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For the first time in decades, humans are on the verge of leaving low-Earth orbit. This time, public and private spaceflight organizations are planning for a long-term presence in space. This heightens the need to understand the health effects of space travel. The 2021 launch of the private Inspiration4 mission allowed scientists to gather extensive health data, and the results are now available.
The Inspiration4 mission was notable for a few reasons, not least because it was the first all-civilian space mission. Living in a high-radiation microgravity environment could have unpredictable effects on human health. The testing for Inspiration4 drew on data from NASA’s twins experiment, which followed astronaut twins Scott and Mark Kelly, the latter of which spent one year on the International Space Station (ISS). However, Inspiration4 orbited at an altitude of 370 miles (590 km), which is about 45% higher than the ISS. That means the crew was exposed to even more radiation.
Astronauts on the mission included billionaire SpaceX collaborator Jared Isaacman, medical officer Hayley Arceneaux, geoscientist Sian Proctor, and engineer Chris Sembroski. All crew members underwent medical testing before, during, and after the mission, allowing scientists to track minute changes in the brain, heart, muscles, kidneys, skin, and even the bacteria that colonize the human body.
The data from Inspiration4 has been integrated into the Space Omics and Medical Atlas (SOMA) project, which seems to prepare humanity for the “Second Space Age.” Forty-four scientific papers featuring the Inspiration4 data have been published in the journal Nature. The researchers reported that they detected no show-stopping health issues across all the data, but there were some odd changes to biomarkers.
Inpsiration4 launched on a three-day mission in 2021.
Credit: SpaceX
Biomarkers for the Inspiration4 crew changed in orbit, which jives with data from the NASA twins study, among others. And as expected, the values began returning to normal upon returning to Earth. More than 95% were back to baseline several months after the flight. There was some evidence of brain-associated proteins in the bloodstream, which again matches what NASA saw in the twins study. So, space travel appears to affect the blood-brain barrier and stresses the brain. However, cognitive tests on the Inspiration4 crew showed no signs of impairment. The studies also found that women’s biochemistry appears to return to normal faster than men’s.
Space travel is not without health risks, though. The crew showed changes to the immune system and mitochondrial function. The mitochondrial changes are among the effects that did not disappear after the crew returned to Earth. The data in the SOMA package shows that some protective molecules that regulate gene activity are inhibited in space. This research could lead to methods of reducing damage on long-term missions by enhancing the expression of these genes.
With everyone suddenly looking to gain a foothold on the Moon, the Inspiration4 data could be key to ensuring astronauts remain healthy up there.