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Astronomy cast episode 638 simulating space missions. Welcome to astronomy cast for weekly

facts based journey through the cosmos. We help you understand not only what we know but how we know what we know. I'm Fraser Kane publisher of the University of

Today with me as always is Dr Pamela Gay, a senior scientist for the planetary science institute and the director of

Cosmic Quest. Pamela, how are you doing? I am doing well. We are at that point in spring where the magnolia is in full bloom. The apple trees about to bloom and that means we will have one more snow storm.

We have a snow storm right now. So like in April this is madness. So I was talking to one of my patrons today and so an interesting thing people maybe don't know if you sign up for the patron for University today. I do a phone call with Europe. Zoom meeting with you to just get information about how you became a patron, how you found about University and how you make things better and so on.

I was talking to another person who says that they use our stuff for falling asleep. I just want to say that's okay. We understand. We appreciate the fact that we're able to play this really valuable role in everybody's lives in helping them go to sleep.

It's true. I do listen to other people's podcasts to go to sleep. Yes. So we understand we do it to it's totally fine. Don't feel guilty. If we can bring that valuable role of our if our soothing monotone voice can make you feel like you have to go to sleep. That's perfect.

I just I think it's our soothing not entirely monotone voices that are putting people to sleep. I I up the think you part of the brain.

Although humans have never actually been to Mars, explorers have simulated many aspects of Mars missions here on earth. There are missions under the ocean on the tops of volcanoes in the harsh Canadian North and even in bed that simulate the limitations of space flight and teach us many of the lessons to prepare us for the real thing.

So have you ever done one of these simulated Mars missions? No, they they require you to put the rest of your life on hold for for longer than I've ever felt that I could get away with given all the different things that I'm constantly doing basically.

I like to multitask and if you're doing one of these things you have to be completely committed and and the other part is that like the Mars ones they do in Hawaii, I have a severe sulfur allergy that when the vlog yeah,

yeah, Vogue makes me think that I have pneumonia and it's just allergies. Yeah, and sulfurish sulfuric clouds going into your lungs. All right, so let's put this idea. So I guess how what are some examples of simulations that are done to help us understand space flight? How does this work?

They they're trying to test lots of different things ranging from how does the human body respond to not having a diurnal cycle with the sunrise and sunset? How does the human body respond to not being allowed to be vertical in a gravity well?

How do human beings deal with being stuck in a small container? They can't escape and and to test each of these different things including technology tests of how do we handle it when I as kids we all played the floors lava?

Well, they instead go out into northern Arizona and play the air is vacuum and and with each of these different experiments, they're looking to understand the human psyche or the physiological response to these different not normal environments.

Yeah, yeah, I mean, there's so many the communication delays, the checklist of procedures that you have to go through to go in and out of your spacecraft and so on. And I mean, there's a very rich heritage of this, the Apollo astronauts simulated their missions in the deserts here on Earth as well.

And some of it is to simulate to get used to things and to test out things desert rats is building on the legacy of what the Apollo astronauts did out in the North American deserts because they are sending out astronauts who are going to be asked to collect geological samples while wearing these bulky terrible suits that have been adjusted so they can be used.

They don't have to be up and adjusted so that they don't weigh as much but it's the equivalent of what they're going to be dealing with in terms of my hands are stuck in gloves.

And the poor astronauts couldn't bend the waste and just trying to figure out how to do anything when you know if you fall over, you're going to be a landed turtle.

And to practice that you have to practice the okay, how does how does my spacewalk buddy get me back up when I fall on my back.

And and all the awkwardness of outer space we think of the glory, the overview of fact, the the amazing I get to eat that water bubble in the capsule.

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