Human Adaptation to the Space Environment人类适应空间环境.ppt

Upon entering the microgravity of space, the body senses an overabundance of fluids (a flood) in the chest and head area. Pulmonary (or lung) and heart sensors that the body depends on for fluid regulation detect this flood and send messages to the kidneys to eliminate the excess fluid that has accumulated in the upper body. In addition, astronauts do not feel thirsty and decrease their drinking far below normal. The result of both decreased drinking and increased fluid elimination (mostly through urination) reduces the bodys fluid level below the normal level on Earth (Figure 14). The heart no longer has to work as hard, partly because there is less fluid to pump through the body, but also because it takes less energy to float around a spacecraft than to walk or run around on Earth. Because it no longer has to work so hard, the heart shrinks. In space, we have found that the astronaut can function quite well in this new condition. * Just as calorie requirements are lower in orbit than on Earth, so too are sleep requirements less. When the time for sleep does come, weightlessness somewhat simplifies the process of bedding down. Since humans cannot sense an up or down in a weightless environment, they can sleep in any position. Since space is in short supply, designers of space station interiors can position astronauts to sleep vertically or horizontally. On the ISS, sleep compartments provide space for four people. The first person sleeps on the top bunk, the second on the lower bunk. A third person sleeps on the underside of the lower bunk, actually facing the floor. A fourth person sleeps vertically, attached to a wall with Velcro straps. Because the astronauts are in a weightless environment, mattresses are not needed. Instead, each bed consists of a padded board with a fireproof sleeping bag attached to it. Astronauts zip themselves inside the sleeping bags, generally leaving their arms out. Crew quarters also provide each astronaut with an individual light, co