A reciently documented phenomenon that surprised me was the observation that astronauts' core body temp can raise as high as 1°C after a few months in space. Sustaining an elevated CBT can cause both physical and cognitive issues. The human body does some strange things in zero-G.<p><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-15560-w" rel="nofollow">https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-15560-w</a>
<i>"on a trip to Mars, it’s distance from Earth, not duration of spaceflight, that becomes the bigger enemy. The ISS orbits about 200 miles away, just within Earth’s protective magnetic field. There, astronauts receive 10 times the usual amount of radiation, high-speed particles from the sun or other parts of the galaxy that tear through DNA molecules, that increase their risk of dying from cancer. Farther out, the exposure would get much worse."</i><p>How much worse does radiation exposure get?
If you like this article you'll probably also like astronaut Scott Kelly's book <i>Endurance: A Year in Space, a Lifetime of Discovery</i>[1]. My wife got it for me as a christmas present and so far it's really enjoyable.<p>[1] Amazon: <a href="http://a.co/bL0Tavv" rel="nofollow">http://a.co/bL0Tavv</a>
I really wish we'd invest in developing a centrifugal alternative to gravity in space. It's good to know how the human body is affected by weightlessness but why bother?