Abstract

This chapter focuses on human hibernation and space travel. The concept of placing humans into an artificially induced state of hibernation has been introduced in many conferences and discussions dealing with space travel. This chapter discusses human hibernation in the light of the present state of knowledge of natural mammalian hibernation and focuses on the importance of various benefits of hibernation for use in space travel. Considering the advances made in the biomedical sciences, such as deciphering the genetic code and effecting organ transplants, the experimental induction of some form of hibernation in man—once its mechanisms are understood—do not seem improbable. The advantages of using hibernation for space travel are the following: (1) reduction in weight of life support systems; (2) reduction in aging; (3) protection from dysbarism, thermal stress, trauma, bacteremia, and radiation; and (4) release from psychological stresses such as boredom anxiety, irritability, sleep disturbances, depression, and hostility. Hibernation is a natural physiological process that has evolved as an aid to survival. A normal reduction in body temperature termed true hibernation, torpor, or lethargy, involving a decrease of a few or many degrees, appears in several orders of the class Mammalia.

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