Orbiter.ch Space News: Three Historical Stages of Cosmonautics Development. Part 17.6

mercredi 12 mai 2021

Three Historical Stages of Cosmonautics Development. Part 17.6

Cosmonautics (or Astronautics) Development.

May 12, 2021

Preamble

Here the seventeen (17.5) article of a series of articles by Ph.D. Morozov Sergey Lvovich, expert in chronology and calendar systems, as well as space biology and medicine, Parliamentarian of Asgardia (AMP) the first space Nation.

Ph.D. Morozov Sergey Lvovich

Three Historical Stages of Cosmonautics Development

Image above: K.E. Tsiolkovsky (1857-1935) - the author of the theoretical stage in the development of astronautics.

The first stage (Tsiolkovsky era) - theoretical (1897-1933) of space exploration began on May 10 (22), 1897 from the date of writing K.E. Tsiolkovsky formulas of jet propulsion. This formula was deduced by K. E. Tsiolkovsky on May 10 (22), 1897 and published in 1903 in the May issue of the journal "Scientific Review" in the manuscript "Rocket".

This theoretical phase of astronautics lasted until September 21, 1933. On this day M.N. Tukhachevsky, Marshal of the USSR, created the RNII - the first Jet Research Institute in history - by order of the Revolutionary Military Council (RVS) No. 0113 dated 09.21.1933.

Image above: M.N. Tukhachevsky, Marshal of the USSR (1893 -1937) - the author of the military-applied stage in the development of astronautics.

The second stage (1933-2020) - military-applied (Tukhachevsky era) - lasted until April 6, 2020. On this day, the Executive Order on Encouraging International Support for the Recovery and Use of Space Resources was issued by President Trump, from which it follows that gradually the entire US economy is strategically moving into Space.

At the second stage, manned space exploration was mainly created by the military. The astronauts flew in conditions of weightlessness (microgravity), which had a harmful effect on the entire organism of the astronauts. An increase in oncological diseases and cardiovascular diseases was observed among the cosmonauts.

Since 2018, it has become clear that space flights in microgravity cannot exceed an average of 6-10 months (180-300 days).

To date, 559 people have been sent into space, but long (> 300 days) missions are rare (n = 8 in total). None of them have overcome the empirical "weightlessness criterion", which is approximately equal to 15-20 months, that is, 1.25-1.67 years (Morozov, 2018, 2019, 2020). The simplest manned flight to Mars and back will be at least 30-33 months (2.75 years).

That is, without an artificial gravity system on a spacecraft, astronauts can die on their way back from Mars to Earth due to probable irreversible changes in the "red" bone marrow system, which produces erythrocytes, red blood cells that carry oxygen to the tissues of the body. Oxygen will cease to flow to the tissues of the body in the required amount.

The real single absolute world record of staying in zero gravity conditions was set by cosmonaut V.V. Polyakov. in 1994 and 1995. It was 437 days and 18 hours [14.56 months or 1.21 years] on board the Mir orbital station.

Cosmonaut of Russia V.V. Polyakov

The absolute world record for the continuous stay of two people at the ISS station at once belongs to the space duet of the Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko and the American astronaut Scott Kelly, who together stayed at the station for 340 days in one continuous flight [11.33 months].

In July 2009, 13 cosmonauts and astronauts were on the ISS at once - members of the current ISS mission and the crew of the shuttle Endeavor. It was the largest crowd of space engineers and pilots at an altitude of about 400 km above the Earth.

On the GC with artificial gravity systems, there will be a completely different way of cosmic life. The GK is planning permanent life in space for dozens and hundreds of "cosmobiles" at the same time.

Image above: Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko and American astronaut Scott Kelly.

The duet of the "record holders" of the Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko and the American astronaut Scott Kelly: 340 days (2016) in one continuous flight [11.33 months].

Captain Kelly's loss of heart muscle mass for 340 days of continuous stay in space in microgravity (weightlessness) ranged from 19% to 27%. "

“Scott has a twin brother, Mark, who remained on Earth. Therefore, the effects of long-term exposure to space on his body could be studied by comparison with his identical brother.

After returning to Earth, Scott underwent an intensive survey course, which revealed a number of problems. First of all, the astronaut complained of muscle pain, loss of flexibility, decreased bone mass and muscle atrophy. Some swelling and an increase in intracranial pressure were also observed. He also had skin problems - rashes and irritations, and upon returning to Earth in the first days, when he again began to breathe Earth's air, he experienced nausea and dizziness.

The researchers believe that the results of experiments with the participation of Scott Kelly will be very useful in assessing the possible risks of long-distance space flights, for example, to Mars and other planets of the solar system. After all, a flight to Mars and back will require at least 30-33 months of stay in space, which far exceeds all records of a person being on board the ISS and other spacecraft.

So what health problems are possible for astronauts? A rapid change in gravity can lead to a 1% reduction in bone density per month. This can lead to osteoporosis, bone fractures, and other long-term problems.

Microgravity can also lead to edema caused by a rush of blood in the upper body, increased arterial and intracranial pressure, which adversely affects vision and the condition of many internal organs. The role of proper nutrition and exercise becomes very important, and special measures are also required, such as taking medication and wearing special clothing.

Living in isolation and confined spaces can lead to psychological difficulties. Lack of a natural circadian rhythm can cause depression and sleep problems. The ISS uses LED lighting to simulate the natural alternation of light and darkness on Earth.

In a confined space, the microflora of the human body also changes. The immune system is weakened, and therefore it is necessary to carefully monitor the presence of microbes and viruses in the inhabitants of the station.

The impact of radiation exposure on board the ISS is much stronger than on the Earth's surface. Therefore, the risk of cancer and diseases of the nervous system increases. The ISS is in a constant orbit within the Earth's magnetic field, which reduces the amount of radiation exposure to cosmic rays and ultraviolet radiation. However, participants on longer flights will face serious problems.

For example, any possible flight to Mars carries a serious risk to human health. Therefore, scientists are studying all the available data on what a person may need during such a flight and return to Earth, as well as during their stay on the planet's surface.

Future participants of such an expedition will have to be able to control their condition, as well as have a stock of food and medicines. "(Tatyana Lyamzina, April 12, 2021, https://echo.msk.ru/programs/medinfo/2820460-echo/?utm_source=yxnews&utm_medium=desktop.echo.msk.ruInterview/HealthandSpace/)

Exercise counteracts this weight loss in part. Astronauts on the ISS are already actively involved in sports to avoid the loss of muscle and bone mass, which inevitably occurs during a long stay in orbit in microgravity ("zero gravity").

But even an increased training regimen did not help Captain Kelly to avoid partial cardiac dystrophy. (Paul Rincon. "A long stay in space is fraught with atrophy of the heart." March 30, 2021. https://www.bbc.com/russian/features-56572052).

A disease common to all astronauts, in zero gravity - calcium is washed out of the bones. Star travelers eventually begin to suffer from osteoporosis. People who had been in zero gravity for a long time returned to Earth looking like boneless chickens.

Red Bone Marrow and Gravity

There is a lesion and a decrease in the volume of functionally active red bone marrow, which makes up approximately 45% of the mass of the entire human bone marrow, and in which red blood cells are produced - red blood bodies that provide body cells with oxygen.

Subclinical anemia develops and, as a consequence, cardiovascular pathologies (Morozov, 2018), which subsequently become, probably, a frequent cause of chronic pathology and death of astronauts.

In 2016, a study was conducted in the United States, according to which astronauts who traveled to the moon were five times more likely to die from cardiovascular disease than those who never left Earth.

Each flight we lose a certain amount of calcium, it is partially restored, but not 100%. That is, unfortunately, after each flight, the skeletal system becomes a little worse.

In general, the profession of an astronaut is accompanied by a lot of such occupational diseases and deterioration: eyes suffer, hearing suffers, someone else has some peculiarities of the body, which are also affected by the effects of a long space flight, especially weightlessness.

The absence of gravity turns all the usual actions of astronauts into a real attraction, where even a simple meal becomes a serious problem. Our body is used to living in the Earth's gravitational field.

Muscles, skeletal system are accustomed to constant stress. And in zero gravity it is not. No load. The first Soviet cosmonauts recalled that after long flights they could not hold a spoon in their hands on Earth - so much had their muscles weaned from work.

“When there was the first long 18-day flight of Sevastyanov with Nikolaev, there were no simulators on board yet. They could only wave and twist their hands, but this did not carry any physical activity. When they returned, they could not get up for a week - all the muscles atrophied in 18 days.

All starts were stopped, because the doctors had a question: how to proceed further? And a training load suit was invented, which is called the "Penguin". But this did not solve the problem, the process simply stalled.

It cannot be solved without artificial gravity systems. Permanent living in space is incompatible with microgravity (weightlessness).

For permanent residence in space, two types of Homeostatic Arks (GC) are needed - stationary (on planets and their satellites), and mobile (in open space in the form of planets and starships).

A martyrology of all cosmonauts and astronauts for 60 years (since 1958) with an analysis of the causes of their death showed that about 20% of astronauts and cosmonauts (43 people out of 217 who died), with a high degree of probability, had a subclinical lesion of the red bone marrow with disorders in the system production of reticulocytes (precursors of erythrocytes).

This led to the formation of a pathology of gas exchange (imbalance in the oxygen-carbon dioxide system). (Morozov S.L. Homeostatic ark as the main tool in the strategy of space exploration. [Journal "Aerospace Sphere" (VKS) No. 3 (96), 2018, pp. 28-37]).

The conclusion in the first approximation was made simple: weightlessness (microgravity) leads to systemic degeneration of bone tissue, 45% of which is red bone marrow, which produces erythrocytes. There is a degeneration (replacement) of the active red substance of the bone marrow into an inactive (fatty) yellow bone marrow.

Active bone tissue (substance) is replaced by inactive one. Deep biochemical disturbances occur throughout the entire respiratory chain, which in some cases result in disability or death of a person who has flown into space.

For this reason, it is recommended to fully compensate for the difference between gravity on the Earth's surface (in the amount of 1.0g) and the place where a person is specifically located, for example, on the ISS or on the Moon, or on Mars, etc.

Microgravity (weightlessness) are harmful factors for human health, incompatible with his life.

Outside the Earth, a person must be protected from the factors of weightlessness (microgravity) by special Homeostatic Arks (HA), both stationary and mobile, with special systems of artificial gravity at the Earth's level (1.0g).

Outside the GC, a person cannot live indefinitely in the Universe outside of the Earth itself. Only short-term “visiting missions” for a period not exceeding 6-11 months are possible.

Therefore, for civilization, colonization and space exploration by actually living real people will always be associated primarily with industrial high-quality construction of GC systems (stationary and mobile). There is no other way to colonize the Universe.

"VASYUTIN'S TEST"

On September 17, 1985, the Soyuz T14 spacecraft headed for the Salyut-7 station. The crew carried more than a ton of equipment into orbit. The ship's crew is Vladimir Vasyutin, Georgy Grechko and Alexander Volkov. Docking with the station took place normally, and the cosmonauts began to prepare for scientific experiments. The flight was designed for six months, but after two months it was unexpectedly interrupted, the mission was curtailed, the station was mothballed, and the crew was returned to Earth. The fact is that Vladimir Vasyutin began to have severe pains.

He fell into hysterics, interfered with sleep and work for other team members, psychotropic and painkillers did not help. Later it turned out that Vasyutin's chronic inflammation of the prostate gland in space worsened, which on Earth was probably "healed" with an antibiotic.

The Salyut-7 station was abandoned and ceased to exist in 1991. So prostatitis ruined the most important government program. After this incident, all the astronauts now have to go through an unpleasant sampling of prostate secretions, which is called the "Vasyutin test".

Vestibular Syndrome and Other Medical Problems

Cosmonaut Pavel Popovich speaks about weightlessness.

He spent almost three days in zero gravity in 1962, and about sixteen in 1974.

“Little did we then (1962) still know about weightlessness and how to deal with it. Before Gagarin's flight, dogs were launched. And what is she - jump out of the ship, run, bark. Glad to be back on earth. But it won't tell you anything! German Titov was the first to truly experience this state ...

Like other cosmonauts, I was haunted by such a misfortune. In zero gravity, the circulatory system works somewhat differently - blood circulates mainly in a small circle - heart - lungs - head.

Due to the increased rush of blood, my head ached very much - try to hang upside down for ten minutes! The neck swells, the face is red. And it hurts, damn it!

When it became unbearable, I swam up to the wall of the ship and, with acceleration, bang against it so that the sparks fell. And this new pain seemed to overshadow that one. It allowed, as they say in Ukraine ... "

("STAR WARS" KOSMONAVTA POPOVICH. https://zen.yandex.ru/media/fromcrimea/zvezdnye-voiny-kosmonavta-popovicha-607408cb660d4852ae857bcf

Image above: Cosmonaut No. 4 Pavel Popovich before the launch of the Vostok spacecraft (1962).

A common symptom observed in all astronauts after flight is disruption of the vestibular apparatus. In zero gravity, this mechanism fails, hence the dizziness, nausea, headaches. Feelings are as if you are constantly flying somersault.

“On the first flight, vestibular disorders took about four hours, and on the second flight it took literally half an hour.

Movement coordination suffers. Probably, during the day you have to carefully handle your body, because you can easily, say, walking through the door, touch the jamb with your shoulder, although you think that you are walking normally. Or you can kiss your head well, because you don't fit into this volume. "

“We fly long enough - six months, and in six months various troubles can happen to a person, for example, a banal cold. There is a ventilation system on board the station, which provides air flows inside the sealed volume so that the air is mixed, that is, there are no stagnant zones. Suddenly your throat hurts a little or you start sneezing - these are the colds. In order to neutralize them, there is a large first-aid kit, both in our country and in our foreign colleagues in the American segment, where you can find practically everything you need to remove it - of course, with the permission of a doctor. "

“Each crew has its own doctor who is in touch with the crew around the clock. Even when he sleeps, he has a mobile phone under his pillow, figuratively speaking, which the crew can call at any time - fortunately, now the technical capabilities allow it to be done - and ask for some kind of recommendation. "

During the flight around the moon, the Apollo 7 crew caught a cold

"Houston, we have a problem!" - this phrase became a catchphrase during the Apollo 13 mission, when astronaut Fred Hayes got kidney problems while traveling to the moon.

“There are three categories of people who are united in a general group: prisoners, madmen and astronauts. Psychologists combine them into one group, because both those and others, and still others are in a closed space and know that it is impossible to get out of it. Life in a confined space is terrible, it is psychologically active. Therefore, there were cases when cosmonauts were forced to consult a psychiatrist after flights. "

“During the selection of astronauts for the Austrian crew (there was a good-quality check, and Austria sent really worthy candidates to the international crew), a fungus was found on one toenail of one candidate.

As a result, they decided to put him in the Burdenko hospital and pull out all of his nails. For two weeks he lay in the hospital, and only after that he was allowed to continue training for the flight, it was at the stage of general space training. "

Three weeks after Yuri Gagarin's triumphant flight, Soviet polar explorer and doctor Leonid Rogozov did the impossible - he removed his appendix himself. This is a unique case in the history of medicine. But in space, such cases are also theoretically not excluded.

In Antarctica, as in space, there was nowhere to wait for help, and therefore Leonid Rogozov was forced to carry out the operation himself so as not to die from peritonitis. After this incident, all polar explorers were recommended to remove the appendix before wintering.

And after the conquerors of the pole, such rules passed to the astronauts. Before the flight, they also began to pull out all of their teeth with caries. The tonsils have now been added to this list.

And even the actress Svetlana Khodchenkova, the main contender for the flight to the ISS, had to agree to this operation for the filming of the film. (Victims of space: what are astronauts removed before the flight and what operation did Svetlana Khodchenkova agree to? April 12, 2021. https://mir24.tv/articles/16455489/zhertvy-kosmosa-chto-udalyayut-kosmonavtam-pered-poletom-i-na-kakuyu-operaciyu-soglasilas-svetlana-hodchenkova).

During the preparation for the first manned flight into space in the USSR, three thousand young healthy pilots were selected, of which a little more than a hundred candidates remained later. They were “rejected”, first of all, for health reasons. By the way, the first cosmonaut of the planet, Yuri Gagarin, could well have failed to fly, because shortly before that he had had measles.

“It is not clear what had to be done, because no one knew at that time what conditions in space, what diseases were dangerous, what were not. Therefore, there were about 150 medical tests, as they would now call it, various samples, unpleasant names, which later began to be explained - Khilov's swing, for example, on which motion sickness is checked.

At that time, the Americans were just gathering their detachment, they had such a test: keeping bare feet with their feet in icy water. That is, the ice is melting, the water is 0 degrees, you need to lower your legs and hold out for at least 30 seconds. "

It has been going on since 1957 (since the launch of the first artificial Earth satellite), the constant improvement of space medicine, as a separate branch of knowledge, about human reactions to hostile space.

John Glenn is the oldest astronaut on the planet. Photo by NASA

On October 29, 1998, John Glenn, at the age of 77, made his second space mission on the shuttle Discovery. And this was another record for him - he became the oldest space explorer.

Image above: On the shuttle "Discovery" (STS-95) on October 29, 1998, astronaut John Glenn, who at that time was 77 years old, went on his second flight.

John Glenn died at the age of 95, surrounded by family at Wexner Medical Center at Ohio State University at Columbus, outliving all of his colleagues in the first astronaut corps.

The USA and the USSR were competing in space. In 1972, Nixon announced that the US was beginning to develop the Space Shuttle program. She was announced as a national one, designed for 60 launches of the shuttle per year, it was supposed to create 4 such ships; the cost of the program was projected at $ 5 billion 150 million in 1971 prices.

The shuttle launched into low-earth orbit 29.5 tons and could lower cargo up to 14.5 tons from orbit. The USSR's response was the Energia-Buran system. In the USSR, the program was launched in 1974.

"Energia" - "Buran" - the space program of the Soviet reusable transport space system (MTKS)

One of the two implemented in the world of MTKS systems, the program was a response to a similar multi-purpose US military-civilian program "Space Shuttle". The orbital spacecraft of the "Buran" system made its first and only space flight in unmanned mode on November 15, 1988. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buran_(spacecraft).

Buran OK-1.01 orbiter

The technical characteristics of the spacecraft "Buran" have the following meanings:

- length - 36.4 m;
- wingspan - 24 m;
- the height of the ship standing on the chassis - 16.5 m,
- launch weight - 105 tons with a maximum payload weight;
- cargo compartment with a width of 4.7 m, a length of 18.55 m and a volume of 350 m³ accommodates a payload weighing up to 30 tons for delivery to orbit, up to 20 tons for return.

Buran and Space Shuttle spaceship

The program in the USSR was launched in 1974, and in 1993 a decision was made to stop the work and preserve the existing reserve.

In 2002, the only Buran (product 1.01) that flew into space was destroyed when the roof of the assembly and test building at Baikonur collapsed, in which it was stored along with ready-made copies of the Energia launch vehicle.

Soyuz, Space Shuttle and Energia-Buran - comparison

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