Space hibernation – it’s an idea many creative minds have pondered for a long time. In fact, some science fiction movies have shown sleeping humans going for a ride in space. The theory is this: when people are put into sleeping chambers, they can survive the long travel to a different land. In movies, actors would wake up on another planet where humans can live on.
But is it really possible? As interesting as the theory sounds, fiction is far from reality.
For one, sending humans to space is still considered a logistical nightmare. For that alone, space hibernation can be a thing of fiction. And because of new research, it is likely that it will remain that way.
Why space hibernation?
Sending astronauts to space is one of the human race’s most outstanding achievements. Working around the lack of gravity in space has been a grueling task for researchers. Apart from daily needs such as food, astronauts’ physical and mental well-being in space is hard to maintain.
That’s why up until now, sending people beyond the Moon is still largely unsolved.
One of the solutions to bypass the issues with this is space hibernation. When put into a sleep-like state called torpor, humans can lower their metabolism and sleep while waiting to complete their journey.
The concept has intrigued scientists so much that researchers from the European Space Agency conducted a feasibility study. Their findings? Some scientific hurdles make space hibernation out of reach for humans.
Can we put humans to sleep in space?
Induced hibernation is something sci-fi geeks are familiar with. But details on how to go about it often remain unclear. Thankfully, Roberto F. Nespolo and Carlos Mejias have found new data on the possibility of humans saving energy while sleeping.
The two examined the relationship between body mass and the amount of energy used by animals hibernate. Their research found a minimum level of metabolism that enables cells to continue living in low-oxygen environments.
Small animals like ground squirrels and bats have an easier time conserving their energy. Critters like these burn more than 25 percent of their body weight during their sleeping period. However, the math doesn’t work the same for humans and even bears.
Using statistical analysis, the two were able to find that the daily energy expenditure of hibernating animals is more or less the same, regardless of their tissue mass.
However, they found a point where hibernation does not make a huge difference in saving energy for more active and bigger mammals. In fact, they said that our total energy needs while hibernating aren’t all that different from when we are resting.
According to their research, when the calculations are scaled to bigger mammals, hibernating does not save much energy. The two scientists revealed that our energy levels would be the same as when we were resting.
Bottom line
Astronaut hibernation is a concept that scientists have been looking into for years. But unless we figure out how to store more body fat and replenish energy reserves in our body, space hibernation will not happen just yet. Either we pack so much weight into our bodies, or we would routinely need to wake up and consume food to build up fat.
If the goal is to survive a long slumber, the concept seems impossible. After all, dropping our heart rate and breathing while manipulating our metabolism might not give us the result we are looking for. Like bears, there is no guarantee that humans can achieve an actual torpor state.
For now, at least, we would have to keep our eyes open for other options.
