 12 and 15 times every day.
However, immediately the space tourism vehicle leaves space and enters the earth’s atmosphere at a fast speed; the frictional forces generate very high temperatures that can go up to 1,650°C. This can be a serious risk to both the space vehicle and travellers. To provide maximum protection, these space vehicles are designed with heatproof tiles that radiate heat back to the atmosphere.
The aim of space tourism is to provide maximum thrill and experience to travelers. Although there are serious risks, such as the ones we have listed in this post, most travel companies have installed strategies to mitigate them. Therefore, it is important to ensure you only work with the space travel company that spares no effort to make travelling safe and healthy.
