A Lack of Gravity Can Be Detrimental

Ever wonder what it would be like to work out on Mars? According to a story on CBS entitled, "Mars Voyage Muscles: Don't Like Your Workout? Try it in Space," it might not be that great. According to a new study, it finds that even the strongest of astronauts in their thirties and fourties could eventually become as weak as an eighty-year-old because they could lose fourty percent of their muscle mass over long periods in zero or low gravity. This might make it hard to move around in bulky spacesuits, let alone do any kind of serious exercise.

Even though NASA does its best to keep its astronauts in tip-top shape while they're in low or zero gravity, but even a few months can start to result in significan muscle wasting. Such severe wasting of the muscles can cause serious problems if these astronauts want to return to Earth, as it might make it impossible for them to exit their capsule in the case of an emergency.

So what does this tell us about possibly exercise in future space travel? Likely that while it'll be somewhat beneficial, until we come up with some method to simulate gravity, the possibility of severe muscle waste is all too problematic. Hopefully, once space travel becomes more common and actually commercially viable, they'll find a way to prevent muscle waste.