Speaker
Description
Due to its proximity to Earth, the Moon is a promising candidate for the location of an extra-terrestrial human colony. In addition to being a high-fidelity platform for research on reduced gravity, radiation risk, and circadian disruption, the Moon qualifies as an isolated, confined, and extreme (ICE) environment suitable as an analog for studying the psychosocial effects of long-duration human space exploration missions and understanding these processes. In contrast, the various Antarctic research outposts such as Concordia and McMurdo serve as valuable platforms for studying biobehavioral adaptations to ICE environments but are still Earth-bound and thus lack the low-gravity and radiation risks of space. The International Space Station (ISS), now considered an analog environment for long-duration missions, better approximates the habitable infrastructure limitations of a lunar colony than most Antarctic settlements in an altered gravity setting. However, the ISS is still protected against cosmic radiation by the Earth's magnetic field, which prevents high exposures due to solar particle events and reduces exposures to galactic cosmic radiation. On the Moon, the ICE environments are strengthened, radiations of all energies are present, capable of inducing performance degradation, and gravity and lunar dust are reduced. The interaction of reduced gravity, radiation exposure, and ICE conditions may affect biology and behavior – and ultimately mission success – in ways the scientific and operational communities have yet to appreciate. Therefore, a long-term or permanent human presence on the Moon would ultimately provide invaluable high-fidelity opportunities for integrated multidisciplinary research and preparations of a human-crewed mission to Mars. This talk will provide an overview of the effects of fractional gravity on the Moon and how partial gravity affects the different physiological systems. Aspects such as the effects of fractional gravity on cardiovascular health, the musculoskeletal system, locomotion, etc., will be presented. This talk will also address aspects related to the current challenges of building colonies on the Moon, issues related to life support systems, and/or the usage of countermeasures. The talks will conclude with an emphasis on the need to understand the effects of fractional gravity and how future research related to Life Sciences on the Moon must evolve, especially as the Moon is envisaged as a base for launching long-term missions to Mars and deep space.