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IPFS News Link • Space Travel and Exploration

How we'll nap our way to Mars

• popsci.com By Jason Lederman

Imagine a road trip that lasts six months—no pit stops, black night the whole way. That's how long it would take you, and how monotonous it would be, to fly to Mars. To avoid the boredom (and its cousins depression and anxiety), you could spend part of your trip in artificial hibernation, or torpor, as it's medically known. NASA is funding research into this method for future planet hoppers, and not just to reduce the games of I Spy. Because metabolism slows during slumber, you would require less food and water, reducing a mission's cargo weight, fuel needs, and price tag. Also, you wouldn't want to kill your crew mates. Here's how you might go nighty-night and save your sanity on your 34-million-mile flight.


www.universityofreason.com/a/29887/KWADzukm