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Astronauts suffered high levels of radiation


jethrofloyd

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Astronauts are FIVE times more likely to die from heart disease: Massive amounts of radiation linked to cardiovascular issues

 

The astronauts were pioneers, travelling into deep space as part of the lunar missionsBut the Apollo astronauts whose missions saw humans land on the moon suffered high levels of deep space radiation and are dying from cardiovascular problems.

They are up to five times more likely to die from cardiovascular diseases than those who just orbited the Earth, according to a new study.


 
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I'm not disputing the fact that we don't know enough about the effects of longer term exposure to deep space, but this study is based on a tiny sample size - just a very small number of astronauts who were exposed to just a few days worth, and these were astronauts/ test pilots who lived the 'high life' and were often under great stress from all sorts of things...

Be back later to comment further.

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Five of the twelve men who walked on the moon are now dead. If the other seven were to die tomorrow, the average life span of the twelve would be 79.4 years. The current life expectancy of American men of their generation is 76.9 years. Hence, on average, the "moon-walkers" have so far lived two and a half years longer than expected. And this will increase so long as the remaining seven are alive. This, I suppose, is because astronauts are healthier and have a better diet than the average American man. So, contrary to what the article says, walking on the Moon is, on average, good for your health! (I should add that one of the twelve - Pete Conrad - died in a motor cycle accident aged 69.)

Edit: The article talks about the men who walked on the Moon and then mentions Ron Evans, who went to the Moon but stayed in orbit. Perhaps someone else wants to work out the actuary figures for all the men who traveled to the Moon. They of course include Jim Lovell and Frank Borman who are both now eighty-eight! Also, Jim Lovell, John Young, and Gene Cernan went to the Moon twice - and they are still very much alive!  

Edited by Derek Willis
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Seems like a hopelessly small sample, and really radiation is more associated with cancer than heart disease.

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9 hours ago, ChrLzs said:

I'm not disputing the fact that we don't know enough about the effects of longer term exposure to deep space, but this study is based on a tiny sample size - just a very small number of astronauts who were exposed to just a few days worth, and these were astronauts/ test pilots who lived the 'high life' and were often under great stress from all sorts of things...

Be back later to comment further.

Agreed. I believe all or most were also pilots. They might have had years of low-level exposure to aviation fuel as well as who knows what military chemicals. If they spent a lot of time at high altitude, they would have gotten a higher dose of radiation than those staying near sea level.

It might be interesting to look at people who had similar careers but no space flight to see if there are any similarities.

I just had a thought. Does blood pressure increase during high gs? I suspect that parts of the body see lower BP while other parts see much higher BP. Maybe repeated periods at high g cause damage to blood vessels over time. Just a thought...

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As posted radiation increases with altitude . 

pfotzer_22oct15.png

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A quick look at the missions that was beyond LEO shows us the following:

- Apollo 8: Borman, Lowell and Anders all still alive.

- Apollo 10: Stafford, Young and Cernan all still alive.

- Apollo 11: Aldrin and Collins still alive. Armstrong died after a bypass operation.

- Apollo 12: Gordon and Bean still alive. Conrad died in a motorcycle accident.

- Apollo 13: Lowell and Haise still alive. Swigert died of cancer.

- Apollo14: Sheppard and Roose died from leukemia and pancreatitis respectively. Mitchell died in his sleep.

- Apollo 15: Scott and Worden still alive. Irwin died of a heart attack. 

- Apollo 16: Young, Mattingly and Duke are all still alive.

- Apollo 17: Cernan and Schmitt still alive. Evans died of a heart attack.

So out of 24 people 8 have died. Considering these are people in their 80's, this actually seems rather low.

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There is an almost silly irony to the article. The photograph shows (I think) Buzz Aldrin climbing down onto the Moon during Apollo 11. I once read that Aldrin had privately calculated the odds of himself and Armstrong being killed during the landing or being stranded on the Moon to be one in three. But for men like Aldrin - former fighter pilots and test pilots - those odds were acceptable. So, I think if they had been told that when they were old men they would have an increased likelihood of succumbing to heart disease, they would have found that laughingly ironic. Aldrin is now eighty six and is still going strong!

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54 minutes ago, Derek Willis said:

There is an almost silly irony to the article. The photograph shows (I think) Buzz Aldrin climbing down onto the Moon during Apollo 11. I once read that Aldrin had privately calculated the odds of himself and Armstrong being killed during the landing or being stranded on the Moon to be one in three. But for men like Aldrin - former fighter pilots and test pilots - those odds were acceptable. So, I think if they had been told that when they were old men they would have an increased likelihood of succumbing to heart disease, they would have found that laughingly ironic. Aldrin is now eighty six and is still going strong!

This made me think of this quote from astronaut Gus Grissom, who later died in the Apollo 1 fire:

"If we die, we want people to accept it. We are in a risky business, and we hope that if anything happens to us it will not delay the program. The conquest of space is worth the risk of life." 

Edited by Noteverythingisaconspiracy
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I just hope this study wasn't done to stifle space exploration by some group that thinks we should stay here.  It could be another group just looking for grant money to examine the effect of radiation on the heart of mice.

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3 minutes ago, paperdyer said:

I just hope this study wasn't done to stifle space exploration by some group that thinks we should stay here.  It could be another group just looking for grant money to examine the effect of radiation on the heart of mice.

If you had read the original article you would have read this:

Quote

That exposure is now manifesting itself as cardiovascular problems, Florida State University scientists warn.

(My emphasis).

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