4 astronauts will help scientists learn how space travel affects the human body

4 astronauts will help scientists learn how space travel affects the human body

Transcript¹

A private space crew is heading to the International Space Station, but it's not just a tourist trip. The crew will advance the understanding of how space affects human health.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

A crew of four private astronauts is set to launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida this morning. They'll be headed to the International Space Station. It's the second privately² chartered mission launched by SpaceX in less than a year. But it's not just a joyride. From member station WMFE in Orlando, Brendan Byrne reports the mission will give scientists a chance to explore how space travel affects the human body.

BRENDAN BYRNE, BYLINE³: Last week, NASA's astronaut Mark Vande Hei returned to earth from the International Space Station. That was after spending 355 days in space, longer than any American before him.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MARK VANDE HEI: This type of long-duration flight is something we need to do to help further our ability to explore farther and farther away from our home planet, Earth.

BYRNE: Spaceflight takes a tremendous toll⁴ on the human body. Astronauts are pelted⁵ with increased radiation exposure, which could have long-term effects, like cancer. Floating in space changes the human body, leading to bone and muscle loss. It also alters the physical shape of the eyes of astronauts, causing blurry⁶ vision.

JENNIFER FOGARTY: When you talk about humans going into space and coming out of space, it's rough.

BYRNE: Jennifer Fogarty is with the Translational Research Institute for Space Health. One of the institute's goals is to understand how and why the body changes while in space and prepares future astronauts for those health effects. That's important to understand if space agencies like NASA want to send humans to places like the moon or Mars. Those trips could be longer than Vande Hei has almost yearlong mission. And the environments on the lunar surface and the red planet will be harsh, with limited medical resources. But scientists haven't had a lot of people to study and collect data from. Only about 600 people have been to space. It's not a very diverse pool of research subjects. Most are incredibly fit and healthy. And most have been men. That, says Fogarty, will soon change.

FOGARTY: I think commercial space has really become a tremendous offering to open up those possibilities of data gathering⁷ at large scale.

BYRNE: SpaceX will be ferrying the crew of four up to the station. But the trip was organized by the company Axiom. Christian⁸ Maender, who's with Axiom, says the mission isn't just a joyride for these passengers who can afford the hard-to-come-by spots. The price of even one seat to the International Space Station - or ISS - is estimated to cost tens of millions of dollars.

CHRISTIAN MAENDER: What I think is critically important about it is it's not just about bringing visitors to the ISS, they're bringing with them a significant complement⁹ of research that they're intending to conduct while they're there. And we've collaborated¹⁰ heavily with NASA to get that ready.

BYRNE: Maender says the three customers on this mission will spend about 60 to 70 hours each conducting research while on the station, including looking at the impacts of space travel on the human eye. Meanwhile, researchers back here on Earth at the University of Central Florida will be examining how these space travelers' eyes might change. People in space sometimes develop what's known as spaceflight associated neuro-ocular syndrome¹¹. That's when the effects of weightlessness reshape the structure of the eye, causing vision problems. The long-term goal is to prevent that from happening to future space travelers, especially on longer missions. And Axiom's Christian Maender says it's not just for highly trained astronauts heading to Mars.

MAENDER: What does it mean to keep a more diverse population of humans healthy in space as we start to expand from this very self-selected cohort of astronauts that have flown to space to date and start to look at flying more and more people like you and me?

BYRNE: Companies like Axiom are also working to build a commercial space station in orbit. These medical findings will hopefully make it possible for regular people to safely travel into space if and when we ever get the chance.

For NPR News, I'm Brendan Byrne in Orlando.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

5 pelted   

（连续地）投掷( pelt的过去式和过去分词 )； 连续抨击； 攻击； 剥去…的皮

参考例句：

• The children pelted him with snowballs. 孩子们向他投掷雪球。
• The rain pelted down. 天下着大雨。

6 blurry   

adj.模糊的；污脏的，污斑的

参考例句：

• My blurry vision makes it hard to drive. 我的视力有点模糊，使得开起车来相当吃力。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The lines are pretty blurry at this point. 界线在这个时候是很模糊的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

8 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

9 complement   

n.补足物，船上的定员；补语；vt.补充，补足

参考例句：

• The two suggestions complement each other.这两条建议相互补充。
• They oppose each other also complement each other.它们相辅相成。

10 collaborated   

合作( collaborate的过去式和过去分词 )； 勾结叛国

参考例句：

• We have collaborated on many projects over the years. 这些年来我们合作搞了许多项目。
• We have collaborated closely with the university on this project. 我们与大学在这个专案上紧密合作。

11 syndrome   

n.综合病症；并存特性

参考例句：

• The Institute says that an unidentified virus is to blame for the syndrome. 该研究所表示,引起这种综合症的是一种尚未确认的病毒。
• Results indicated that 11 fetuses had Down syndrome. 结果表明有11个胎儿患有唐氏综合征。