Write a comment
US astronauts on board the International Space Station have been complaining of headache, with Russian and US scientists divided on whether an increased concentration of carbon dioxide in the station's atmosphere is the reason, according to a fresh report by Russia's Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre released on Monday.
"NASA put forward in 2008 requirements to reduce the level of car US astronauts on board the International Space Station have been complaining of headache, with Russian and US scientists divided on whether an increased concentration of carbon dioxide in the station's atmosphere is the reason, according to a fresh report by Russia's Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre released on Monday.
"NASA put forward in 2008 requirements to reduce the level of carbon dioxide in response to subjective complaints from some astronauts about headaches at agreed CO2 levels of 5-6 millimeters of mercury column. At the same time, no medical examination of the crew was carried out to determine the possible causes of the headache", the report said, as cited in the training centre's scientific magazine.
Though the level of CO2 has since been gradually reduced as requested by the US side, astronauts continue to complain of headaches, with the current concentration at less than 3 millimeters of mercury, the report said.
In 2014, NASA released an article based on a detailed study of the link between CO2 levels in the ISS atmosphere and astronauts' headaches. When only Russia's CO2 removal system operated at the station, as the US' one was turned off, the CO2 concentration increased up to 6.2 millimeters of mercury column and astronauts were feeling irritability and fatigue, NASA said.
Russian specialists have refuted the link, saying that Russian and foreign cosmonauts flying to the ISS over the past 30 years had not complained of headaches, with an average CO2 level in the atmosphere of the stations of about 6 millimeters of mercury. Among possible causes of such headaches, they listed the impact of weightlessness, associated with a rush of blood to the head, as well as the fact that astronauts breathed in the exhaled air with increased content of CO2.
Source: RIA Novosti
Related Links
Roscosmos
Space Medicine Technology and Systems
|
| Tweet |
| Thanks for being there;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution. | ||
| SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5+ Billed Monthly |  | SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once credit card or paypal |
Astronauts may get their spleen removed before long-distance flights
Moscow (Sputnik) Jun 18, 2021
Radiation is considered one of the main issues facing space agencies in their bid to send a manned flight to Mars, according to Russian scientists from the Institute of Biomedical Problems. Researchers from Russia and the US have been debating whether it will be necessary to remove the spleen - the organ which primarily removes old or damaged red blood cells from the body - from astronauts before they embark on long-distance space flights, the head of the Institute of Biomedical Problems (IBP) Ole ... read more