 Shuttle astronaut Scott Parazynski taking a blood sample from
Astronaut John
Glenn aboard STS-95 |
|
At least one member of a Mars mission crew will
be a doctor and another will be a medically trained assistant. All crewmembers will be
trained in first aid (as astronauts are today). The doctor will have medicines and
equipment to monitor vital signs such as heart rate and blood pressure. The ability to
test blood, visualize internal organs, administer medication, and perform minor surgery
will be needed in flight and on Mars. |
Based on current data from U.S. and Russian spaceflights,
submarine experience, Antarctic base experiences, and military aviators, significant illness
or injury rates (requiring emergency room or hospital admittance) is about 0.06 per person
per year.
| For a Mars mission of six crew-members lasting
2½ years, the estimated incidence rate is 0.90 or about 1 person per mission. The expected
incidence rate of a serious illness requiring intensive care support is about
0.02 per
person per year, or once in three Mars missions. This type of serious illness would occupy
the medical doctor’s time and require additional support from the ground. |
|
 Astronaut Kathryn Hire,
mission specialist, taking a lung function
test aboard STS-90 |
Communication between Mars and Earth does not happen
instantly due to the great distance between the planets. Once a crewmember sends a
question to a doctor on Earth, it will take between 7 and 40 minutes to receive an answer
(depending on the distance between the planets).
 |
|
Telemedicine or the delivery of
medical support via communications systems (usually to remote locations) is accomplished
with computers, camera imaging, and audio systems here on Earth. Telemedicine techniques
will be used during the flight to Mars, and at the Martian outpost to monitor crewmembers
in the habitat and for those who are outside exploring the surface. |
Questions to think about:
- Does the possible risk of one person in six in a Mars mission
having a serious illness affect your ideas about whether we should send humans to Mars?
Why or why not?
- What types of environments here on Earth could benefit from
the use of telemedicine techniques?
 Microgravity:
Zero g and Mars g
|
