A human led mission to Saturn might sound cool on paper, but space psychologists have some concerns.

Space is an isolated confined extreme environment and humans are very social and when you put that

combination together that creates a lot of stressors on them.

It's Friday August August 30th.

Around here, we call that Science Friday.

I'm Scifry producer D. Peter Schmidt.

There's a new sci-fi thriller out in theaters today

called Slingshot. It follows crew members on a years-long space

mission as they start to unravel, highlighting how long lonely missions can put astronauts well-being

in peril.

And even though it's fiction, the film does remind us

that a lot can go wrong in space.

So as humans get closer to embarking on long missions

to Mars and beyond,

how are real space agencies thinking about keeping them healthy and safe?

We'll get into that later, but first here's guest host and science journalist Rachel

Feldman rounding up the top news in science this week. This week, a New Hampshire man died of eastern equine encephalitis,

a rare but serious mosquito-born virus.

Human cases have also been reported in Wisconsin, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Vermont,

prompting some municipalities to step up their mosquito control efforts

and even advise residents to limit outdoor activities during dusk and dawn.

Joining me now to talk about this and other recent science stories is Sophie Bushwick,

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