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This is good stuff to know before a Mars mission, but the headline is unnecessarily dire-sounding. It's a problem, yes, but it doesn't sound particularly hard t
by pjscott 14y ago
This is good stuff to know before a Mars mission, but the headline is unnecessarily dire-sounding. It's a problem, yes, but it doesn't sound particularly hard to solve. Get bright, sun-spectrum, non-gloomy lighting for the "day", get dim-to-nonexistent lighting for "night", and establish a schedule for switching between them. This should help, probably quite a lot.
- TillE 14y agoIt's possible that some people won't be able to adjust to reasonable indoor lighting; it's pretty difficult to artificially replicate daylight. Or there may be energy constraints. The article suggests that they'll just screen astronauts for irregular sleep cycles, which should only take a couple weeks of simulation at most.
- jholman 14y agoOr two to four months, as the article specifically states. That was actually one of the valuable research results; 500 days was not a better test than 120 days.
- InclinedPlane 14y agoOr they could just use windows and shades. The lack of windows was an unnecessary constraint in the study.
- kevin_rubyhouse 14y agoIt would break the experience. Wouldn't it also facilitate depression by constantly reminding them that they are on Earth and could leave at any time they wanted to?
- InclinedPlane 14y agoPerhaps I should have said that it was a constraint that is not necessary on an actual Mars mission.
- scaphandre 14y agoPlus melatonin and modafinil. Haven't pilots have used this stuff for years? Presumably going to Mars is particularly bad, but actually going to freaking Mars probably helps a little with the depression.