Hypersleep 

Giving in to the temptations of making the difficult task of spaceflight even more difficult than it needs to be, ESA is sinking time and money into researching human hibernation for missions to Mars, an idea that strikes me as even more wasteful than artificial gravity. Even if ESA is able to master the art of putting humans into suspended animation, I'm curious how and when they plan to test whether and how well such hibernation would combat the effects of microgravity exposure. A hibernating animal is able to avoid the atrophy that a human would suffer during an equal period of bedrest, but it seems to me it would be difficult to say for sure that means that hibernation would also prevent microgravity-exposure-induced atrophy. If not, the hibernation would be horribly bad for crewmembers, who wouldn't be able to engage in the needed microgravity mitigation techniques.
The long and short of it, though, is that I just don't see any need for it. On a mission to the outer planets, that could last for years, sure. But, going to Mars, it would be better use of the research euros to work on advanced propulsion which could cut the travel time to Mars down to 3 months, a very reasonable goal, and rely on the same mitigation techniques that are currently proving reliable on ISS to keep the crew healthy for their landing.
(Though I guess the point about reducing the mass needs for food is a decent one.)

:: :: 10:52 :: David :: [permalink] ::