Guest: Dr. Joan Vernikos. Topics: Inspiration Mars flyby mission, human factors, counter measures, mitigation strategies. 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. Joan Vernikos back to the program, this time to discuss the proposed Inspiration Mars flyby mission. In the first half of our two hour program, Dr. Vernikos said it was a doable mission but that new ideas and solutions needed to be developed for the human factors. When asked about the biggest problem, our guest said it would be the ability of the two person crew to get along and work together for the full mission. This issue came up several more times during the program so you will hear more about it over the two hour discussion. We took an early question from Dwayne about the overall air quality in the spacecraft and issues with bacteria and the air filtration. Dr. Joan had much to say about this as it could be a problem depending on lots of factors including the ability to repair a damaged system during the mission. Dr. Joan talked about life support and psychological issues along with the human factors. Microgravity and radiation issues came up but again, there was a focus on the risk of destructive & irritating behavior with the crew members. One of the recurrent themes was to look for alternative ways to develop tools and counter measures rather than doing much the same year after year which has been our history in developing human spaceflight protocols. Dr. Rowe called in to strongly suggest that such a flyby mission should be delayed until 2032, putting forth his best arguments for the delay and why it should not be attempted in 2018. Bill listed lots of medical events that could happen and which we cannot treat in space, all in support of delaying the flight until human spaceflight is better developed & we know more about it. In the second segment, Doug called & talked about regulators possibly saying the crew was intentionally attempting to commit suicide. He talked about the medical code 5150 regarding intentional suicide. We also talked about possible regulatory issues around the issuance of a launch license. Doug also talked about radiation, both within the Van Allen Belts and on the way to deep space. Next, Dr. Dilip Sarkar from Norfolk called in to discuss alternative human factor countermeasures such as yoga. Check our Dr. Sarkar's website, https://sites.google.com/site/dilipsarkar/home. The discussion of yoga for pre-flight training and to help with countermeasures was most interesting. Dr. Rowe called in several more times to challenge Dr. Joan and Dr. Sarkar on their yoga theories regarding spaceflight. I believe you will find the discussions and calls very informative. As the program was ending, Dr. Joan was again asked about the biggest challenge and she said it would be the human interaction with the crew. We also talked about the mental issue of withdrawal from Earth which will be pronounced on a Mars flight. If you have comments/questions, post them on the blog. You can email Dr. Joan through her website, www.joanvernikos.com. I also recommend you sign up for her newsletter.
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