3 Reasons Why Deep Space Travel Is Really Challenging

Deep space travel is inevitable if we are to become an interplanetary civilization. The latest efforts from SpaceX and co. largely try to solve the engineering problems related to (space) transportation. However, other challenges need to be addressed if we are to truly advance towards this goal.

Entrepreneur Elon Musk has been quite vocal about the need to focus on “the big picture” when it comes to the grandiose project of civilization advancement. On the one hand, I support this approach as it appeals to the emotions of our species. On the other hand, I feel that this approach glosses over some of the finer existentially important problems.

In this essay, I will be outlining three major factors that make deep space travel more challenging than how we intuitively understand it. Let us begin.

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The Psychology of Deep Space Travel

Human beings are tough creatures. Unlike most species that remain in their respective habitats, we have scaled vastly different landscapes from the sizzling hot deserts to brutally cold polar terrains. We have even found ways of exploring the depth of oceans (relatively safely).

In this regard, we are quite unique. Unlike most other species, we seem to be driven to explore beyond our area of comfort. It is probably this aspect of ours that drives us to explore deep space as well. However, we seem to be hitting the limits of our psychological ability to adapt to harsh environments.

Lessons From History

Regardless of our ability to adapt, we are social creatures. We do not seem to handle confinement and loneliness well. In 1973, the crew members of the Skylab-4 aboard the American space station turned off communication with mission control (reference link at the end of the article).

Apparently, they were heavily fatigued and had engaged in stressful conversations before the incident. This is just one among many such cases in the past.

In 1976, two cosmonauts aboard the Salyut 5 space station experienced a sudden toxic stench. The smell was so bad that the crew was brought back to earth. Following this, a replacement crew made it to Salyut 5 to investigate. After a thorough investigation, they found that no such stench actually occurred. The entire ordeal was hallucinated by the two cosmonauts due to the harsh psychological conditions (reference link at the end of the article).

Lockdown on Steroids

Think about the psychological experience of deep space travel like an intense COVID lockdown. Now add to this situation the harsh physical conditions, the claustrophobic environment, lack of privacy, challenging intra-crew dynamics, etc. And it is no wonder that deep psychological problems go hand-in-hand with deep space travel.

If we are to really solve the problem of deep space travel, we will first need to find ways of handling our psychological limitations first. Having said this, even if we fix the limitations of our minds, we would still encounter the limitations of our bodies.

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The Effect of Gravity on the Human Body

Our bodies are well-suited for the gravity we experience on earth. We have millions of years of trial, error, and evolution to thank for that. While we adapt to new environments rather quickly on an evolutionary time scale, deep space travel poses extremely varying gravitational fields on a micro-time scale.

While planets like mars feature just a fraction of Earth’s gravity, most of the deep space features just microgravity (almost no gravity). Under such conditions, most bodily functions are out of their natural habitat. Blood flow to the brain, for instance, is a major issue. To be fair, scientists and researchers are constantly trying to solve this problem using compression cuffs, artificial gravity generators that use centrifugal force, etc. But still, the problem is hardly solved.

Add to this a myriad of other challenges such as loss of bone density, accumulation of calcium in the bloodstream from the degrading bones, variations in ocular pressure, etc. It is clear that the human body is ill-equipped to handle the harsh physical challenges that the varying gravitational fields pose in deep space travel.

This situation begs the following question:

Should we evolve into a different species to successfully handle deep space travel?

While you ponder about this, there is one more critical factor that we need to consider before venturing into deep space.

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Radiation in Deep Space Travel

Radiation is a weird phenomenon. We don’t necessarily sense it all the time. Yet, it is constantly there! Even on Earth, we experience it on a day-to-day basis from the sun, our phones, microwaves, electric cables, etc. So, why haven’t we self-destructed from all this radiation exposure yet?

Well, the answer lies in the fact that there are types of radiation that we can handle and types that we cannot. Most of the radiation that we experience on the Earth is non-ionising. This form of radiation is low in energy and does not harm us. When it comes to technology, we have developed methods of shielding high-energy radiation. In the case of sunlight, the atmosphere filters out most of the ionising radiation before we get to experience it.

On the other hand, in deep space, where we have no atmosphere, high-energy ionising radiation is abundant. This form of radiation is destructive to us. The worst part is that we don’t even feel it until it is too late! Ionising radiation slowly alters the composition (and nature) of materials it comes in contact with. This causes DNA-level damage to our fragile human bodies.

By the time, one can physically feel the difference, one could be greeted with nervous disorders, cancer, and a whole host of degenerative diseases. Currently, space programmes track radiation exposure dosage for each astronaut and make sure it doesn’t exceed a certain threshold. But long-term deep space travel is a different beast altogether.

Scientists are researching genetic modification to fuse Tardigrade DNA (Tardigrade is a small organism that is highly radiation resistant) with human DNA. This radical approach seems promising (reference link at the end of the article). However, this makes us turn to the question from earlier:

Should we evolve into a different species to successfully handle deep space travel?

Final Remarks

It is clear to me that we are highly driven and motivated toward deep space travel as a species. While ‘big-picture thinking’ helps our motivations toward our aspirations, the reality seems quite harsh.

Unless we are able to overcome the harsh physical and psychological limitations we have as a species, in my opinion, deep space exploration would remain a pipe-dream.

Having said that, I feel that we would indeed need to evolve as a species (either naturally or via augmented technology) to overcome these challenges.

Humanity has had a long history of exploration and adventure. This history is showing no signs of slowing down. The more we develop as a technological species, the more we desire to explore. As of now, deep space travel seems tantalizingly close within our grasp, yet remains so far away!

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References: Jancy C. Mcphee and John B. Charles (NASA report), Gerald P. Carr and Kevin M. Rusnak (NASA oral transcript), and Jason Bittel (scientific article).

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Further reading that might interest you: Why Is A Black Hole Really So Special? and How Are Big Airships Really Making A Comeback Again?

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