Welcome! Thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak with you all today.

For

those of you who are unaware of what I will be speaking about, well it’s quite simple. Space.

More specifically, how can we eliminate the risks of traveling through it? This is a question that

yields a ton of potential solutions. But before we go into detail, let’s go over why this is so

important.

As many of you may already know, NASA has announced that they will be returning to

the moon. They have nicknamed this mission the Artemis Program. The Artemis Program is

going to return to a nostalgic frontier that mankind has not visited for many years. But, NASA is

not going to stop only at the moon this time. The Artemis Program is going to be the forerunner

of the most dangerous and the most ambitious journey in the history of mankind. Where are we

going you may ask? We’re going to Mars. If successful, this journey will plant the seed for

interplanetary colonization. An entirely new home for humanity lies roughly one hundred and

forty million miles away. With our current technology, we can get there in five to ten months.

Imagine taking a road trip entirely in the dark, nonstop for five to ten months. That pretty much

sums up modern space travel. If only it were that simple. This trip is much more complicated

than it looks and many of the dangers that await can not even be seen. Today I will be talking

about two of the unseen threats of deep space travel. Cosmic radiation, and a zero gravity

environment. Let’s start with cosmic radiation.

Emissions from the sun and other stars result in cosmic radiation. These are extremely

fast protons that are travelling at almost the speed of light through empty space. Luckily, Earth’s

atmosphere protects us from most of this radiation. It’s an entirely different story out there in

deep space. There is no protection except that which you take with you. But we’ll talk about that
a little later. Cosmic radiation affects the body in lots of ways. Today we’ll discuss how radiation

affects three of the five main vital organs. Let’s start with the brain. The brain fires neurons to

send signals to the body to perform daily tasks. The same process happens when we think.

Radiation traveling at these super fast speeds can actually interfere with some of our brain’s

normal functions. Studies have shown that exposure to radiation can actually reduce memory

recall. This is extremely risky for astronauts because of all the tasks that they must accomplish

each day in the space shuttle. Second, we have the heart. When exposed to enough radiation, the

small blood vessels within one’s body can actually burst and cause heart failure. Once again, not

ideal for our astronauts. Finally, the lungs. Radiation exposure can actually make the tissue

around the lungs harden up, making it harder to breath and it can even cause cancer. The top risk

of radiation after all is cancer. So, there’s a few examples of the danger that radiation poses to

space travelers.

Now, let’s talk about gravity in space. There is none. Astronauts will have to cope with a

zero gravity environment for five to ten months. Earth’s gravitational pull has played a major

role in our evolution as a species. Gravity actually helps with the development of a supportive

spine and muscle tissue. In a zero gravity environment, this support is gone and this can actually

lead to muscle atrophy and osteoporosis. Muscle atrophy occurs when the muscles are not put

through any sort of strain, so they shrink. Osteoporosis is comparable to brittle bone disease and

what happens is the bone actually becomes hollow. That all being said, allow me to dive into

some of my potential solutions to these problems.

First of all, my solution to radiation would polyethylene shielding around the spaceship.

Polyethylene is high in hydrogen content and hydrogen has a tendency to both absorb and deflect
radiation. Furthermore, it can be seen how this would protect the crew inside the ship. In the case

that radiation does slip through, medical remedies would be accessible to these astronauts to

counteract the effects of this radiation. Next, my solution to zero gravity would be artificial

gravity.

Artificial gravity is a technology that has not yet been developed. However, it is a

possibility. Artificial gravity would be a great asset to the future of space travel and would allow

astronauts to roam freely throughout the ship as if they were here on Earth. This would alleviate

many of the dangers that accompany a zero gravity environment. Only question is, how does

artificial gravity work? Well, think of a gravitron at a circus or fair. It spins and spins and those

inside are pushed towards the outside. It would be that same sort of concept, except in outer

space. The space shuttle would be developed to spin in a circular like motion and put to a speed

at which the pull would be similar to Earth’s gravitational pull.

In conclusion, the ideal space shuttle would have a circular shape to allow for artificial

gravity and would have a polyethylene shield on the outer layer of it. As unrealistic as this may

sound, it is a possibility. After all, ambitious goals can only be met with an ambitious plan. The

time has come for us, as a human race, to once again look to the stars. Let us once again look

outwards and take the next giant leap in human expedition. Thank you.
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