Amid the many challenges that will face humans as we reach out to the stars, the simple problem of dust could prove among the most difficult
Amid the many challenges that will face humans as we reach out to the stars, the simple problem of dust could prove among the most difficult.says lung health is a major challenge for people who leave Earth.
Footprints in the dust: Astronaut Buzz Aldrin during the Apollo 11 extravehicular activity on the moon.Professor Prisk is regarded as an expert on lung health in zero gravity and works with NASA personnel who have spent time on space shuttles and the International Space Station. He said conditions in space, including the lack of gravity and changes in air pressure, made dust even more of a problem than it is on Earth.“Dust exposure is a significant health hazard in occupational settings such as mining, and exposure to extraterrestrial dust is an almost inevitable consequence of planetary exploration,” Professor Prisk wrote.“The combination of altered pulmonary deposition of extraterrestrial dust and the potential for the dust to be highly toxic likely makes dust exposure the greatest threat to the lung in planetary exploration.” He pointed to the experience of the Apollo missions, where crews reported significant amounts of moon dust sticking to their space suits, which was then tracked into the main areas of the spacecraft despite decontamination procedures. With the moon considered to be one of the major off-world candidates for extended development by humans, the problem of dust-related diseases needed to be considered by any people staying there for an extended time. “The crews of the Apollo landing missions have not presented evidence of dust-associated disease , but the population is small and the exposure times quite limited, with the longest surface stay being only about 72 hours,” Professor Prisk said.The lower gravity of locations such as the moon or Mars, as well as the zero-gravity environment of a spaceship, also makes coughing up dust harder, he said. Also of concern is that unlike Earth, which is protected by its atmosphere, dust on celestial bodies such as the moon is exposed to the full force of cosmic radiation, meaning it could also be toxic when breathed in, beyond just being an irritant. “In the case of lunar dust, there is a significant concern that the lack of any atmosphere means that the dust generated by meteoric bombardment over millennia will remain highly reactive and will thus have a high toxicological potential,” Professor Prisk said. “By comparison, Martian dust has been exposed to an atmosphere , although there remain other concerns, such as the presence of perchlorate [a carcinogen] in Martian dust.” Concern over the risk of possible alien diseases meant the Apollo 11 astronauts were kept in quarantine for three weeks after they returned from the moon. Professor Prisk has noted lung function in astronauts does change when they spend long periods in space.More broadly, despite the many challenges which it is faced with, Professor Prisk said the human lung adapts remarkably well to life off-world. “While there are changes in lung function in partial or zero gravity, the lung continues to function well in this novel environment,” he said.
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