Study recommends mandatory 3-year vacation so astronauts' brains can recover

Scientists studying the brains of astronauts have discovered startling changes brought on by microgravity that has led them to recommend a three-year break between missions. The study, published last week in Scientific Reports, looked at the brains of 30 astronauts before and after space travel, determining that the brain's …

[Paul Crawford]

Unfortunately for our hopes of becoming an extraplanetary species, that doesn't appear to be the case.

So we need rotating craft to provide an artificial gravity-like environment to make it comfortable long term. As seen on a few Sci-fi films already...

[steelpillow]

Yes, absolutely. But how do you build such a thing out of old second stages and a few clever bits? Time to invest in inflatable donuts.

[Anonymous Coward]

Tubes in space!

I heard about people planning to use the Starship body to as ad-hoc space stations, but I think that's missing the point.

SpaceX has demonstrated that with a roll of steel and a robotic welder you can make a tube.

Starship uses quite thick steel, a space station would probably be fine with 1mm steel.

Starship can launch 150 tons if I remember correctly.

So my space station plan is to have 3 tubes one inside the other. The outer tube is to protect against impacts, the 2 inner tubes would ideally be filled with water to protect against radiation.

Water from an asteroid, of course.

Connect these 3-tube sections with airlock sections, make into a ring, spin for effect.

[captain veg]

Re: Tubes in space!

> the 2 inner tubes would ideally be filled with water

Possibly less than ideally for the occupants if both are full of water. Unless they *really* like scuba diving.

-A.

[fpx]

You do not need a donut. You could start with two sections connected with a wire rotating around their center of gravity.

[David M]

Reduced gravity

I wonder how this would affect those in reduced (but not micro) gravity, e.g. in a Lunar colony at one-sixth g.

[Korev]

Re: Reduced gravity

They'd become Lunartics

[spold]

On holiday, and spaced out, being paid for it.....

[elawyn]

Certainly a job I'd happily do. one Two week mission, followed by three years paid vacation!

[Clausewitz4.0]

AI involuntary remote torture

Likely the news is also refering to the CIA's remote torture/study/conversion programme / micochip.

Clearly it is new tech - I heard only of a company in Australia doing the same.

I put a $1 billion price tag in such a technology. In stocks.

To others who know the tech, if cannot reach deals locally, I advise to travel to a big country in the Middle East. They will happily accept you and make fair deals. Remember you will have to trash your old passport.

Really stupid idea to use the tech only for marketing.

[Clausewitz4.0]

Re: AI involuntary remote torture

And remember to close the deals locally first, because without a diplomatic passport, anyone doing it would be doomed if traveling.

[captain veg]

Sign me up

"Study recommends mandatory 3-year vacation so astronauts' brains can recover"

I'm game, but I don't get how the astronauts benefit. Do I have to take some of them with me?

-A.

[localzuk]

Missing ingredients

It does appear that our missing space ingredients are a) gravity and b) decent shielding.

Until those 2 become solved problems, man's plans of space exploration are going to be pretty much dabbling. We can't colonise Mars without decent shielding. We can't colonise our orbit without artificial gravity.

[Matt_payne666]

A recent study has shown that after a week at work, I too could do with a long holiday...