Now we know that astronauts with extended visits to the International Space Station come back to Earth with some degree of eye impairment. The retinas get flatter, possibly from a buildup of fluids in a head that is not subject to the up-and-down that our planet’s gravity imposes. What would longer stays in space do to an astronaut? A journey to Mars and beyond takes a long time in a weightless environment. Yes, astronauts will get taller in microgravity, but will they be able to play basketball on Mars if they can’t see the hoop? What good is it to get to Mars if you can’t see the planet? Might as well just send a rover with cameras.
The spaceship environment changes its occupants. We can apply technological solutions to the physical challenges, and some of those, such as wearing a Russian Chibis suit, might work to reduce the loss of vision during a long spaceflight. However, there’s no guaranteed solution to this newly discovered vision impairment yet.
We’re always adapting to environments, even to the seasonal changes we experience on Earth. But we have now both created and moved into environments that kept humans at bay for 200,000 years. We can live at the South Pole and under the ocean for extended periods. We’ve literally made environments under the assumption that no place is a “Forbidden Planet.” The universe is ours as soon as we find a way to explore it. We’re always in the design stage of new “towers of Babel.” It isn’t just Nature that abhors a vacuum, it’s us. We abhor a human vacuum. We’re sucked into every human vacuum.
Then there’s that darn eye problem. We can identify human vacuums, but once we enter them we chance becoming blind to our surroundings, shooting “air balls” that miss not only the basket, but also the backboard.
So, the environment into which you have moved is your Mars. You’ve moved in, and you believe you have filled the vacuum and adapted. But what is it in your new world that you can’t see? You might be shooting air balls and not even know it.
The spaceship environment changes its occupants. We can apply technological solutions to the physical challenges, and some of those, such as wearing a Russian Chibis suit, might work to reduce the loss of vision during a long spaceflight. However, there’s no guaranteed solution to this newly discovered vision impairment yet.
We’re always adapting to environments, even to the seasonal changes we experience on Earth. But we have now both created and moved into environments that kept humans at bay for 200,000 years. We can live at the South Pole and under the ocean for extended periods. We’ve literally made environments under the assumption that no place is a “Forbidden Planet.” The universe is ours as soon as we find a way to explore it. We’re always in the design stage of new “towers of Babel.” It isn’t just Nature that abhors a vacuum, it’s us. We abhor a human vacuum. We’re sucked into every human vacuum.
Then there’s that darn eye problem. We can identify human vacuums, but once we enter them we chance becoming blind to our surroundings, shooting “air balls” that miss not only the basket, but also the backboard.
So, the environment into which you have moved is your Mars. You’ve moved in, and you believe you have filled the vacuum and adapted. But what is it in your new world that you can’t see? You might be shooting air balls and not even know it.
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