Hibernation – sleep while travelling to other planets / ESA TV Exchanges / 10-12-2004

ESA BROADCAST CENTRE

Dear Keith Cowing,

The next transmission of the ESA TV Service will be:

10-Dec-04 09:10 – 09:25 GMT

Hibernation – sleep while travelling to other planets

ESA TV Exchanges

Background information on the transmission:

Replay I: 10 December 16:00-16:15 GMT

Replay II: 11 December 16:00 -16:15 GMT

Manned missions to Mars are no longer wild dreams. For example, ESA’s Aurora programme is studying how, after exploring Mars with robotic missions, it is possible to send astronauts to the red planet.

Astronauts on such missions would face the challenge of living in a confined space with not much to do for extremely long periods. “Might as well sleep it off!” Studies initiated by ESA’s Advanced Concepts Team have gone one step further. Couldn’t astronauts mimic the hibernation of animals? Two biologists are conducting, as ESA consultants, investigations into the physiological mechanisms that mammals use to hibernate.

Although these studies are in a very early stage, and do not address missions to Mars, it is obvious that the astronaut’s ability to hibernate would have a significant benefit in abort and emergency scenarios. Of course, a suitable and lightweight ‘hibernaculum’ to shelter astronauts during their ‘long sleep’ would have to be designed.

The images for this programme were recorded at the University of Pavia in Italy where these experimental studies are conducted.

The programme includes a 6-minute A-roll with split audio (English/international) and a B-roll with clean international sound.

The script is on-line as a PDF document under http://television.esa.int/photos/EbS37360.pdf

A Media Player File for preview is on line now under
http://esa.capcave.com/wmp/hiberna_22112004_wmplow.wmv

This ESA TV Exchanges feed is transmitted by the European Commission’s “Europe by Satellite” (EbS) service. You can find the complete transmission schedule and download scripts and shot lists, also for ESA TV items, from the EbS Web site at http://europa.eu.int/comm/ebs/schedule.cfm

More background information can be found on http://www.esa.int/esaHS/SEMQBM0A90E_index_2.html.

Transmission details:EUTELSAT HOT BIRD at 13° East (DVB/MPEG-2)
Horizontal, F=12,476 MHz (MCPC, Europe by Satellite)
SR=27,500 MS/sec, FEC=3/4

For further information, visit our website at http://television.esa.int. For other enquires, contact Claus Habfast, Tel +31 71 565 3838, Fax +31 71 565 6340, e-mail claus.habfast@esa.int.