Aerospace physiology

Aerospace physiology is the study of the effects of high altitudes on the body, such as different pressures and levels of oxygen. At different altitudes the body may react in different ways, provoking more cardiac output, and producing more erythrocytes. These changes cause more energy waste in the body, causing muscle fatigue, but this varies depending on the level of the altitude.

The physics that affect the body in the sky or in space are different from the ground. For example, barometric pressure is different at different heights. At sea level barometric pressure is 760 mmHg; at 3.048 mts above sea level, barometric pressure is 523 mmHg, and at 15.240 mts, the barometric pressure is 87 mmHg. As the barometric pressure decreases, atmospheric partial pressure decreases also. This pressure is always below 20% of the total barometric pressure. At sea level, alveolar partial pressure of oxygen is 104 mmHg, reaching 6000 meters above the sea level. This pressure will decrease up to 40 mmHg in a non-acclimated person, but in an acclimated person, it will decrease as much as 52 mmHg. This is because alveolar ventilation will increase more in the acclimated person. Aviation physiology can also include the effect in humans and animals exposed for long periods of time inside pressurized cabins

The other main issue with altitude is hypoxia, caused by both the lack of barometric pressure and the decrease in oxygen as the body rises. With exposure at higher altitudes, alveolar carbon dioxide partial pressure (PCO2) decreases from 40 mmHg (sea level) to lower levels. With a person acclimated to sea level, ventilation increases about five times and the carbon dioxide partial pressure decreases up to 6 mmHg. In an altitude of 3040 meters, arterial saturation of oxygen elevates to 90%, but over this altitude arterial saturation of oxygen decreases rapidly as much as 70% (6000 mts), and decreases more at higher altitudes.

g-forces are mostly experienced by the body during flight, especially high speed flight and space travel. This includes positive g-force, negative g-force and zero g-force, caused by simple acceleration, deceleration and centrifugal acceleration. When an airplane turns, centrifugal acceleration is determined by ƒ=mv2/r. This indicates that if speed increases, centrifugal acceleration force also increases in proportion to the square of the speed.

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