DRIFTING in space is easy, but not so drifting off to sleep. Astronauts have been complaining of sleep deficiency since the beginning of human space flight, and managing sleep will become even more important as space agencies prepare for longer journeys.
"Trying to sleep in space is a neat kind of disorientation," says six-time NASA astronaut Story Musgrave. "There's no clock, no day or night, no up or down."
In the most comprehensive astronaut sleep study to date, Laura Barger of Harvard Medical School in Boston and her colleagues monitored 64 astronauts over a total of 4200 "nights" in space and 4000 on Earth, using diaries and wrist devices that record sleep. The average astronaut slept about 2 hours less than the 8.5 hours they are normally allotted. What's more, sleep deficiency can build up in astronauts from as early as three months before lift-off, possibly as a result of rigorous training and preparations (The Lancet Neurology, doi.org/t37).
More than 75 per cent of astronauts resort to sleep medication at some point to cope, but Barger warns that this strategy could backfire in an emergency. Future research will explore the use of short-wavelength light to boost alertness, behavioural changes and schedule modifications that might help astronauts get all the shuteye they need.
This article appeared in print under the headline "Little chance of a good night's sleep in space"
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