Interplanetary 'jet lag' and personality clashes could be the biggest obstacles to colonising Mars, British space experts have warned. Although scientists are still stumped about how to protect astronauts against space radiation, or the physical effects of zero gravity during lengthy voyages, it may be more mundane concerns that hamper lengthy missions. Last week, experts met in London to consider the social and psychological hurdles to long-term spaceflight, and concluded that one major concern is that crews may simply struggle to ‘get along.’ Previous research has shown that up to half of crews suffer from personality clashes even though astronauts are thoroughly screened for sociability. “The biggest hurdles to Mars settlement are not technical but psychological," said meeting organiser Dr Federico Caprotti, of the University of Exeter. “Long-range missions raise psychological questions that current knowledge in space science cannot answer. “For example, the International Space Station enables a quick return and therefore a sense of psychological closeness to the Earth. Mars does not allow this, and that brings a risk of intense pressure. “There is also the issue of interplanetary 'jetlag'. The journey could take about 400 days - though experimental plasma engines could speed this up. “The psychological effects of a journey that long, combined with the lack of real-time communications with Earth as signals take four to 24 minutes could be huge.” Tim Peake problems D On the International Space Station, mission controllers simulate a 12 hour cycle of night and day using special lighting to try and maintain circadian rhythms, but astronauts have complained of jet-lag on their return to Earth. However it is arrival on Mars which could cause the most disorientation. The Martian day is 24 hours, 39 minutes and 35 seconds, which although does not seem that different to Earth is the equivalent of travelling west by two time zones every three days. Nasa mission controllers operating the Mars rovers have previously attempted to work on planetary time, but many gave up after it proved too exhausting. The meeting, was funded by the Mohammed bin Rashid Global Space Challenge, which is working towards human settlement in space. Currently, space agencies such as Nasa and the European Space Agency (ESA) use pre-mission psychological testing to make sure crews can work together, yet between 40 per cent and 50 per cent of missions report friction between astronauts. “That would be a major problem on a 400-day return journey and the intervening mission on Mars,” added Dr Steven Palmer, of the University of Exeter, who has worked on both space research and in the Antarctic. “We also heard about a mission in a remote location on Earth where someone painted some walls in a colour others didn't like - and this caused resentment and damaged team cohesion. “Many people think a Mars mission should be manned by 'natural leaders', but organisations like the British Antarctic Survey have found that you need people who can compromise.” The effect of spaceflight on the human body is also of great concern to mission controllers, and it is now know that microgravity influences metabolism, heat regulation, heart rhythm, muscle tone, bone density, the respiration system. In 2016, research from the US also found that astronauts who travelled into deep space on lunar missions were five times more likely to have died from cardiovascular disease than those who went into low orbit, or never left Earth. The following year, Russian scientists discovered alarming changes to the immune system, suggesting astronauts would struggle to shake off even a minor illness, like the common cold if exposed to the virus.
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