A long trip on the way to Mars; NASA sends an identical twin and examines how a year's stay in space affects the astronauts

An astronaut and a cosmonaut went into space for a whole year

see also: Successful launch of an astronaut and a cosmonaut who will spend a year on the space station

A manned flight to Mars is the biggest challenge facing the world's space agencies. In addition to the technological and logistical difficulties, one of the key questions is how the human body will withstand the challenge of such an operation and such a prolonged stay in zero gravity conditions. Today, astronauts are sent to the space station for periods of six months, but a mission to Mars will last at least two and a half years. To try to deal with the problem, NASA and the Russian space agency Roscosmos sent two astronauts, an American and a Russian, on a special mission: a whole year on the International Space Station. "Most of the physiological changes that astronauts go through on the space station happen quite quickly - in the first days and weeks in zero gravity conditions." , explains Doctor John Charles, from NASA's Manned Flight Institute. "But after three, four or five months in space, the body adapts to a large extent to these conditions. The challenge for a two-and-a-half-year mission is to identify the problems that will arise in the thirteenth or twentieth month, in order to prevent them in advance."

Veterans and experienced
Two veteran and experienced astronauts were chosen for the challenging mission. For Scott Kelly, 51, this will be his fourth space flight, after two shuttle flights and another six months on the space station. His Russian counterpart, Mikhail Kornienko, 54, also spent six months on the space station. During the year, among other things, their physical fitness, heart function, vision changes, fine motor skills, metabolic changes and the immune system will be tested. Mental and behavioral changes will also be examined. "Psychological and social problems may be among the most difficult problems we will encounter on the flight to Mars. What's funny about such problems is that most of the time they don't exist, and suddenly they emerge in all their seriousness." Charles explains.

find the differences
In sending Scott Kelly to the mission, NASA received an additional bonus: an opportunity to compare two identical twins, one in space and the other on Earth. This with the help of Scott's twin brother, Mark Kelly, also a former astronaut. The twins will undergo various tests throughout the year , such as receiving a flu vaccine at the same time, and comparing the response of their immune system A bit small, but the general conclusions can also be very interesting, especially when testing if genetic differences arise between the twins," says Scott Kelly. Among other things, the research teams intend to test if there is a difference in the length of the telomeres in the two twins. Telomeres are a kind of tails of DNA, which bind the The end of the DNA package (chromosome), and prevent its disintegration. Research has shown that the shorter the stem and the stem, the closer the cell is to the end His life. Another issue that will be examined is the composition of the bacteria in the intestines of the two brothers. Today it is known that this composition is of great importance for the functioning of the body in a healthy state and for various diseases, and the researchers are interested in whether the lack of gravity may affect the bacterial population.

going down to the ground
Immediately after landing, at the end of a year in space, Kelly and Kornienko will undergo a series of tests and examinations, to check how the very long stay in space affected their ability to function on Earth. Today, astronauts returning after six months are unable to stand on their feet the first few days, due to loss of muscle mass and fear of bone damage. "The goal is to help the planning of the spacecraft for Mars, so that the mission planners will know what is needed for the astronauts in this situation, and what function can be expected from them immediately after landing," says Charles.

step on the way
Kelly and Kornienko are scheduled to take off for the mission on Friday (27.3) from Kazakhstan, in the Russian "Soyuz" spacecraft, with the other crew member Gennady Padalka (Padalka). In May, three of the team members will be replaced, in September Padalka will also be replaced, while Kelly and Kornienko are supposed to return to Earth only next March. Although they will not be the first in such a mission - four cosmonauts have already spent a year or more at the Mir space station - but the scientific monitoring of them will be much more organized and sophisticated than was possible twenty years ago.
This mission is of course very different from a real flight to Mars. On the space station, unlike a flight to Mars, you can constantly communicate with the Earth, find a corner to isolate yourself and even - in an emergency - run home. It also seems that the dangers of such a long flight, such as exposure to much higher radiation intensities, are considerably greater than a cruise in the backyard of the International Space Station. However, even a long journey begins with one small step, or in this case: another step for two people on the way to a giant leap of all humanity.