Guest: Dr. William (Bill) Rowe. Topics: Apollo astronauts cardiac & medical issues. Please direct all comments and questions regarding Space Show programs/guest(s) to the Space Show blog, http://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments and questions should be relevant to the specific Space Show program. Written Transcripts of Space Show programs are a violation of our copyright and are not permitted without prior written consent, even if for your own use. We do not permit the commercial use of Space Show programs or any part thereof, nor do we permit editing, YouTube clips, or clips placed on other private channels & websites. Space Show programs can be quoted, but the quote must be cited or referenced using the proper citation format. Contact The Space Show for further information. We welcomed Dr. Rowe back to the program to discuss his latest findings regarding four Apollo astronauts, lunar dust, microgravity, and cardiac conditions. His work is presented on his website so do check it out, www.femsinspace.com. Dr. Rowe's latest findings came from his research using the Freedom of Information Act to get medical data from NASA after the recent passing of Neil Armstrong. During our first segment, Bill explained what he found, what specific blood pressure and other information strongly suggests, and his comparison of the Armstrong data with that of several other Apollo astronauts per available data. He also brought our attention to the problem independent researchers have in getting Apollo information and medical stats from NASA. Bill used stress test blood pressure numbers and other medical information from the astronauts in question to illustrate his points and to back up his conclusions. Most of our first segment was devoted to Dr. Rowe putting forth the information and his conclusions. Bill took several email questions and listener calls, often wanting more information than he could provide because the reality is that there is an absence of additional information or relevant studies suggested. One listener was asked if the ISS astronauts evidenced similar cardiac problems. Dr. Rowe was unable to answer that question due to the absence of information. In the second segment of this 2 hour 20 minute program, Dr. Rowe connected problems of lunar dust with urban pollution, suggesting microgravity studies that would benefit millions on Earth given how widespread the problem of urban pollution is on the planet. One of the studies he proposed would use 30 female rats subjects to different calcium/magnesium rations on the ISS for six months. Bill spent time in this segment explaining the importance of the calcium/magnesium ratio and what this means in space and for us back here on Earth, hence the rat study. Dr. Rowe also talked about the difficulty of having a quality exercise RX for microgravity. A listener asked about studies related to the Mt. St. Helens eruption several years ago re dust exposure. Near the end of our discussion, Bill talked about their being no hurry to go to Mars, suggested many of the near term human spaceflight missions such as one way trips to Mars won't happen for a long time because the human issues will not be resolved in the near term. He also advocated the Moon first. We talked about artificial gravity and I mentioned what other human factor gusts have said on air in that artificial gravity may not be the same as 1g here on Earth and may prove to not be a solution. Listeners did not like hearing that as they kept saying there would be an engineering solution to the microgravity issues. Listener disagreements about artificial gravity not being the same as earth gravity continued long after the program ended. If you have comments/questions, please post them on The Space Show blog above. You can contact Dr. Rowe through his website or through me.
Guest
The Space Show
