Scientists Are Developing A Device That Will Combat Depression In Astronauts

Scientists Are Developing A Device That Will Combat Depression In Astronauts

Researchers are now struggling to develop a new spacesuits gadget with the purpose to monitor the astronauts’ depression level and to offer improvements and increase the astronauts’ well-being.

It has been observed since the first human flights in the space that astronauts are possible to develop depression because of the lack of physical activity and sleep, imponderability, extreme exposure to light, and so on.

The new gadgets were named Smart Sensory Skin (S3) and have the capacity of detecting both emotional and physical insufficiencies using some wireless sensors that are designed to offer an instantaneous feedback in order to boost the mood and regulate the astronauts’ habitat to meet their personal necessities.

Such improvements involve temperature alteration, lowering or increasing the oxygen levels, and changing the color of the light.

“It’s vital for astronauts to be mentally healthy during missions and right now there’s no active, real-time solution to help them when they feel stressed or anxious. This technology would provide them with immediate relief to their state of mind,” admitted an FPU professor, Arman Sargolzaei.

The final version of the product will also include sensors installed in the clothing which will assist the doctors on Earth to monitor the astronauts’ heart rate and blood pressure in real-time.

A comparable device is already used in space missions but, unfortunately, it is troublesome, often difficult to wear, and, even more, the data are not sent in real-time, meaning that the received information has to be, at first, reviewed by a doctor who will only then send back his/her appropriate directions to the astronauts. That means time loss which can result in tragic events.

Therefore, Smart Sensory Skin (S3) represents a huge leap towards a more practical use of the recently developed technologies plus that it will boost the astronauts’ efficacy by overcoming disturbances.

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