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Bringing people into hibernation is an ideal way to perform long-term space travel.

If people start traveling to Mars in the next few decades, such a trip will last several months in unpleasant boredom.

Thankfully, a company is trying to make this journey easier by creating hibernation for astronauts.

Hibernation solves many problems

SpaceWorks, an Atlanta-based company, has received two rounds of funding from NASA to turn sci-fi films into space travel into reality.

Putting people into hibernation during space trips is something only in previous sci-fi films.(Photo: NASA).

'We are very confident that we can make people hibernate for 14 days,' said John Bradford, SpaceWorks president and former NASA engineer.

It will be 2 weeks with a body temperature of 5 degrees Celsius. The basic point of reducing this temperature is to create a sleep state, while limiting metabolism to 50-70%. Astronauts will consume less oxygen and other energy sources. It is similar to hibernating bears.

'Our goal is to minimize crew activity and reduce the amount of metabolism and equipment needed for trips (to Mars or any solar system site) , ' Bradford said. .

In other words, a hibernating crew will need less space to move, less food and more air. Meanwhile, spacecraft can make smaller, lighter, or carry more passengers, saving costs for the trip.

After 14 days, Bradford said, the traveler would have to warm up, wake up and take a few days to restore the original state. After that, they continue to hibernate and repeat the cycle until the end of the journey.

Absolute possible

Bradford really liked Elon Musk's construction idea. ' We need spacecraft that can take several hundred people at a time. However, there is no technology that really supports that. I think our technology is possible. '

Bringing people into hibernation also brings other benefits.

Bradford said the study has shown that slowing metabolic processes can help combat muscle atrophy, demineralization of bone and pressure within the skull that astronauts experience due to gravity. Some evidence also indicates that it can help fight radiation.

The sleeping bag is placed inside the spacecraft to maintain astronaut sleep.

This idea may remind you of scenes from the Interstellar or Passengers movie but it is based on a method called 'therapeutic hypothermia' used in today's medicine.

Cooling the body to limit metabolism can help treat heart attacks or some injuries.

However, it is still unusual to send someone into hibernation for longer than 1-3 days. There are some special cases that have been reported in Europe when patients were chilled for a week without side effects. A 2009 report recognizing patients at Mayo Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida was chilled for 2 weeks.

Bradford believed that humans could hibernate longer.'Ideally, it could take 30 days, if not the whole journey , ' he said. 'I think, we can achieve that'.

New at the first test stage

Currently, there are some companies that also keep their bodies frozen when they die, in the hope that the technologies of the future can be cured, but that is a completely different story. So far, SpaceWorks is the only company trying to create hibernation for people for the purpose of space travel.

SpaceWorks , of course, developed his idea, including designing a 'sleeping bag' to use for traveling to Mars. Their group has begun to move from conceptual stage to experiment. One of the first tasks will be applying for a license to test pharmaceuticals that can lower the basic temperature without relying on ice packs, gel pads, cold liquids or other external tools.

The drug will 'make your body think it wants to be at 32 degrees, instead of 37 degrees,' Bradford said.

From there, they will study to better understand what happens to the body when it falls into hibernation for longer than a few days.

If successful, an 8-month Mars tour will turn into 15 long sleeps, along with a few days of waking and mild activity.