Starman

Every time I hear about the preposterous amount of money we are wasting on 'going to Mars' I get so annoyed. Thinking they're smart enough to make that workable when not even knowing the basics of what happens to the human body in space? It's absurd.

In space, the human body is exposed to massive amounts of radiation, some of which is impossible (or extremely difficult) to shield against. This radiation exposure has greater damage to health outcomes than radiation exposure on Earth (and we know it caused cancer and degenerative disease here).

Gravity is another issue. Transitioning through different gravity fields affects spatial orientation and balance. It may be difficult to maintain blood pressure when standing. The weight-bearing bones lose mineral density in flight and also muscle mass, and it may not be corrected by rehabilitation. The fluids in the body shift upwards to the head, and this can cause among other things, vision problems. Increased risk of kidney stones due to dehydration and an increase in the excretion of calcium from the bones is another issue to be dealt with.

Not sure what all the anti-vaxxers will do given the risks to their immune system will require a lot of shots?

We saw what a full year on the space station did - compared to the normal 200 days. And that was close to Earth! It only gets worse the further you go and the longer time spent in space.

So instead of throwing money into 'escape', why don't we stop wasting resources like water on AI and focus on creating clean air and cooler, stable temperatures on Earth? Food security requires it. Human life requires it. If you have all this money for science, why not put it to something useful?

NASA article here for more detail.