All articles tagged with #astronaut vision
Apollo astronauts trying to sleep en route to the Moon saw brief, colorless flashes linked to cosmic rays passing through the eye; Apollo 16/17 detectors tied particle tracks to the reports, supporting retinal ionization and related mechanisms, though the exact biophysics remains debated. The finding highlights that deep-space radiation can be perceptible and poses a concern for long-duration missions beyond Earth.
The Polaris Dawn mission crew will be dedicating major time to probe health impacts on the body from their sojourn into space, including the Spaceflight-Associated Neuro-Ocular Syndrome (SANS), a malady that includes swelling of the optic nerve, alteration in the shape of the eye itself, as well causing fuzziness to vision. SANS is tied to the absence of gravity's effects on the body, causing a fluid shift that can generate pressure changes in the brain and eye. The crew will be using a device built by PlenOptika and a Sensimed-produced "Triggerfish" contact lens to measure how the cornea changes shape over time.