The procedure would start with astronauts being chilled down to between 89 degrees and 93 degrees Fahrenheit by inhaling a coolant. The astronauts would be fed intravenously to keep them alive. The sleeping astronauts would be located in a spinning habitat to keep their muscles from atrophying and their bones from becoming brittle. When the spaceship reaches its destination, the coolant is stopped, and the astronauts wake up. According to CNN, scientists have been exploring ways to develop practical suspended animation for decades. Besides helping astronauts through deep space voyages, some have imagined it as a way to cheat death. People with terminal diseases could be placed in suspended animation until a cure can be found for their disease, whereupon they can be brought back to life. The record for someone being placed in a state of therapeutic hypothermia is about a week. The technique will have to be refined for voyages lasting months if it is to have any practical benefit. One way around that problem may be to have one or two astronauts awake at all times on a rotating basis, a good idea in any case if the spaceship needs maintenance during a long space voyage.
Posted on: Sun, 05 Oct 2014 10:36:08 +0000
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