Sleep challenge facing astronauts
GETTING a good night’s sleep will be a challenge facing astronauts on the first mission to Mars, a study says.
Scientists who monitored six volunteers confined to a small spacecraft during a “mock” 17-month “mission” to Mars, found most suffered sleep disturbance due to their body clock being disrupted.
Sleep is integral to our ability to thrive
They said on real missions a system should be set up to artificially mimic night and day cycles on Earth.
Professor David Dinges said in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: “Sleep is integral to our ability to thrive.”