Mars Colony Transfer Habitat Design Preview

This week at the IAC2015 meeting in Jerusalem, we will be presenting an update on our torpor research, including the system design for our Mars colony transit habitat - capable of delivering 100 people to Mars. Preview image!

Mars Colony Torpor Transfer Habitat

This module is designed to maintain 48 people in stasis during the transit phase to Mars. For a typical Mars mission, we would use two of these modules and one non-torpor habitat with 4 active crewmember/caretakers, for a total of 100 passengers delivered in a single mission.

I'll post the technical paper and presentation here once the conference has concluded.

New Medical Study Results Indicate Reduction in ICP with Therapeutic Hypothermia

We have often noted that in addition to the engineering benefits (e.g. mass reduction) as well as mitigation of various psycho-social challenges, we believe there are potentially numerous physiological/health benefits that may arise through torpor.

As an example, results were recently published from a European clinical trial showing a reduction in intracranial pressure (ICP) for traumatic brain injury victims who underwent therapeutic hypothermia.

http://www.liebertpub.com/global/pressrelease/new-study-data-show-reduced-intracranial-pressure-after-severe-traumatic-brain-injury-with-therapeutic-hypothermia/1714/

The issue of elevated ICP has been cited as one of NASA's top human health risks, with a number of astronauts encountering ocular damage and visual acuity issues after only a few months in space.

Under the VIIP project, NASA is currently conducting experiments on the ISS to try and measure the increased pressure to better understand this risk.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/1038.html

HEC-TV Coverage and Interview

A nice interview and coverage via HEC-TV in St. Louis, MO! This piece will air in July.

SLEEPER SHIP TO MARS: THERAPEUTIC HYPOTHERMIA