A team of scientists from Frlorida State University (USA) has published the first study on the mortality of the Apollo program. The conclusions are obvious: traveling into space negatively affects the heart.
The astronauts of the Apollo space program show a higher mortality rate from cardiovascular diseases than those who have not left the Earth’s magnetosphere. As we move further away from Earth, the protection of the Earth’s magnetic field decreases and, according to this research, radiation from deep space negatively affects the endothelium of blood vessels.
” We know very little about the effects of deep space radiation on human health, particularly on the cardiovascular system, but this work offers a first approximation of its adverse effects,” says Michael Delp, leader of the work.
This is the first study that analyzes the mortality of the astronauts of the Apollo program that was active from 1961 to 1972 , with a total of 11 manned flights. Included in these flights is the successful voyage of man’s first arrival on the Moon or the dramatic Apollo 13 expedition.
The researchers compared the cause of death of 7 astronauts who traveled into space with 35 who never flew, as well as another group of astronauts who flew within low Earth orbit, that is, no more than 2,000 kilometers from Earth. .
Examination of the data revealed that the death rate from cardiovascular disease among astronauts on the lunar Apollo missions (43%) was almost 5 times higher than that of those who did so in the low orbital zone (11%) or those who went to space (9%).
The work thus suggests that it is not weightlessness but exposure to radiation , beyond the Earth’s magnetosphere, that causes detrimental health effects. The results of the study were contrasted with an experiment with 44 mice, reaching the same conclusion. “What the data with mice shows is that deep space radiation is detrimental to vascular health,” concludes Delp.
The study has been published in the journal Science Reports.
