The novel sleeping bag is key for astronauts to avoid developing eye problems and vision loss in space.
Vacuum tech is used to draw down bodily fluids from the head in the sack designed at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
A similar increase in brain pressure occurs when you lie down at night — but, on Earth, getting up in the morning fixes this by allowing gravity to pull the fluids down.
In space, this is not possible, and so the fluids cause the optic nerve to swell and the eyeball to flatten — which is why many returning astronauts have vision issues.
The team found that three days lying on your back in bed is enough to measurably alter the shape of your eye — and actually worse than you’d experience in space.
This was stopped by wearing the suction-based, eight-hour sleeping bag every night to prevent this from happening.
This technology may prove crucial in future missions to Mars by crewed astronauts, who would have to travel long distances in low gravity.
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An innovative sleeping bag is key for astronauts to avoid vision impairments in space. It could prevent them from experiencing optical health problems such as swelling and loss of vision. Pictured: internal medicine hospitalist James Leidner lies in the sack, which works by using vacuum technology to pull down bodily fluid that would otherwise pool in the head
Spaceflight associated neuro-ocular syndrome — SANS, for short — has been linked with a number of structural changes in the body, including a progressive flattening of the eyeball, swelling of the optic nerve (as depicted above) and retinal haemorrhage
Over half of NASA astronauts that served over six months on the International Space Station in microgravity reported vision changes upon their return.
Such shifts often include the development of farsightedness and mild headaches — but in more severe cases can manifest as losses in both near and distant acuity.
This condition, dubbed SANS — spaceflight associated neuro-ocular syndrome — is linked to a number of structural changes in the body, including a progressive flattening of the eyeball, swelling of the optic nerve and retinal haemorrhage.
‘We don’t know how bad the effects might be on a longer flight, like a two-year Mars operation,’ said paper author and cardiologist Benjamin Levine of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, who is working with NASA on the SANS issue.
‘It would be a disaster if astronauts had such severe impairments that they couldn’t see what they’re doing and it compromised the mission.’
According to University of Texas research, SANS may be due to pressure applied by bodily fluids when the brain is in microgravity.
This is not an issue down here on the Earth — as long as one is standing (or even seated) upright, gravity acts to pull fluids down into the body.
Space is not the same. The bodily fluids can pool in the skull, and cause damage to the eyes over time.
“You cannot stand in space to release the pressure. NASA’s Michael Stenger, a biomedical engineer and SANS researcher, said that this is the problem.
Researchers recruited patients with cancer who were able to retain ports in their heads. This allowed them to examine the problem further.
Each participant volunteered to go on a so-called ‘vomit comet’ — a parabolic flight into the upper atmosphere that temporarily simulates weightlessness and allowed their brain pressure to be measured as their body fluids floated upwards.
‘It was hard,’ commented Philadelphia’s Wendy Hancock, a leukaemia survivor who agreed to go on more than three dozen of the special, up-and-down flights.
She said, “But NASA is amazing, so hell yeah, I was going jump at the opportunity to help!” “I did it because I care about the astronauts.”
Analysis of the data recorded revealed that the the brain pressure experienced by someone lying down in space is actually lower than on the Earth — but, as Dr Stenger explained, there is no natural way to release this pressure in space.
Researchers recruited patients with cancer to test their brain pressure. Each participant volunteered to go on a so-called ‘vomit comet’ (left)— a parabolic upper atmosphere flight (right) that temporarily simulates weightlessness and allowed their brain pressure to be measured as their body fluids floated upwards
These findings led Professor Levine to team up with colleagues to create a new sleeping back. The special mattress uses a vacuum that wraps around the lower body, relieving pressure on the brain.
Similar concepts have been used for decades to help astronauts maintain muscle and bone mass in space — but such had never been explored as an antidote for SANS, not designed for the kind of hours-long, overnight use of a sleeping bag.
The high-tech bag is not like the sleeping bag that you would take to a camping trip. It has a sturdy frame that looks like an ice cream cone.
One of the 10 test subjects for the sack was James Leidner — an internal medicine hospitalist who is interested in a career in aerospace health — who undertook two three-day stints lying in bed in a research room, allowing his brain pressure to rise.
During the second visit, he was placed in the special sleeping bag for eight hours each night — letting the team show that the sack was effective in helping to lower the brain pressure that resulted from lying down (or from being in space.)
‘Being productive has gone out the window,’ Dr Leidner joked — noting how difficult it was for him to type on his laptop while lying flat on his back in the sack.
‘But it’s an experience I could tell my kid one day, if it helps humans land on Mars.’
The team hopes that SANS can be defeated by NASA’s next mission to Mars in 2030s. However, there are still many questions to answer before NASA can put the sleeping bag on the International Space Station. It is not clear how long astronauts will need to sleep in this sleeping bag every night.
While the SANS team believes that SANS can now be defeated, NASA will still need to address many issues before it is ready for a Mars mission in the 2030s.
It is not clear how long astronauts will need to sleep in this sleeping bag every night for it to be effective.
Professor Levine noted that this is possibly one of most crucial medical issues discovered for space missions in the last ten years.
He said, “I am thankful for the volunteers that are helping us understand and hopefully fix the problem,”
Full results of this study have been published in JAMA Ophthalmology.
NASA intends to launch a manned mission on Mars in 2030s following the Moon’s first landing.
Mars is the next big step in mankind’s space exploration.
Before humans reach Mars, however, there will be a number of steps taken by astronauts to return to Earth for an entire year.
In a timeline that leads to Mars missions, the details of a mission to lunar orbit were revealed.
Nasa has outlined its four stage plan (pictured) which it hopes will one day allow humans to visit Mars at he Humans to Mars Summit held in Washington DC yesterday. Over the next decades, this will require multiple moon missions.
Greg Williams (Deputy Associate Administrator for Policy and Plans at Nasa) presented the four-stage plan of Nasa that will eventually allow human beings to reach Mars in May 2017. He also gave an estimate on its time frame.
Phases one and 2 It will require multiple trips to moon space to build a habitat that will serve as a base for the entire journey.
This would include the Deep Space Transport vehicle, which would then be used later to transport a crew to Mars.
In 2027, a simulation for a year of Mars life will take place.
Phase three, and fourth will be completed after 2030. It will require crew expeditions on sustained missions to Mars and the Martian surface.