Author: Thais RussomanoInnovaSpace Co-Founder & CEO; International Expert in Space Science as it relates to Humans Thirteen billion years ago, a picture of deep space, when the Universe was formed.  SMACS 0723: Red arcs in the image trace light from galaxies in the very early Universe (13.8 billion years ago) - Image credit: NASA/ESA/CSA/STSCI Thirteen hundreds, precisely in 1341, Penshurst Place (Kent, UK) was built and started its own history.  Ancestral home of the Sidney family since 1552 | Image Credit: Thais Russomano & Mary Upritchard (07 August 2022) Two very different ways to observe the past, and learn their lessons…
The term 'space sciences' is a conglomeration of almost all of the branches of science known to humanity today. Space fuels exploration and provides enormous opportunities for exploitation to meet societal needs. So much so that one finds the footprint of space technology in almost every aspect of daily life. For example, data received from earth observations help us to understand the global environmental factors and initiate ground-based measures to tackle them. Integrating data with fields like agriculture helped us develop 'Precision Agriculture'. Furthermore, space-driven initiatives drive international cooperation on issues related to humanity. Thus, it is pretty evident that any new crisis or breakthrough in almost any aspect of society will impact on the space industry. Such was the case when devastating waves of COVID-19 hit the world. Presented below is a bibliometric mindmap that gives us a visual aid to further our understanding of the true nature of the negative impact of the pandemic on the space industry.  Figure: Impact of COVID-19 on the space industry and vice versa (Adopted with modifications from Palit S et al. - Space Industry and COVID-19: An Insight into Their Shared Relation) Note: Circles/ovals- Represent institutions affected by the COVID pandemic; Rectangles- Represent institutional values affected by the COVID pandemic It can be seen that the pandemic dealt a severe blow to institutions (such as SMEs, academia, the health sector) and their values (such as organisational resilience, etc.). However, as the saying goes, 'every cloud has a silver lining', and such was the case with COVID-19. Areas in which COVID-19 had positive implications include cases where:
Furthermore, astronauts onboard the International Space Station teach us some of the most valuable lessons. These include instances where the world applied containment measures to restrict the spread of pandemics, leading to the limited provision of healthcare resources. Here, the experiences gained with 3D printing during human spaceflights could help the healthcare industry to produce various tools (dental, medical, or surgical) and pharmaceutical products, and the list is endless.
Therefore, given the recent losses that we have suffered, it would be advisable to adopt space-based technologies as quickly as possible to help prevent the long-standing implications of COVID-19. However, this can only be done if we have collective support from government agencies worldwide. Author: The InnovaSpace TeamSpace Without Borders! InnovaSpace CEO Thais Russomano recently contributed an article to the magazine - Asian Hospital & Healthcare Management - examining the challenges humankind faces if we are to spend more time in space. It gives a good overview of the topic without being too technical and is open access, so we thought you might like to take a look!  The article features on pages 6-9 of the magazine and you can download the magazine free by following this LINK
Author: Hamzah RahmanYear 3 student - Guy's, King's and St Thomas' School of Medicine & Space Enthusiast!  de Havilland Comet aircraft The General Practitioner (GP) medical professional has undoubtedly played a major role in providing a plethora of care packages and programmes for individuals seeking to travel; from immunisations and vaccinations to advice and even guidance for mothers in the late gestational stage. The advent of jet flight allowed the masses to venture to destinations that only aristocracy could once afford, which in turn generated a greater need for primary healthcare management. The GP is therefore the point of access to these healthcare packages and consequently plays a pivotal role in enabling tourists to travel safely. This responsibility is deeply intertwined with the historic increase in accessibility to affordable flight. The first British commercial jetliner was the de Havilland Comet in 1949. This aircraft enabled more people to travel further, as well as reducing the price of tickets substantially. The GP during this age would have played an important role in ensuring that passengers were fit to fly, by managing their pre-flight healthcare requirements.  Boeing 747-121 | Image credit: Aldo Bidini The Boeing 707 soon joined the aviation world in 1957 and dramatically changed the way we travelled; it opened flight corridors that were once untenable, and consequently, accessed a greater consumer market - the working classes. In 1969, Boeing unveiled the revolutionary 747, coined the “Jumbo Jet” due to its sheer size, which resulted in greater passenger capacity and far more affordable tickets. With such quantum leaps forward in jet aviation, by the mid-70s the British GP was providing care and advice to thousands of travellers from all walks of life, different backgrounds and with all manner of pre-existing health conditions. The workload of the GP thus became much more diverse and they gained great responsibility in permitting the public to exercise their freedom to travel safely. Just as jet flight was once an exclusive mode of transport for those from higher socio-economic backgrounds, spaceflight has now emerged onto the world market with exclusive and expensive tickets to fly. Undoubtedly, spaceflight will become more affordable in the coming years and decades, and as such will inevitably require a more established initial healthcare access point for travellers- a service that GPs could provide. As space tourism flights become more accessible through lower prices and increased provision, the remit of travel healthcare provided by general practice could evolve in the near future to encompass spaceflight health clearance.
 13 Oct 2021 - William Shatner, age 90, oldest person to fly in space - Image: Blue Origin Recently, on the 13th October 2021, Bezos’ Blue Origin New Shepherd craft took tourists such as Star Trek’s William Shatner on a flight to an altitude of 66.5 miles. Tourists such as these, from different age groups, with a myriad of pre-existing long-term health conditions and with no prior spaceflight experience has highlighted the need for a service that operates independently of space organisations to provide clearance and medical management for spaceflight. As it stands currently, these tourist flights do not have a destination per se, other than low Earth orbit (expected altitude 65 to 200 miles) above the Kármán line, but not quite outside the absolute border of the earth’s exosphere. This means that passengers need not be screened and cleared as fastidiously as if they were travelling on long distance, extra-exospheric spaceflight to specific destinations such as the Moon or Mars- an exclusivity that only agencies such as NASA currently possess, with professional-only programmes such as the Artemis Lunar Mission. Any underlying health issues that these space tourists may have can be exacerbated by the challenges and stresses posed by the unique microgravity environment of low Earth orbit. The task of medical clearance is therefore a task that a GP is most well equipped to accomplish, as they have access to, and experience with a patient’s entire past medical history and general state of health. THE UNIQUE ENVIRONMENT OF LOW EARTH ORBIT AND ITS HEALTH CHALLENGE The unique environment of low Earth orbit means that underlying medical conditions and contingency plans must be organised and managed in a way that is very different to that of terrestrial flight. Consequently, the GP must take a more particular approach to verifying the fit-to-fly status of potential spaceflight tourists. One consideration is the exacerbation of anaemia during spaceflight. Research has recently shown that any duration in microgravity, ranging from a few hours to several months, increases the rate of haemolysis proportionally to the duration in space. Whilst space tourists in the next few decades will not be spending more than at most a few days in microgravity, there is still a risk that individuals with pernicious, iron-deficiency and anaemia of chronic disease (TB, malignancy, rheumatoid arthritis) could be at risk of low blood haemoglobin levels during spaceflight and possible medical complications upon return to Earth. A GP would be responsible for ensuring that these risk factors are screened for before declaring a patient fit-to-fly, with blood haemoglobin being measured several times prior to flight to ensure stability in vascular oxygen saturation (spO2).  Another issue is the effect of microgravity on patients with impaired left ventricular ejection fractions (LVEF) (for whatever underlying aetiology). Whilst acutely unwell patients would be denied fit to fly clearance, those who are well managed may still be eligible to fly based on cardiovascular review on Earth. This may become an issue in post-flight situations, due to an in-flight cephalad movement of fluid and removal of any hydrostatic pressure gradients leading to a greatly increased stroke volume. Heart rate and mean arterial pressure both decrease, ultimately in their aggregation leading to a greater cardiac output. Whilst this decrease in afterload can be seen to be an improvement in patients with heart failure and other cardiac conditions, upon re-entry to Earth, there is a risk for orthostatic intolerance due to cardiac deconditioning, where the duration of decreased afterload and stress upon the heart can lead to cardiac atrophy. This decrease in cardiac function would become more apparent in Earth’s gravity, with dizziness, syncope and possible a more reduced LVEF than before. This phenomenon is more pronounced the longer the duration of spaceflight (in the region of weeks to months), however, for patients who have underlying disease, this process could happen sooner, and is therefore paramount for a GP to assess this risk. Tourists who have a history of glaucoma, wherein there is an elevated intraocular pressure due to insufficient drainage of aqueous humour, must be screened more carefully before being declared fit to fly. In the microgravity environment, due to an absence of gravity, there may be impaired orthostatic drainage of aqueous humour through the ocular trabecular meshwork, leading to even more excessive intraocular pressure increases. Experiments carried out on SkyLab showed a 114% increase in intraocular pressure for astronauts - data that suggests that those with glaucoma may be at risk of severe ocular complications if not managed appropriately pre-spaceflight. Another ocular related consideration for GPs, even for those without glaucoma, is the possibility of spaceflight associated neuro-ocular syndrome (SANS). SANS maybe related to the headward fluid shift of blood due to microgravity and leads to possible distensions of the optic nerve sheath, globe flattening, hyperoptic shifts and other ocular lesions. Whilst SANS tends to affect those in microgravity after several months, there is insufficient data to exclude short term spaceflight travellers from this condition, and as such, tourists should be risk stratified before making a decision for fit to fly. One more consideration for GPs is the risk assessment of potential thrombotic events in microgravity. In stark contrast to the deep vein thrombosis risk of patients on long haul terrestrial flights, there is a risk of thrombosis in any part of the cardiovascular system due to blood stasis, particularly in the intracranial and jugular veins, where gravity (and not valves) is utilised to drain back into the heart. Those who require thrombolytic medication (antiplatelet and anticoagulant) must be managed accordingly before being declared fit to fly, especially so if they have additional cardiovascular disease that may predispose them to an even higher risk of a thrombotic event (both venous and arterial), such as those with arrythmias and hypertension. HOW CAN GENERAL PRACTICE ESTABLISH ITSELF IN PRE-SPACEFLIGHT CLEARANCE?
One thing that becomes apparent from analysis of potential pre-spaceflight risks that a GP may manage is the lack of research and data in respective medical fields. Most data currently are from established space agencies, regarding usually male astronauts who have been selected after passing all the required medical and fitness assessments, and would therefore be very unlikely to have any underlying health conditions. Drawing parallels to jet flight, initially the only data available was from military aircrew, with data becoming more widely available as more civilians flew. As such, more data will become available as more tourists with underlying health conditions travel to space and their health is monitored. This is important for GPs as it allows national databases and organisations to publish guidance in a similar fashion to that of NICE CKS and the National Travel Health Network and Centre. This will allow GPs to provide spaceflight clearance services with centralised clinical guidance. Whilst the longer term physiological effects of space travel, such as bone demineralisation and muscular atrophy, are not likely to impact on space tourists, there are a plethora of other conditions that may become more apparent in short-term spaceflight that have not yet been mentioned. Such examples include motion sickness, psychosocial illness in space and increased radiation exposure. Although the GP may be the central point of clearance for spaceflight, there must also be relevant correspondence with and referral to specific medical specialties that may be able to manage specific flight risks more appropriately. To conclude, with the ever increasing demand for spaceflight tourism, in a commensurate manner to commercial flight’s infancy, there will be a greater need for fit-to-fly clearance. This service can be provided by general practice, with GPs’ long-term experience with patients’ entire past medical history enabling them to make informed decisions and management plans. Whilst the clinical infrastructure and organisation may not yet be established, it is only a matter of time before it forms, as more and more people seek to boldly go where few have gone before. The James Webb Space Telescope (NASA) is currently overwhelming scientists and us all with spectacular pictures from deep space. Meanwhile, we humans who still have our feet firmly planted on Earth, continue to take our cosmic photos, which also have the power to mesmerise and inspire us. I took this shot of our natural satellite last night (11 July 22), and although there was the interference of some turbulence in the upper atmosphere, the beautiful Moon continued to embellish the night skies over Fagnano Castello, a town located in the province of Cosenza in the Calabria region of southern Italy. Author: Enric Garcia Torrents, MSc, PhD candidateMedical Anthropology Research Center, Universitat Rovira i Virgili  Image source: Space Settlements: A Design Study - NASA (1977) The main role of a medical anthropologist is to study human health, the whole range of actual and potential care systems, and the ways in which biocultural adaptations emerge, succeed or fail from a transdisciplinary, multidimensional and ecological perspective. We contemplate the processes and situations from within and outside the limits of our own culture, and even our own civilisation, from a long-range evolutionary perspective to the minute details of small social networks analysis. We dive deep into the complexities and repeating patterns with a skill set and toolkit as sharp, in many cases, as that of a fully trained physician-scientist, being able to engage constructively in laboratory, fieldwork and clinical practice. “It is possible that the greatest contribution that anthropology can make will be to keep men's imaginations open, as they tend to let the predictable hardware coerce the form of the software.” Space medical anthropologists, on the other hand, are bound to take the whole field of medical anthropology one step further and even beyond, daring to question what it is to be a healthy human today, what it may mean to be so tomorrow, and indeed, what the near future might bring, depending on what we decide to do at this point in history. Most importantly, space medical anthropologists work on how to achieve this healthy state by skillfully setting the stage here and now, maximising humanity’s chance for a sustainable way onward to the stars.  Artwork: Edmund Alexander Emshwiller - magazine 'Galaxy Science Fiction' (1954) As for myself, nowadays I'm a scholar working as a doctoral candidate at a Medical Anthropology Research Center while undertaking medical studies (MD-PhD student-researcher, second and third year within the dual degree). I have previous academic background in neuroscience and smart systems, and currently a contract from the Spanish Ministry of Universities to undertake research on mental health and clinical decision making for choosing the best possible treatments for each individual, funded from a future professor’s training programme. My work on space medical anthropology is rather narrow, focusing almost exclusively on figuring out the best ways for people to withstand extreme experiences without losing mental acuity, exploring optimal solutions to boosting cognitive performance, resilience and overall wellbeing in situations of acute and profound distress.  Image source: Space Settlements: A Design Study - NASA (1977) Authors: The Team: Life - To & BeyondAn initiative to carry out research & outreach activities related to Astrobiology & Space-allied Studies 'Life' is the most dynamic entity known to humanity and is central to our existence. In this, 'Space Sciences' is one of the most multi-disciplinary fields of human endeavour. Therefore, to celebrate the interdependence between 'Life' and 'Space', we, as a group of space enthusiasts, initiated a non-profit community named "Life- To & Beyond" or "L-T&B" on the 8th of February, 2022. Why us? Life- To implies Astrobiology, i.e. the scientific study of the origin, evolution, and distribution of life in the cosmos, and Life- Beyond implies Space-Allied Studies, i.e. humanity's current efforts to move beyond our planet and simultaneously conserve its novelty. Thus, as our name implies, we aspire to figure out more about Life and Space, which, in turn, are the two sides of the same coin, known as the 'Universe'.  Team Logo: Life - To & Beyond Our Vision and Mission: We, the members of team L-T&B, firmly believe that 'to explore is to be Human', and so, we rejoice 'Life' as a 'Cosmic Phenomenon' by attempting to: • Figure out the chronicle of our past (i.e. from the big bang and even beyond to conscious life on earth); • Work on our present (i.e. our current efforts to move beyond our planet and at the very same time conserve its unique richness); and • Create a glorious future for humans (i.e. our ultimate fate in the universe). Furthermore, we have the vision to generate awareness and create an impact in every community and country in the world by creating local or accessible opportunities for learning and research concerning Space sciences and STEAM fields with a special focus on Astrobiology and Space-Allied Studies (i.e., Space Pharmacy, Space Biotechnology, Analog missions, Space robotics, space architecture, etc.). To turn our vision into a reality, we vow to engage in Research, Communication, and Outreach concerning our focus areas. Additionally, to spice up our enterprise, we work towards bringing about an intra-, inter-, multi-, and trans-disciplinary approach in whatever we do, including making quality education and research opportunities (and facilities) available to all. To fuel this initiative, we have taken the onerous on us to share information about events and opportunities related to space sciences with all. Our story so far… We initially started as a LinkedIn group where we posted about different events, opportunities, and resources related to Astrobiology & Space-allied studies. To date, our team members have worked on a review paper named 'Space-Industry and COVID-19: An Insight into their Shared Relation' which got published on the 29th of March 2022 in the International Journal of Enhanced Research in Science, Technology & Engineering (a peer-reviewed Journal) and received much appreciation from its readers. The paper summarizes the impact of space on society, the impact of COVID-19 on the space industry, and a special focus on services provided by space and its technologies to combat the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on humanity. Besides, it was selected for presentation at the "LIFECON2022: A one-day national e-conference organized by B.N.N College, India, on the 7th of March 2022. Moreover, our team's work got featured on the official website and social media handles of Mars on Earth Project Community (MoEP), Turkey.  Some of the ongoing projects of our group include abstract proposals for submission to AbGradcon and proposals for outreach grants for carrying out outreach activities throughout India and in multiple languages. Soon, we plan to start working on the thematic area of Martian soil (if feasible) and on other such pipeline projects that we finalise at our team meets. Next, we plan to collaborate with reputed international organisations like Innovaspace (UK) & Mars on Earth Project Community (Turkey) to further our vision and mission. Here's a glimpse of some of our collaborative efforts:  Going forward: We welcome any enthusiastic person who wishes to volunteer with us towards developing a sustainable 'space ecosystem' throughout the world. For this, we have several volunteering opportunities in our core team. One may contact Sibsankar Palit (Group Coordinator) or Whatsapp at +91-9903753602 for further queries. We welcome all kinds of ideas related to space sciences and STEAM, focusing on Astrobiology & Space-Allied sciences. This team doesn't promote any hierarchy or isolated groups; rather, it upholds collaborative values and novel ideas from a non-profit perspective. "So, let's come together to unanimously understand Space and Life and appreciate its beauty in its true sense”. The InnovaSpace crew send congratulations to the Team at Life- To & Beyond and wish you good luck with your mission, collaborations and future researches. Ad Astra!
 Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a well-established part of basic life support (BLS), having saved countless lives since its first development in the 1960s. External chest compressions (ECCs), which form the main part of BLS, must be carried out until Advanced Life Support can begin. It is essential that ECCs are performed to the correct depth and frequency to guarantee effectiveness. The absence of gravity during spaceflight means that performing ECCs is more challenging. The likelihood of a dangerous cardiac event occurring during a space mission is remote, however, the possibility does exist. Nowadays, the selection process for space missions considers individuals at ages and with health standards that would have prohibited their selection in the past. With increased age, less stringent health requirements, longer duration missions and increased physical labour, due to a rise in orbital extravehicular activity, the risk of an acute life-threatening condition occurring in space has become of greater concern. The advent of space tourism may even enhance this possibility, with its popularity set to rise over the coming years as private companies test their new technology. Therefore, space scientists and physicians will have a greater responsibility to ensure space travellers, whether professional astronauts or space tourists, are adequately trained and familiarised with extraterrestrial BLS and CPR methods. Recently, work has been undertaken to develop methods of basic and advanced life support in microgravity and hypogravity, and several CPR techniques have been developed and tested. This blog presents one of these, the Evetts-Russomano MicroG CPR Method. Evetts-Russomano MicroG CPR Method In the Evetts-Russomano (ER) method, the rescuer can respond immediately, as it requires no additional CPR equipment/medication or the use of a restraint system. To assume the position, the rescuer places their left leg over the right shoulder of the patient and their right leg around the patient’s torso, allowing their ankles to be crossed approximately in the centre of the patient’s back; this is to provide stability and a solid platform against which to deliver force, without the patient being pushed away. From this position, chest compressions can be performed while still retaining easy access to perform ventilation. When adopting the ER CPR method, the rescuer must be situated in a manner that also allows sufficient space on the patient’s chest for the correct positioning of their hands to deliver the chest compressions. Extraterrestrial CPR simulation The main difference between extraterrestrial and terrestrial CPR is the strength of the gravitational field. In microgravity, patient and rescuer are both essentially weightless. When thinking about the technique of terrestrial CPR, with the rescuer accelerating their chest and upper body to generate a force to compress the patient’s chest, it is obvious that this cannot work in microgravity without significant aids. To this end, the ER CPR method has been developed using a ground-based microG simulation, during parabolic flights, and subsequently tested under-water! Video credits: Ground-based MicroG Simulation (land) = Space Researcher Lucas Rehnberg, MD (MicroG Center PUCRS, Brazil) Parabolic Flight MicroG Simulation (air)= Researchers = Thais Russomano, Simon Evetts, Lisa Evetts & João Castro (ESA 29th Parabolic Flight Campaign, Bordeaux, France) Underwater MicroG Simulation (water) = Sea King Dive Center, Chengdu, China - Instructor Gang Wei; Chinese Space First Responder & Space Researcher/Instructor Chris Yuan A project of InnovaSpace, PECA and Guangxi Diving Paradise Club, China Free Resource: Extraterrestrial CPR and Its Applications in Terrestrial Medicine
Authors: Thais Russomano, Lucas Rehnberg In book: Resuscitation Aspects, Ed: Theodoros Aslanidis Publisher: IntechOpen 2017 See Download Link at https://www.innovaspace.org/chapters.html Girls from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan have launched nanosatellites to analyse air pollution, as reported by the UNICEF Office in Kyrgyzstan. According to the organisation, three nanosatellites were created by participants of the UniSat educational program, within a joint project between UNICEF and the Al-Farabi Kazakh National University. The organisation further reported that - "nanosatellites, which belong to the class of small spacecraft, weigh up to 10 kilograms and are equipped with several cameras, one of which is capable of capturing elliptical images of the Earth with 4K resolution. During launch, UniSats allow you to capture stunning high-resolution images of the Earth and space. Sensors collect data on radiation, pressure, gravity, light and gas composition, and large amounts of data, video and images are sent back to Earth for analysis."  Girls launching satellites for air pollution analysis | Photo credit: UNICEF office, Kyrgyzstan "The launch of the nanosatellites is symbolic. It demonstrates the limitless potential of girls and women in Central Asia. Their ability to push the boundaries of science and technology. We are extremely pleased that this year we were able to include 2,000 female participants from the three countries in the program and inspire them to continue their education and careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. We believe that the results of the UniSAT program will bring a cosmic change in society."  Photo credit: UNICEF office, Kyrgyzstan The nanosatellites were created by the girls as part of a 10-day marathon. The project participants mastered the design, engineering, programming, and assembly of the spacecraft. They were able to visit the centre for space technology and remote sensing, and the theoretical knowledge they gained was immediately put in practice during the classes. Under the mentors’ guidance, they designed nanosatellite bodies using 3D modelling and printed them on a 3D printer. The girls also programmed UniSat subsystems and tested them in the lab before launch.  A successful launch | Photo credit: UNICEF office, Kyrgyzstan "In Kyrgyzstan, only one in three girls aged 15-19 is computer literate, and more than 80 percent of girls choose social and human sciences. But how much do these choices reflect girls’ professional interests and aspirations? That’s why UNICEF launched Girls in Science in 2020 to help them expand their horizons, overcome gender stereotypes, and make their career choices. Every year, more than 10,000 girls join the initiative and more girls gain confidence in developing a career in science. In this context, the nanosatellite launch event is not only the result of two years of work for us, but also an inspiration for the potential of girls and our youth." The UniSat program is supported by the Dubai Cares International Education Foundation, Clé de Peau Beauté brand, and philanthropist Nazanin Alakija Article originally published (28/03/2022) in Russian on the website 24.Kg - LINK
Our thanks to Myrza Karimov (University of Central Asia) for supplying InnovaSpace with the version translated into English Tiyoko HashimotoInstrutora de mergulho livre, mergulho autônomo e mergulhadora em formação no mergulho profissional raso LinkedIn Profile O mergulho faz parte de uma série de habilidades para quem busca a carreira astronáutica. Por quê? A água é cerca de 800 vezes mais densa que o ar, o que dificulta a movimentação subaquática, exigindo além de mais esforço, uma movimentação mais lenta para evitar fadiga que pode levar mergulhadores inexperientes a até abortar o mergulho. Além disso, a flutuabilidade neutra, ou seja, a capacidade de "boiar" na água permite que o praticante tenha a sensação semelhante à da microgravidade. Para fazer uso da flutuabilidade neutra como treinamento, as agências espaciais têm usado, ao longo dos anos, laboratórios subaquáticos como o NBL (Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory), localizado em Houston, no Texas, Estados Unidos e que faz parte do complexo da NASA. Segundo a NASA, possui 61,21 metros de comprimento, 30,90 de largura e 12,12 metros de profundidade e permite treinamentos como caminhadas espaciais, comunicação e segurança, além de permitir testes com equipamentos de vídeo e trajes espaciais.
Na ESA (Agência Espacial Europeia), em Colônia, Alemanha, os astronautas são certificados no nível de mergulhadores de resgate. Esse conhecimento, segundo a ESA, permite melhor desempenho dos astronautas nas caminhadas espaciais e permite que previnam problemas e saibam lidar com emergências de modo adequado. De acordo com a NASA, os astronautas utilizam nitrox (mistura de nitrogênio com uma porcentagem maior de oxigênio, também conhecido como ar enriquecido no mergulho) durante as sessões de treinamento no NBL. No mergulho dependente saturado não há perda de ar, nem se solta bolhas, como ocorre no mergulho recreativo. Todo o material exalado durante um mergulho saturado, que pode ir até 320 metros de profundidade, é recaptado, reciclado, para depois ser usado novamente na respiração. Isso ocorre porque o gás em questão, além do oxigênio, é o hélio, que tem um custo bastante elevado. Alguns filmes de grande bilheteria, como Armageddon (1998) do diretor Michael Bay, já se aproximaram do tema de usar plataformas de petróleo como referência de um universo remoto; esse é um outro ponto importante em que se associa o uso do mergulho no treinamento de astronautas: o isolamento social e físico. Debaixo d'água usa-se comunicação por meio de sinais padronizados mundialmente e segue-se protocolos simples e claros para a comunicação não verbal. Os equipamentos de astronautas e mergulhadores profissionais profundos possuem fonia, ou seja, um equipamento que permite a comunicação oral. Em situações extremas, no entanto, quando a fonia se rompe ou há interferências impossibilitando a comunicação, a comunicação não-oral ainda se mostra importante, como podemos observar em uma cena de extremo stress do filme baseado em fatos reais, Last Breath (2019), em que um mergulhador profissional se vê sozinho no fundo do Mar do Norte sem suprimento de ar aos 90 metros de profundidade. O filme reflete também mais uma equivalência utilizada durante os treinamentos de mergulho nos de astronáutica: o preparo mental.
Durante um mergulho, facilmente as coisas podem sair errado e, para cada situação de emergência, há um protocolo a ser seguido. As causas dos acidentes de mergulho, segundo o presidente da DAN (Divers Alert Network), em 88% das fatalidades ocorreram na primeira viagem de mergulho, sendo que o maior fator foi o erro humano. Entende-se que o treinamento de astronautas na água permite uma maior familiaridade do profissional com os procedimentos necessários em cada tarefa, o que significa redução nos custos operacionais, maior confiança e segurança para a realização das missões bem como maior probabilidade de sucesso.  This blog is promoted and supported by the AquaMundo Working Group |
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