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Article: Long-Duration Spaceflight
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- Space Sciences
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CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Long-Duration Spaceflight
Imagine this scenario: You have been chosen as one of seven astronauts on the first human mission to Mars. You are four months into the three-year, round-trip mission. You share a small spacecraft with six people of different cultures who you do not know very well; one of them does not like you, and there is no place to escape from this person. The spacecraft is noisy and the lighting is poor. You have not been sleeping well because your internal clock has been thrown off by the lack of a normal day/night cycle. The last time you spoke to your loved ones on Earth was a month ago. Though you cannot feel it, your bones are becoming weaker due to calcium loss. Your ...