"anon" wrote in message
...
You're gonna have to do better than this if you want to win Troll
competition.
The post that you copied from somewhere (not your own work) proves the
exact
opposite ot the thread name. Poor, poor, poor.

He's been doing that quite a bit lately. Eg, Big Bang, Claiming there's a
coverup by science, etc.



"Mad Scientist" wrote in message
news
Mars Astronauts To
Hibernate For 50
Million-Mile Journey
By Karyn Miller
The Telegraph - UK
8-8-4


It was once the preserve of science fiction books and films such as
2001: a Space Odyssey and Alien, but scientists now believe that they
will be able to develop ways of sending people on long space journeys in
hibernation.

The European Space Agency is funding research into what has become the
holy grail of space travel - a method that will allow astronauts to
spend months or years in suspended animation.

Scientists at the agency hope to create a hibernation system in time for
a planned manned mission to Mars in 2033.

They are drawing up plans for "sleep pods" that, according Mark Ayre, a
research fellow for the agency's Advanced Concepts Team, resemble the
pods in Alien and will be part of the astronauts' bedrooms.

Getting to Mars is the space industry's big challenge. Earlier this
year, President George W Bush announced that a manned mission to the red
planet was part of his plan for a "new course for America's space
programme".

Michael Foale, the British-born astronaut, has described a manned
mission to Mars as the "end-game" of spaceflight, saying: "We want to
find a way to live there in fairly large numbers."

The logistics of such a trip are daunting. Mars is 50 million miles from
Earth. Space engineers hope to refine new methods of propulsion, such as
engines powered by solar energy, to speed up flights.

However, even with this envisaged technology, a journey to Mars is
expected to take six to nine months.

If a manned mission to Mars were successful, it could pave the way to
more distant planets, such as Saturn.

The giants of the outer solar system are made of gas, but it might be
possible to land on their moons. However, it could take up to 10 years
to get there.

The scientists believe that it is unrealistic to expect astronauts to
live for years in the cramped confines of a spacecraft, and that
hibernation would ease the psychological demands on them.

There are logistical considerations, too. ESA scientists have calculated
that 30 tons of food would be needed to supply six astronauts on a
two-year mission.

Dormant astronauts would require less food and create less waste. As a
result, the craft would be lighter and would require less fuel.

Finding a way to put, and keep, the astronauts into a state of
hibernation is the key. The researchers are focusing on a synthetic,
opioid-like compound called Dadle, or Ala-(D) Leuenkephalin, which, when
injected into squirrels, can put them in a state of hibernation during
the summer.

Dr Ayre's team is testing Dadle in rats, to discover if it has a similar
effect in non-hibernating animals. They have already established that
when Dadle is applied to cultures of human cells, the cells divide more
slowly.

The scientists are also investigating compounds that would maintain the
astronauts' physical health during prolonged periods of physical
inactivity.

They also want to evaluate dobutamine, which is administered to
bedridden patients to strengthen their heart muscles, and hormonal
compounds such as insulin-like growth factor, which could boost
astronauts' immune systems. Electrical stimulation could also be used to
prevent bedsores.

Dr Ayre emphasised that the research was at an early stage and that he
hoped that future advances in medical technology would help the process.
"We are still a long way from testing any ideas on humans," he said.

Work on hibernation technology is also going in America, where the
Pentagon has been looking at its possibilities in the treatment of
wounded soldiers. Nasa, however, is not understood to be investing much
in the idea.

Some scientists believe that hibernation may never be suitable for
humans. Neil Stanley, the director of Sleep Research at the University
of Surrey, said that it could "torture" the mind.

"I'm sure it would be possible to put the body to sleep, but the mind is
something else. Nobody has managed to put the mind to sleep yet. When
you are asleep, dreams are your reality. If you were asleep for six
months, dreams would become your memories.

"Waking up would be a great shock to the system. The human perception of
time is ingrained. How do you deal with missing six months of your
life?"

Gerhard Thiele, the head of the ESA's Astronauts and Operations Unit who
travelled into space in 2000, said that he would not want to sleep
through a space journey.

"Hibernation would be suitable for longer missions, such as interstellar
travel, but such journeys will not be taken for hundreds of years. For
shorter missions, such as one to Mars, I would prefer to be awake.

"I would want to see the Earth getting smaller, and Mars getting bigger.
It would be a trip to enjoy."

© Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2004.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;sessionid