Dancing on Mars | #AskAbby Space and Science Show | The Mars Generation

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Season 1, Episode 7 of The Space and Science Show #AskAbby series
Presented by TheMarsGeneration.org

When did Astronaut Abby first discover she liked to dance? 

We are excited to announce the release of our new weekly series called the #AskAbby Space and Science Show! Our founder and president Astronaut Abby will be appearing each Tuesday on YouTube, answering questions submitted by you, our community!

 Subscribe to our YouTube channel here so you don’t miss an episode!

In this seventh episode please join Astronaut Abby as she answers the question: When did Astronaut Abby first discover she liked to dance?

Astronaut Abby’s online audience knows that she loves to flip, dip, twirl and pop…dancing is one of her passions! When is it that she started loving to dance? Was this always a life long passion and what does dancing have to do with space exploration and becoming an astronaut?

This week’s #AskAbby will answer all these questions and even manages to tie in running marathons, too! That’s right: marathons, dancing, and space are all present! Only Astronaut Abby can bring these topics together! Did we mention we have footage of Abby hitting the dance floor? Hurry and get your dancing shoes on! You won’t want to miss this episode!

Tune in weekly on Tuesdays for new releases of The Space and Science Show #AskAbby series and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel here so you don’t miss an episode!

Should We Bring Puppies With Us To Mars? | #AskAbby Space and Science Show | The Mars Generation

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Season 1, Episode 6 of The Space and Science Show #AskAbby series
Presented by TheMarsGeneration.org

Should we bring puppies with us to Mars?

We are excited to announce the release of our new weekly series called the #AskAbby Space and Science Show! Our founder and president Astronaut Abby will be appearing each Tuesday on YouTube, answering questions submitted by you, our community!

Subscribe to our YouTube channel here so you don’t miss an episode!

In this sixth episode please join Astronaut Abby as she answers the question: Should we bring puppies with us to Mars?

Get ready for a cuteness overload! Golden retrievers Thunder and Lightning guest star (who are we kidding, they are the stars) in this #AskAbbyepisode about dogs in space! Astronaut Abby gives us a short history lesson about how animals, particularly dogs, have been involved in space exploration. Triumphs and tragedies alike, all that we have discovered about space certainly wouldn’t be possible without human’s best friend.

What could this mean for the future journey to Mars? Also, should we bring dogs with us to Mars? What are the ethics involved with bringing dogs on a long duration space mission? Find out what dog Abby would choose if she had her choice and more! Watch now to learn all you ever wanted to know about PUPPIES IN SPACE!

Tune in weekly on Tuesdays for new releases of The Space and Science Show #AskAbby series and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel here so you don’t miss an episode!

Working in a Mars lab at Kennedy Space Center | #AskAbby Space and Science Show

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Season 1, Episode 5 of The Space and Science Show #AskAbby series
Presented by TheMarsGeneration.org

What is it like to work in a Mars astrobiology lab at the Kennedy Space Center?

We are excited to announce the release of our new weekly series called the #AskAbby Space and Science Show! Our founder and president Astronaut Abby will be appearing each Tuesday on YouTube, answering questions submitted by you, our community!

Subscribe to our YouTube channel here so you don’t miss an episode!

In this fifth episode please join Astronaut Abby as she answers the questions: What was it like working in a Mars lab at Kennedy Space Center and what was Abby’s favorite thing to do while working the Mars labs?

For the first time ever, Astronaut Abby answers questions from a set of twins! Sisters Grace and Abby want to know more about Astronaut Abby’s summer internship at the Space Life Sciences lab located at Kennedy Space Center. Get an exclusive tour of the Mars Lab at Kennedy Space Center run by Abby’s research advisor Dr. Andrew C. Schuerger from the Department of Plant Pathology at the University of Florida. Also peak inside the science labs at Wellesley College during this special episode!

In this episode you will also find out: What was the most interesting thing Astronaut Abby learned while working at the Kennedy Space Center this summer? What was Astronaut Abby’s favorite thing to do during her internship? What is extremophile bacteria? What kinds of tools do astrobiologists use in their research? How do you make agar (and what is it)? And what the heck is the “agar dance”? Astronaut Abby proves a career as a scientist can be fun, creative and even include some dancing while at work!

Tune in weekly on Tuesdays for new releases of The Space and Science Show #AskAbby series and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel here so you don’t miss an episode!

How will humans grow food on Mars? | #AskAbby Space and Science Show | The Mars Generation

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Season 1, Episode 4 of The Space and Science Show #AskAbby series
Presented by TheMarsGeneration.org

How will humans grow food on Mars?

We are excited to announce the release of our new weekly series called the #AskAbby Space and Science Show! Our founder and president Astronaut Abby will be appearing each Tuesday on YouTube, answering questions submitted by you, our community!

Subscribe to our YouTube channel here so you don’t miss an episode!

In this fourth episode please join Astronaut Abby as she answers the question: How will humans grow food on Mars?

In this episode of #AskAbby, we are so excited to have special guests join Astronaut Abby to discuss how plants will be cultivated on Mars! Morgan Irons is a Duke University graduate, Chief Science Officer at Deep Space Ecology, LLC and Vice Chair of The Mars Generation’s Student Space Ambassador Advisory Board. She joins us to help answer questions from teacher Amanda Green’s 7th grade students from the École Coloniale Estates School in Alberta Canada. The students have been working on experiments to grow plants on Mars through The Martian Garden Project.

Questions that are answered in this video include: How will we grow plants in Martian soil or using hydroponics on Mars? What type of fertilizer would be used in Martian soil? What is regolith? What types of plants will be grown on Mars? What factors need to be considered when deciding the types of plants grown on Mars? What is “menu fatigue” and why is it important to consider for human Mars exploration? How will plants get water, oxygen, and electricity on Mars? And, last but not least, how good are Abby’s winter gardening skills? Find out all of this and MORE in this informative #AskAbby episode about growing food on Mars!

Tune in weekly on Tuesdays for new releases of The Space and Science Show #AskAbby series and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel here so you don’t miss an episode!

Communicating with people on Mars? | #AskAbby Space and Science Show

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Season 1, Episode 3 of The Space and Science Show #AskAbby series
Presented by TheMarsGeneration.org

Communicating With People On Mars?

We are excited to announce the release of our new weekly series called the #AskAbby Space and Science Show! Our founder and president Astronaut Abby will be appearing each Tuesday on YouTube, answering questions submitted by you, our community!

Subscribe to our YouTube channel here so you don’t miss an episode!

In this third episode please join Astronaut Abby as she answers the question: What’s the status of communication on Mars?

Communication is an important part of any space mission. Just think if you were on Mars and had a serious emergency! But communicating between Earth to Mars is no easy task! Join Astronaut Abby in this fun episode of #AskAbby which addresses questions about time delay experienced with space communications and specifically the time delay experienced when communicating with Mars.

Abby addresses how communication works in space and how NASA deals with the challenge of communication delays especially on a long duration mission to Mars. Including a discussion about what radio waves are, the concept of earth independence required for Mars exploration, a blooper reel and more!

Tune in weekly on Tuesdays for new releases of The Space and Science Show #AskAbby series and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel here so you don’t miss an episode!

Astronaut Requirements: What languages do astronauts need to know? | #AskAbby Space and Science Show

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We are excited to announce the release of our new weekly series called the #AskAbby Space and Science Show! Our founder and president Astronaut Abby will be appearing each Tuesday, answering questions submitted by you, our community!

Subscribe to our YouTube channel here so you don’t miss an episode!

In this second episode please join Astronaut Abby as she answers the question: Do astronauts need to know Klingon? Find out everything you wanted to know about what languages astronauts need to know and more!

Included in this episode: Find out of the many skills that are required of astronauts…if knowing other languages is required. If so, what languages do you need to master to become an astronaut and go to space? Klingon, perhaps? Includes some Shakespeare and Star Trek trivia included in this special #AskAbby episode about space languages!

Tune in weekly on Tuesdays for new releases of The Space and Science Show #AskAbby series and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel here so you don’t miss an episode!

Can astronauts experience motion sickness in space? | #AskAbby Space and Science Show

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We are excited to announce the release of our new weekly series called the #AskAbby Space and Science Show! Our founder and president Astronaut Abby will be appearing each Tuesday, answering questions submitted by you, our community!

Want to ask Astronaut Abby a space and or science question? Please go here to submit the question for future shows!

In the very first episode of #AskAbby, please join Astronaut Abby as she answers the question, “Can astronauts motion sickness in space?” Find out everything you ever wanted to know about space motion syndrome (SAS) and much more now by watching the very first ever #AskAbby Space and Science Show!

Includes answers to questions such as: What is space motion sickness? How does NASA handle space motion sickness? Can you predict if a person will experience space motion sickness before going to space? How long does space motion sickness last? Why do astronauts experience space motion sickness? What other changes does the human body go through in space? And many more questions answered! Also some Star Trek humor and other space puns included…of course! And it wouldn’t be complete without a Uranus joke!

Tune in weekly on Tuesdays for new releases of The Space and Science Show #AskAbby series! To submit a question to #AskAbby go to: http://bit.ly/2DfPz7b

Transcript

 

ABBY
Welcome to #AskAbby, where I’ll be answering all of your questions about space and science. This is a new segment of The Mars Generation Space and Science Show. We’ll be coming out with episodes every Tuesday so make sure that you go ahead and hit subscribe so you don’t miss out on them.

Do you have an out-of-this-world question that you want to see answered here on #AskAbby? You can go ahead and submit it on Twitter using the hashtag #AskAbby or using the link below for TheMarsGeneration.org.

So this week’s question and the first question ever answered on #AskAbby is from Kerry Lynne who goes by @KerryChamplin on Twitter, and they asked, “Can you get motion sick while in space?” Now, motion sickness here on Earth isn’t actually that bad. When you get sick, whether it’s from being in a car or riding on a roller coaster, usually it lasts for a couple of minutes, maybe an hour if you’re unlucky. However, when you’re in space, you’re up there for months at a time whether you’re staying on the International Space Station, traveling to the moon, or even to Mars. I don’t think anyone wants to have motion sickness for that long. Can you imagine being motion sick for months on end? I can’t. However, let’s go ahead and take a look at what this would mean for astronauts.

In space, you don’t necessarily get the same type of motion sickness that you would expect to get here on Earth. You get something called “Space Motion Sickness!”

EMILY
Oh my gosh, Abby.

ABBY
[Laughing] What, Emily? Everything’s cooler when you put the word “space” before it. Right, guys? I think you agree with me.

SAS is caused by the changes in g-forces between being in Earth and in space that force your body’s vestibular system to adapt.

EMILY
Wait, Abby. What’s the vestibular system?

ABBY
Emily, I’m an astrobiologist not a doctor, dam**t! [Laughing]

EMILY
Abby, is that a Star Trek quote?

ABBY
[Nods]

The vestibular system which is in part located within your inner ear is the way that your body tells the spatial orientation it has and helps you keep your balance, things that are pretty important.

Sass is pretty– [Laughing]

EMILY
S. A. S.

ABBY
I just can’t even handle this acronym. Okay. So, S.A.S.–

EMILY
Action.

ABBY
SAS comes in varying levels of suckiness basically, ranging from really sucking with intense discomfort – vomiting, lack of appetite, fatigue, all of those terrible things – to very mild. Maybe a little bit of nausea or a headache or little bit of disorientation. Here’s the thing about vomiting in space though, is that: it floats. So, any level of SAS sounds like it would be terrible to experience.

So, if SAS is so awful, how do astronauts go about dealing with it for months on end? The answer is that they don’t. Space Adaptation Syndrome symptoms usually only present themselves for about two to four days at the beginning of an astronaut’s time in space.

If an astronaut experiences SAS to a high level, it can be detrimental to their mission and dangerous to themselves and their crewmates. However, as long as it’s not affecting their work, NASA usually just tells astronauts to suck it up. NASA actually prefers that astronauts handle SAS on their own without taking medication, because medications themselves can cause a lot of other undesirable side effects such as dizziness, fainting, all kinds of things. And even more so, we don’t quite understand yet how every medication will work in space. Unless an astronaut is experiencing severe symptoms of SAS, NASA generally does not medicate them.

So, how would an aspiring astronaut know if they’re gonna get SAS? Well, actually, there’s no way to tell. There’s no formal test as of now that can define whether or not someone is going to get SAS when they go into space. And it’s not even correlated as to whether or not you get motion sickness here on Earth. Astronauts who get motion sickness from everything to trains to planes to cars here on Earth have experienced very little to no effect of SAS in space and vice versa.

The most prominent example of Space Adaptation Syndrome was in 1985 when Senator Jake Garn flew in space. He became so violently ill that he actually went down in history for it. NASA created the unofficial “Garn Scale” which is a measurement of how sick you can get in space. It ranges from zero to one with one being the absolute most sick that anyone will ever get in space. Most astronauts average around a 0.1 on the Garn Scale whereas Jake Garn – he was a full one. Sounds terrible. Really, I feel for the guy.

Next time you go to the doctor, you might want to try saying, “Hey Doc, I’m feeling a full half Garn today.” They’ll have no idea what you’re saying, but it could be fun.

So, if you’re going to space, it’s pretty likely that you’re going to experience Space Adaptation Syndrome, and, really, nothing to be concerned about.

Quickly, while we’re on the topic though, what other important changes happen to the human body in space? Well, you’ve got:

  • Muscle atrophy
  • Osteoporosis
  • Nasal congestion
  • Loss of vision
  • Phantom limb and
  • Excess flatulence…

…which happens the most when you’re orbiting around Uranus [Laughing].

EMILY
So done.

ABBY
And they let me speak in classrooms.

If you’d like to ask a question about space or science and potentially see it answered here on #AskAbby, you can do so using the hashtag #AskAbby on Twitter or through TheMarsGeneration.org website which is linked below. Until then, make sure that you hit the subscribe button on YouTube so you can see our new episodes which will come out every week on Tuesdays.

Until next week, farewell fellow travelers of spaceship Earth.