Gemini in Space
The impact of space on health will be assessed with the help of twin astronauts
Astronauts Mark and Scott Kelly, who are identical twins, will help implement the ten projects included in this plan, according to a press release (NASA Selects 10 Proposals to Explore Genetic Aspects of Spaceflight).
It is assumed that the experiment called HERO (Human Exploration Research Opportunities) Twin Astronaut Study Consortium (TASC), for which one and a half million dollars have been allocated, will begin in March 2015, when veteran astronaut Scott Kelly will go to the International Space Station for a year, and his twin brother, former Astronaut Mark Kelly will remain on Earth. Before, during and after the experiment, the brothers will regularly take blood tests, as well as undergo physiological and psychological testing.
The government Commission, which included scientific and technical experts, selected ten applications for research from ten representatives of leading scientific institutions in the United States.
In particular, a well-known immunologist from Stanford University, Emmanuel Mignot, intends to study the changes occurring in the human immune system during a long stay in microgravity; Brinda Rana from the University of California intends to find out the causes of visual impairment affecting about a quarter of the inhabitants of the ISS; Susan Bailey from the University of Colorado will study the effect of spaceflight on the length of telomeres – the end sections of chromosomes that shorten during aging; Fred Turek from Northwestern University plans to follow the genetic changes in the bacteriome of the gastrointestinal tract that occur under the influence of cosmic radiation; Christopher Mason from Cornell University proposed a project to study the effects of spaceflight on DNA and RNA methylation; Mathias Basner from the University of Pennsylvania is going to investigate the effects of prolonged stay in space on the cognitive abilities of astronauts, including spatial orientation and stress response.
NASA is confident that the results of the research will be useful both for medical science in general and for assessing the risks to the health of astronauts in the case of very long space travel.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru12.03.2014