Study: Female Astronauts May Be More Resilient to Physical Toll of Spaceflight

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Facts

  • Research published in Nature Communications, which analyzed data from the all-civilian crew from SpaceX's Inspiration4 mission, has found that women may be better suited than men to physiologically endure the effects of flying to outer space.1
  • The authors said that the SpaceX Inspiration4 mission provided vital details on a short-term voyage that traveled farther away from Earth than the International Space Station (ISS). In contrast, ISS data provides information on astronauts in lower-orbit yet longer-duration missions.2
  • The preliminary research compared the two men and women from Inspiration4 as well as a dataset of 64 other astronauts and found that the female astronauts' gene activity was less impacted by the physical toll of spaceflight. The study also showed that the female astronauts also had a faster overall recovery time.3
  • The female astronauts reportedly recovered faster for all cell types — including T-cells and monocytes — for which there is the most chromatin change in the immune system during flight. Researchers suggest this may be linked to the ability to manage pregnancy and other stressors.4
  • The study notes that spaceflight may impact the skin as well as immune response, inflammation, and DNA repair mechanisms. The study suggests that 'Males appear to be more affected by spaceflight for almost all cell types and metrics.'5
  • The resilience of the human body to the dangers of spaceflight is a major issue for human space exploration. Research suggests that doses of radiation in those who travel to Mars could lead to permanent kidney damage that could go undetected for months.3

Sources: 1Independent, 2Nature, 3Guardian, 4FOX Weather and 5Interesting Engineering.

Narratives

  • Narrative A, as provided by Medium. Although NASA has scrubbed much of this data from the public record, women have proven equal to men on spaceflight physical exams for decades. This, combined with this vital data about the physical ability of female astronauts to endure and recover from the impacts of spaceflight, suggests that NASA and other spacefaring agencies would be wise to put women at the forefront of future human cosmic exploration.
  • Narrative B, as provided by mikemullane.com. Whether you're a man or a woman, becoming an astronaut is a grueling and arduous process. In virtually every case, this includes obtaining advanced college degrees, passing military physical fitness exams, becoming a military pilot, and racking up 1K flight hours. This is a very important study about physiological factors, but it's important to remember — for both female and male astronauts — that physical resilience is one of many characteristics of crewing the space voyages of the future.

Predictions