- It was once the preserve of science fiction books and
films such as 2001: a Space Odyssey and Alien, but scientists now believe
that they will be able to develop ways of sending people on long space
journeys in hibernation.
-
- The European Space Agency is funding research into what
has become the holy grail of space travel - a method that will allow
astronauts
to spend months or years in suspended animation.
-
- Scientists at the agency hope to create a hibernation
system in time for a planned manned mission to Mars in 2033.
-
- They are drawing up plans for "sleep pods"
that, according Mark Ayre, a research fellow for the agency's Advanced
Concepts Team, resemble the pods in Alien and will be part of the
astronauts'
bedrooms.
-
- Getting to Mars is the space industry's big challenge.
Earlier this year, President George W Bush announced that a manned mission
to the red planet was part of his plan for a "new course for America's
space programme".
-
- Michael Foale, the British-born astronaut, has described
a manned mission to Mars as the "end-game" of spaceflight,
saying:
"We want to find a way to live there in fairly large
numbers."
-
- The logistics of such a trip are daunting. Mars is 50
million miles from Earth. Space engineers hope to refine new methods of
propulsion, such as engines powered by solar energy, to speed up
flights.
-
- However, even with this envisaged technology, a journey
to Mars is expected to take six to nine months.
-
- If a manned mission to Mars were successful, it could
pave the way to more distant planets, such as Saturn.
-
- The giants of the outer solar system are made of gas,
but it might be possible to land on their moons. However, it could take
up to 10 years to get there.
-
- The scientists believe that it is unrealistic to expect
astronauts to live for years in the cramped confines of a spacecraft, and
that hibernation would ease the psychological demands on them.
-
- There are logistical considerations, too. ESA scientists
have calculated that 30 tons of food would be needed to supply six
astronauts
on a two-year mission.
-
- Dormant astronauts would require less food and create
less waste. As a result, the craft would be lighter and would require less
fuel.
-
- Finding a way to put, and keep, the astronauts into a
state of hibernation is the key. The researchers are focusing on a
synthetic,
opioid-like compound called Dadle, or Ala-(D) Leuenkephalin, which, when
injected into squirrels, can put them in a state of hibernation during
the summer.
-
- Dr Ayre's team is testing Dadle in rats, to discover
if it has a similar effect in non-hibernating animals. They have already
established that when Dadle is applied to cultures of human cells, the
cells divide more slowly.
-
- The scientists are also investigating compounds that
would maintain the astronauts' physical health during prolonged periods
of physical inactivity.
-
- They also want to evaluate dobutamine, which is
administered
to bedridden patients to strengthen their heart muscles, and hormonal
compounds
such as insulin-like growth factor, which could boost astronauts' immune
systems. Electrical stimulation could also be used to prevent
bedsores.
-
- Dr Ayre emphasised that the research was at an early
stage and that he hoped that future advances in medical technology would
help the process. "We are still a long way from testing any ideas
on humans," he said.
-
- Work on hibernation technology is also going in America,
where the Pentagon has been looking at its possibilities in the treatment
of wounded soldiers. Nasa, however, is not understood to be investing much
in the idea.
-
- Some scientists believe that hibernation may never be
suitable for humans. Neil Stanley, the director of Sleep Research at the
University of Surrey, said that it could "torture" the
mind.
-
- "I'm sure it would be possible to put the body to
sleep, but the mind is something else. Nobody has managed to put the mind
to sleep yet. When you are asleep, dreams are your reality. If you were
asleep for six months, dreams would become your memories.
-
- "Waking up would be a great shock to the system.
The human perception of time is ingrained. How do you deal with missing
six months of your life?"
-
- Gerhard Thiele, the head of the ESA's Astronauts and
Operations Unit who travelled into space in 2000, said that he would not
want to sleep through a space journey.
-
- "Hibernation would be suitable for longer missions,
such as interstellar travel, but such journeys will not be taken for
hundreds
of years. For shorter missions, such as one to Mars, I would prefer to
be awake.
-
- "I would want to see the Earth getting smaller,
and Mars getting bigger. It would be a trip to enjoy."
-
- © Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2004.
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