They say that going to space changes you. The idea is that people get a new perspective from seeing our world from above. It’s called the Overview Effect1. But a new project offers clues to how spaceflight also changes our bodies. This Space Omics and Medical Atlas—or SOMA—has measured a broad range of effects.

人們說太空飛行會改變一個人。這是指從太空俯瞰我們的世界，會得到新的視角，這就是“總觀效應(yīng)”。但一個新的研究項目揭示，太空飛行也會改變我們的身體。該項目名為“空間組學(xué)和醫(yī)學(xué)圖譜”（SOMA），對廣泛的影響做了估量。

Researchers have studied spaceflight’s effects on health since the dawn of the Space Age. They’ve looked into the effects of weightlessness， space radiation and other out-of-this-world conditions as people have rocketed into low-Earth orbit—and sometimes spent months there.

自太空時代伊始，研究人員就一直在研究太空飛行對健康的影響。隨著人們進入近地軌道——有時會在那里待幾個月，研究人員研究了失重、太空輻射等地外條件的影響。

Well-known problems include bone loss and an increased risk of cancer. But there have been signs of vision impairment2 and drops in certain types of brain tissue. It may weaken immunity and change the switches that turn on genes.

人們熟知的問題有骨質(zhì)流失和患癌風(fēng)險增加，但已有跡象表明，視力可能受損，某些類型的腦組織也可能有所減少。太空飛行或會削弱免疫力，改變啟動基因表達的開關(guān)。

What’s not always been as clear is what might be changing at a molecular level. SOMA hoped to find out.

分子水平上可能出現(xiàn)的變化有時不那么清楚，而SOMA所希望的就是將其查清。

The project’s new data come from short stays， such as travel into orbit via Axiom missions （Ax-1 and -2） and SpaceX’s Inspiration4. Additional data came from some missions by NASA and the Japanese Space Agency.

該項目的新數(shù)據(jù)來自短期太空停留，例如通過公理太空公司的國際空間站任務(wù)（公理1號和公理2號）和美國太空探索技術(shù)公司的“靈感4”號飛船進入太空軌道。其他數(shù)據(jù)來自美國國家航空航天局（NASA）和日本航天局的一些飛行任務(wù)。

SOMA’s initial findings appear as a series of 30 papers. They came out in various Nature journals. And already， they make up the largest published database on aerospace medicine and space biology.

SOMA的初步調(diào)查結(jié)果以30篇系列論文的形式呈現(xiàn)，發(fā)表在《自然》旗下的若干期刊上，業(yè)已構(gòu)成目前最大的航空航天醫(yī)學(xué)和空間生物學(xué)數(shù)據(jù)庫。

Professional astronauts working for government space agencies must undergo rigorous3 tests to screen for potential health problems. The same is not true for private space travelers. And that’s why SOMA’s data are so important. A major shift is underway in human spaceflight： the rise of commercial space tourism.

為政府航天機構(gòu)工作的專業(yè)宇航員必須接受嚴(yán)格測試，以篩查潛在的健康問題，私人太空旅行者則不然。這就是SOMA的數(shù)據(jù)如此重要的原因。人類太空飛行正在發(fā)生重大轉(zhuǎn)變：商業(yè)太空旅游興起。

Space lengthens DNA ‘caps’

太空會延長DNA“帽”

Perhaps the most well-known long-term biomedical NASA study involved identical twins. Scott and Mark Kelly both trained as astronauts. Scott spent 340 days on the International Space Station. Afterward， researchers looked at how that affected his physiology， gene expression， immune system and mental reasoning. To better understand any changes， they compared these features to those in Mark， the twin who stayed on the ground.

NASA最著名的長期生物醫(yī)學(xué)研究或許就是以同卵雙胞胎為對象的那一項。雙胞胎斯科特·凱利和馬克·凱利都受訓(xùn)成為宇航員。斯科特在國際空間站度過了340天。之后，研究人員研究了這一任務(wù)對斯科特的生理機能、基因表達、免疫系統(tǒng)和思維推理的影響。為了更好了解所有變化，研究人員將這些特征與留在地球上的馬克進行了比較。

One fascinating finding： Space travel lengthened Scott Kelly’s telomeres. These are short bits of repeating nucleic acids. Found at the ends of our DNA， they act sort of like the cap on a shoelace. They protect our strands of DNA. As cells divide， telomeres shorten. It’s a change generally linked with aging.

一個有趣的發(fā)現(xiàn)是：太空旅行延長了斯科特·凱利的端粒。端粒是一小段重復(fù)的核酸片段，存在于我們DNA的末端，作用有點像鞋帶頭的箍帽，保護我們的DNA鏈。端粒隨著細(xì)胞分裂而縮短，這種變化通常與衰老有關(guān)。

So did Scott’s stay in space make his body seem younger？ No. In fact， the telomere change may increase his risk of cancer.

那么，斯科特在太空停留過的經(jīng)歷是不是讓他的身體看著更年輕了呢？不。事實上，端粒的變化可能會增加他患癌的風(fēng)險。

Certain cancers “protect telomere lengths or cause telomere elongation，” explains Eliah Overbey. At the University of Austin in Texas， she studies the health effects of spaceflight. “That’s part of why these cancers are tricky，” she says. “They’ll divide， divide， divide—but their telomeres aren’t getting any shorter.” Fortunately for Scott Kelly， once back on Earth， his telomeres shrank back to their preflight size.

埃利亞·奧弗貝在得克薩斯大學(xué)奧斯汀分校研究太空飛行對健康的影響，她解釋說，某些癌細(xì)胞“可維持端粒長度或?qū)е露肆Ｑ娱L”。“這就是這些癌癥很棘手的部分原因。”她說，“癌細(xì)胞會分裂，分裂，再分裂——但其端粒并未變短?！毙疫\的是，斯科特·凱利一回到地球，其端粒就縮短至飛行前的長度。

Still， this experiment was limited by its tiny sample size： two men. “NASA didn’t repeat these sorts of studies on their future crews，” Overbey notes.

不過，這項實驗仍受限于樣本量極?。褐挥袃擅行?。奧弗貝指出：“NASA沒有對后來的宇航員重復(fù)這幾類研究。”

What SOMA found

SOMA的發(fā)現(xiàn)

Through SOMA， Overbey and her colleagues have now collected many types of molecular data. That includes telomere length. Other examples are immune responses and the body’s ability to repair DNA and manage stress.

通過SOMA，奧弗貝和同事已收集到許多類型的分子數(shù)據(jù)，其中包括端粒長度。另例有免疫反應(yīng)，及身體修復(fù)DNA和應(yīng)對壓力的能力。

Even a few days in space can trigger genetic changes， SOMA’s data show. In fact， short-term changes differed little from ones seen during longer missions.

SOMA的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，即使只在太空中待幾天也會引發(fā)基因變化。事實上，短期變化與較長任務(wù)期間所見變化差別不大。

As with Scott Kelly， telomeres of the Inspiration4 crew got longer during their jaunt4. “Even though they were only up there for three days， we were actually still able to see what was a pretty dramatic effect，” Overbey says. Once they got back on the ground， though， their DNA-cap lengths went back to normal.

與斯科特·凱利一樣，“靈感4”號乘組人員的端粒也在太空旅途中變長了。奧弗貝說：“盡管他們只在太空待了3天，但其實我們?nèi)阅芸吹筋H為顯著的影響?！比欢麄円换氐降厍?，DNA帽的長度就回歸正常了。

Many other molecular changes also followed patterns similar to those in the Twins Study. They seemed to shift during spaceflight—regardless of its length. Then they largely went back to baseline once the travelers were back on Earth.

其他許多分子變化也和“雙胞胎研究”中的相似。太空飛行期間，無論時間長短，這些分子變化似乎都會出現(xiàn)。待旅行者回到地球，變化水平就基本回歸基線。

What do such data mean for an astronaut’s health？ That isn’t clear， especially when thinking about the long timescales of a Mars mission or a stay at a moon base. And the total number of people going to space is still small. After all， each new private mission carries only a crew of four.

這類數(shù)據(jù)對宇航員的健康意味著什么？目前尚不清楚，尤其是考慮到火星任務(wù)或在月球基地停留的漫長時間。而且太空飛行的總?cè)藬?shù)仍然很少。畢竟，每次新的私人飛行任務(wù)只搭載4人。

Still， Overbey and her team intend SOMA to become a hub for health data on commercial and government crewed missions.

不過，奧弗貝及其團隊仍想讓SOMA成為商業(yè)和政府載人飛行任務(wù)的健康數(shù)據(jù)中心。

Few health guidelines for space tourists

鮮見針對太空游客的健康指南

An increase in space tourism poses many ethical issues. To get into orbit， professional astronauts must undergo a lot of training and be in tip-top5 health. The U.S. government has no health requirements for space tourists.

太空旅游業(yè)務(wù)量的增長引發(fā)了許多倫理問題。為了進入軌道，專業(yè)宇航員必須接受大量訓(xùn)練，并且處于最佳健康狀態(tài)。而美國政府對太空游客不作健康要求。

Twenty years ago， Congress passed a temporary ban on new human-safety rules for commercial space travel. It didn’t want to interfere too much as the private space industry was starting to develop. That ban was set to expire in 2012. Instead， it has been extended.

20年前，美國國會通過了一項臨時禁令，禁止針對商業(yè)太空旅行制定新的人身安全規(guī)則。由于私人航空業(yè)剛剛起步，國會不想干涉太多。該禁令原本于2012年到期，結(jié)果被延長至今。

This means that the Federal Aviation Administration， or FAA， which oversees launch licenses， can’t make private “astronauts” undergo health tests before strapping into a rocket seat.

這意味著，監(jiān)管發(fā)射許可證的美國聯(lián)邦航空管理局（FAA）不能讓私人“宇航員”在系好火箭座椅安全帶前接受健康測試。

“If you want to climb Mount Qomolangma， you need to submit a health certificate，” notes Dana Tulodziecki. “That’s more than you currently officially need to do to go to space，” says this philosopher. She works at Purdue University in West Lafayette， Ind.

哲學(xué)家達娜·圖洛杰茨基在印第安納州西拉斐特的普渡大學(xué)工作，她指出：“如果你想攀登珠穆朗瑪峰，需要提交一份健康證明。這比目前進入太空的要求還高?！?/p>

The FAA suggests that private astronauts consult with their doctor before signing up to travel. Preferably， that doctor should be trained in spaceflight issues. But no one can ensure that happens. And even if a doctor said a tourist wasn’t healthy enough to rocket off， that person could simply keep asking around until they found a doctor who gave them an okay.

FAA建議私人宇航員在報名參加太空旅行前咨詢醫(yī)生，最好是接受過太空飛行問題培訓(xùn)的醫(yī)生，但沒人能保證太空游客會照做。即使醫(yī)生說游客的健康狀態(tài)不適合前往太空，那人可能只會繼續(xù)四處打聽，直到找到一位同意其出行的醫(yī)生。

These are obviously really complicated issues， Tulodziecki says. She thinks that before the ban ends， lawmakers should consider what laws might be needed to ensure the safety of tourists who want to buy a ticket to space.

圖洛杰茨基表示，這些顯然是非常復(fù)雜的問題。她認(rèn)為，在禁令終止前，立法者應(yīng)該考慮，可能需要制訂哪些法律來確保想購票前往太空的游客的安全。

This isn’t an issue of theoretical risks that might play out one day in the distant future. “It’s already happening，” she says of space tourism. “So， it’s really something urgent.”

這并非理論上可能只會出現(xiàn)在遙遠(yuǎn)未來某一天的風(fēng)險。談及太空旅游，圖洛杰茨基表示：“問題已經(jīng)出現(xiàn)了，因此迫在眉睫。”

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎?wù)?；單位：新鄉(xiāng)市第十六中學(xué)）

1 Overview Effect總觀效應(yīng)，1987年由太空題材作家弗蘭克·懷特（Frank White）提出，指從太空回看地球而經(jīng)歷的認(rèn)知轉(zhuǎn)變，即從多數(shù)人無法體驗的角度觀察熟悉的家園時，會產(chǎn)生“世界之大而人類紛爭及邊界狹小”之類的感慨。

2 impairment（身體機能的）損傷。" 3 rigorous嚴(yán)格縝密的。

4 jaunt（短途）游覽，旅行。

5 tip-top一流的。