Women are more suitable for the strict requirements of space missions, both physically and psychologically.
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Editor’s note: Female astronauts are rare in our long-term space exploration history, on the one hand because of social concepts, and on the other hand because of the ignorance and lack of equipment caused by social concepts. But studies have shown that in long-term space missions, women may have an advantage both physically and psychologically than their male counterparts, not only because women may need less energy, but also because they are more effective in adapting to confined environments and coping with long-term challenges. Ability. This article is translated from medium, article author Starre Julia Vartan, original title Why Women’s Bodies Are Better Suited for Space Travel.
Image source: Tess Smith-Roberts
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) “Artemis Lunar Exploration Program” is known as a milestone in feminism. The goal of the program is to send the first woman to the surface of the moon by 2024. So far, there are only two female workers in the space program – and their work is actually replacing a battery unit on the International Space Station (ISS).
What I want to explain here is that women’s physiology and psychology are especially suitable for space missions because they are more efficient and psychologically healthier in many aspects of physiology.
In addition to the 2024 Artemis lunar exploration program, NASA has set a more ambitious goal: to land humans on Mars by 2033. Taking into account the strong physical and psychological effects associated with this dangerous journey, it may be best for women to perform all tasks. “When I am giving a speech to you, we are talking about the first person on the moon, the first ‘man’. In the future, when we talk about Mars, we may be moving forward – maybe The first footprint on Mars is a woman’s,” Advanced Innovation Division of the Translational Research Institute for Space Health, in collaboration with NASA.Dr. Kristin Fabre said.
However, although today’s astronaut training classes are usually half female, so far, only 11% of female astronauts have successfully entered space. The reason for this is not the issue of female qualifications and abilities. .
How are women rejected outside the space?
In the late 1950s, as the US space program expanded, aviation engineers began using detailed health data from the Department of the Army to develop physical health guidelines for pilots. Margaret Weitekamp, head of the Space History Department at Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, said that women’s health data was ignored during the development of the guidelines. “(Females) lack basic physical health standards, and everyone doesn’t care. Aerospace scientists at the time claimed that women’s health standards were too complex and largely irrelevant,” Weitekamp said in his own work, Right Stuff. Wrong Sex: America’s First Women in Space Program.
With the lack of basic equipment: As early as 1960, the acrobatic pilot Betty Skelton was in “Look” magazine titled “Should a Girl Be the First in Space?” The article describes this phenomenon. She accepts the same physical preparation and stress tests as men, but she must wear a lace-up, roll-to-foot fleece because there is no clothing for her body. Even in the 21st century, just a few months ago, a scheduled spacewalk was cancelled because people found that there were not enough suitable space suits for three women to leave the International Space Station at the same time.
In addition to the ignorance and lack of equipment for women, society has long been “concerned” about the safety of women in space. After World War II, “the social and political importance of protecting white married women has led to some of the most restricted cultural gender roles we have seen,” Weitekamp said. Weitekamp also said that NASA is concerned that women who participate in space projects will be considered “frivolous” and that “a female injury and death is enough to stop the entire project.”
NASA contractor Dr. William Randolph Lovelace is responsible for testing male astronauts in the Mercury mission. In 1959, he decided to test women and create a privately funded “Women in Space Program” designed to allow women to pass physical tests in space travel. Some scientific studies show that women are completing space and space missionsIt is more efficient. For example, studies have shown that women often perform better than men when they need to be isolated for long periods of time.
In 1960, Lovelace announced that female pilot Jerrie Cobb passed the astronaut qualification test as part of his plan. He said at a press conference: “We have been able to say that some of the quality and performance of female astronauts are much better than that of her male colleagues.” In addition to Cobb, the other 12 women (19 first female candidates) It also passed 87 physical tests like men. But the data of these women has never been published, because Lovelace’s female space program has not only started, but has long been terminated.
In 1962, two years before the adoption of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibited gender discrimination, Cobb and another promising female astronaut Jane Hart appeared in Congress to testify that women were excluded from NASA. It is a form of discrimination. At the hearing, astronaut John Glenn shattered the hopes of the women: “The men went out to fight, fly, and come back to help design, build, and test the aircraft. It’s a basic fact that women can’t get involved in this field.”
In the end, President Kennedy wanted a “successful moon landing” that determined the priority, funding, and research direction. In the nearly 20 years after the hearing, NASA did not open space projects to women. In 1983, Sally Ride became the first American woman to enter outer space.
Female body is more suitable for space
The Mars mission will be different from any other mission initiated by NASA because it is one of the farthest destinations NASA has tried. According to NASA, this is not only an “extremely difficult engineering challenge,” but also a person who has undergone a rigorous health review. “It can take up to three years to complete this task, so the health requirements of the participants are high,” said Al Holland, a NASA psychologist.
In fact, men and women are not much different in how to deal with the physical challenges of space flight, including health effects such as osteoporosis, long-term vigilance, sleep quality, stress, and NASA. Many other aspects detailed in a report published on this topic in 2014. But in some important aspects, women may have both physical and psychological advantages.
In any space mission, “weight” is a worrying issue: the greater the load, the more rocket fuel is needed, and the fuel adds to the weight of the ship. On average, women are smaller and lighter than men, which means less rocket fuel is needed. And women’s bodies are also more efficient. Yeral Patel, a regenerative medicine expert and MD, said: “Men of the same size as women need more than one day.It costs 15% to 25% of calories to maintain weight. Studies have shown that women who are strictly controlling their diets will lose weight more slowly. In the three-year mission, women’s bodies need significantly less food and oxygen.
Less heat and oxygen also means less waste emissions: “Smaller physique production and less waste – including body waste and carbon dioxide,” Patel said. Less waste means that the spacecraft is less stressed and lighter, and can sail more efficiently for many years.
Kristin Fabre said that although she does not feel that we “really and effectively study gender differences in space conditions,” when it comes to DNA repair in cells that have been exposed to radiation for a long time and are damaged by radiation, A slower metabolism in women may also be an advantage.
Female astronauts have other advantages over male astronauts: zero gravity has a greater impact on male astronauts’ eyes. Scott Kelly has lived on the International Space Station for a year, and his retinal thickening is directly caused by the accumulation of fluid behind the eyeball, which is related to his experience at the International Space Station. This situation can also occur in women, but it rarely happens. Kelly wrote in his biography, “If scientists can’t figure out the cause of these eye problems, we might have to send a team of all women to Mars.”
According to NASA’s 2014 report, male astronauts’ hearing sensitivity decreased with age and was much faster than female astronauts in different frequency tests. In general, women’s immune system is stronger than men, which can help them deal with the bacteria brought by the crew from the earth.
But in some cases, women may also be disadvantaged. For example, female astronauts in space, like on Earth, are more susceptible to urinary tract infections (which can be treated with antibiotics). Women may also be more susceptible to radiation, although some researchers believe that women’s extra fat accumulation—especially fat accumulation around organs—may reduce the risk of exposure to important tissues.
The Mars mission also has unique challenges in terms of psychology. The two most important ways to help astronauts maintain and improve mental health in space are to call home, and to see the Earth outside the window, an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and an innovation expert at the Institute for Space Health Translation. Dr. Gary Strangman said, “And for the Mars mission, neither of these approaches worked.”
The Earth is too far away from Mars, so astronauts can’t see the Earth from Mars. “The communication time to and from Mars is 6 to 44 minutes, which means real-time communication becomes impossible. People must turn to SMS, email. Or pre-recorded videos,” Strangman said.
Some studies have shown that women may be betterRespond to these mental health risks. A NASA researcher conducted a study of the diary of astronauts working on the International Space Station and found that men were more depressed during the mission than women. For such long-distance travel, emotional fluctuations are an important consideration.
In the journey to Mars, another major psychological stress will come from a small team member living together in a confined space. Women may have an advantage in this regard, as studies have shown that they are generally more comfortable in a closer, more closed environment – or, as NASA’s earlier research suggests, women have more “permeable personal space needs”.
Some studies examine simulation scenarios that are similar to Mars missions to better understand the physical and mental health risks that astronauts may have during missions. In a study of 348 people who spent the winter in the British Antarctic study (20% of whom were women), the researchers found that gender was “a statistically significant predictor of good adaptation.” Women are more likely to get a “special fit” rating from their base commander. Other simulation studies conducted on Earth have found that men perform best in short-term goal-oriented tasks, while women perform better in long-term tasks that may face unexpected challenges.
Although women have many psychological advantages, they are also more likely to feel stress and depression based on psychological tests (maybe because women may be more willing to disclose this information than men). But one thing to note is that anyone who goes to Mars will be highly trained and have strong mental and physical strength, which can be said to have been tempered, Strangman said.
Weitekamp said that if the members of the Mars mission are all women, the more important thing is how to change the concept of the public. “I think we need to reverse our perception more, that is, we are not specifically letting Women do this task, but the people who perform this task happen to be women, and regard it as a normal phenomenon. I don’t think there is anything to be fussed.”
Translator: Xi Tang