New model provides method to land astronauts safely on Mars

Astrophysicists at The Australian National University (ANU) have developed a mathematical model that could be used to predict whether an astronaut can safely land on Mars.

The new Mars model leverages an algorithm based on astronaut data collected from past space expeditions, including the Apollo Missions, to simulate the risks involved with travelling to the Red Planet.

The team simulated the impact of prolonged exposure to zero gravity on the cardiovascular system to determine whether the human body can tolerate Mars' gravitational forces without fainting or suffering a medical emergency during the crucial first few minutes post landing.

"Although there are multiple risks associated with travelling to Mars, the biggest concern is prolonged exposure to microgravity - near zero gravity which, combined with exposure to damaging radiation from the Sun, could cause "fundamental" changes to the body," said Dr Lex van Loon, a Research Fellow from the ANU Medical School and the lead author of the paper.

What's next?

The researchers now hope to expand the model's capabilities by simulating the impact of prolonged space travel on relatively unhealthy individuals with pre-existing heart conditions, which would provide them with a more holistic picture of what would happen if an "everyday" person was to travel into space.

"When you're on Earth, gravity is pulling fluid to the bottom half of our body, which is why some people find their legs begin to swell up toward the end of the day. But when you go into space that gravitational pull disappears, which means the fluid shifts to the top half of your body and that triggers a response that fools the body into thinking there's too much fluid. The purpose of our model is to predict, with great accuracy, whether an astronaut can safely arrive on Mars without fainting. We believe it's possible," Astrophysicist and emergency medicine registrar Dr Emma Tucker said in a statement.

Their work is published in the journal npj Microgravity.