Mars Voyage Muscles – NASA Astronauts To Red Planet

By: Mary Smith
08/20/2010 09:40 AM ET

Mars Voyage muscles – NASA astronauts to Red Planet. Astronauts heading to the Mars may lose up to half of their power in key muscles during their voyage. Researchers claim the losses are fibre mass.

According to scientists the loss would be equivalent to a crew member aged between 30 and 50 returning home with the muscles of an 80-year-old. This would add a major danger to a trip already loaded with uncertainty.

Researchers were led by Robert Fitts of Marquette University in Wisconsin. They extracted tiny samples of tissue from the calf muscles of nine U.S. and Russian astronauts who spent around six months on the International Space Station (ISS). They took the samples 45 days prior to their launch and then again on the day of their return.

The specimens dramatically showed how muscles deteriorate in zero gravity. “The losses in fibre mass, force and power translated into a decline of more than 40 percent in the capacity for physical work,” stated Robert Fitts.

Ironically, crew members with the biggest muscles turned out to have the biggest decline in muscle fitness. According to a NASA scenario, a return trip to Mars using current rocket technology would take around three years. This would include a one-year stay on the planet.

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