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Mars Mission Controllers Can’t Get To Grips With Unfamiliar Sleep Cycle
Author: Jonathan Warren
A 40 minute change to your sleep cycle doesn’t sound like much, but the control team for the Mars Curiosity program are finding out it does indeed make a big difference!
You may already be familiar with NASA’s Curiosity rover – their latest robot sent to explore the surface of Mars. The $2.5billion (£1.6billion) project is able to take pictures, collect samples and analyse the planet’s surface. The information is then beamed to scientists on Earth.
The mission control team in charge of monitoring Curiosity’s progress however, have to deal with an unusual problem. A day on Mars lasts around 40 minutes longer than an Earth day. This has already caused havoc with the scientists’ internal body clocks, because they have to communicate with the robot on Martian time.
There is some hope for the sleep deprived scientists though, as Researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, USA, have been working on a revolutionary ‘fatigue management programme’, which they say is successful at controlling this space-age jet lag. The researchers plan to publish their findings very soon.
So the next time you’re curled up in your cosy upholstered bed, spare a thought for those scientists who are no doubt craving a good night’s sleep!
