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EARTHDATE: September 25, 2011

Official News page 4


REAL LIFE NEWS: MARTIAN ASTRONAUTS COULD GO BLIND

by Hazed

More problems for astronauts aiming to travel to Mars: now it seems they could end up going blind!

Research by the American Academy of Opthalmology says that long periods of time spent in space damages the astronauts' eyes. Those on the ISS for long stints are prone to this, with 60% of astronauts spending six months or more in space experiencing decreased short and long-range vision. Even two weeks in space saw 27% suffering similar symptoms.

What's more, in some cases, the symptoms persisted many years after they returned to Earth.

Complete blindness only happens in extreme cases but blurring of vision is an ongoing problem and NASA has shipping dozens of pairs of glasses up to the ISS to combat the problem.

The culprit is most likely reduced gravity. So along with muscle weakness, reduced bone density, and space sickness, we can now add blindness to the health problems produced by zero-g. It's beginning to look like any trip to Mars is going to require some form of artificial gravity on board to counter all these nasty effects.

Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/09/22/mars_trips_could_make_astronauts_go_blind/


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