In order to travel further into space, spaceships will need to be equipped to heal their crew. But they are still at risk of bone and muscle injuries upon their return. To prevent that, astronauts keep active while in orbit. It is well known that zero gravity makes the muscles and bones of the strongest astronauts grow weak in just six months. Keeping astronauts healthyĪs we start taking on longer space missions, we need to confront the effects that life away from Earth has on the human body. ”Īll around the world, scientists are working hard to address these challenges. Today, this is too heavy for the launchers. “For a Mars mission, it would be somewhere in the order of 30 tons. “To be able to survive a long-term mission, you need to transport a lot of water, a lot of food and a lot of oxygen, ” says Christophe Lasseur, R&D Coordinator at the European Space Agency (ESA). Meanwhile, Elon Musk aims to take us to Mars. Jeff Bezos’ firm Blue Origin is already fighting Elon Musk’s SpaceX to send NASA missions to the Moon. “But what happens if human beings want to travel further into deep space, far away from Earth, where we cannot rely on a constant resupply? ” she asks.Įstablishing a base on the Moon or taking humans to Mars for the first time is a goal of several countries around the world - and of billionaires. However, it still needs a constant supply of oxygen, water, food and medical supplies from Earth to keep astronauts alive. The station can also produce some of its oxygen from water. She is doing a livestream from the International Space Station (ISS).Ĭristoforetti explains that the ISS recycles most of its water, collecting it from the air and from astronaut urine. While she talks, her watch is floating on her wrist. We need constant access to nutritious food, clean water and a safe and clean waste disposal system, ” says Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti. “As human beings, we need a constant supply of oxygen. The hope is that any insights gleaned from the experiment will help us better understand how human DNA might respond to the damage caused by increased radiation exposure in space - and possibly help us find ways to protect astronauts from that damage during longterm missions to Mars and beyond.This article was originally published in March 2019 and has been updated to reflect recent developments.Īs we prepare for long-distance space travel and life on Mars, biotechnology will be essential to make spaceships no longer dependent on Earth’s constant supply. In fact, the researchers were mostly interested in what happened next - they wanted to see how the organism would respond to the breaks they made, making note of the molecular changes that took place and any errors in the repair process. The use of CRISPR to tinker with the yeast's genome was just the first part of the experiment. Those students were the 2018 winners of Genes in Space, a national science competition that ask students in grades 7 through 12 to submit ideas for DNA experiments to be carried out aboard the ISS. Koch and Hague may have carried out the first-of-its-kind experiment, but a team of Minnesota high school students designed it. The experiment marked the first use of CRISPR in space - and it could help preserve the health of future astronauts. On Thursday, astronauts Christina Koch and Nick Hague used the gene-editing technology to modify the yeast genome in a way that mimics radiation-caused damage to DNA. First EditĪstronauts aboard the International Space Station just made CRISPR history. And high school students designed the experiment.
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