"We need to fine tune everything before we can apply it to humans. But I would say that 10 years is a realistic timeline."
The first hibernation studies with human subjects could be feasible within a decade, a European Space Agency (ESA) researcher thinks.
Such experiments would pave the way for a science-fiction-like approach to long-duration space missions that would see crew members placed into protective slumber for weeks or months on their way to distant destinations.
Hibernating on a year-long trip to Mars would not just prevent boredom in a tiny space capsule; it would also save mission cost, as the hibernating crew members wouldn't need to eat or drink and would even require far less oxygen than those awake. There are other, rather odd benefits of hibernation, as well. Research in animals suggests that bodies of hibernating astronauts might waste away much less than the bodies of those awake in microgravity. Upon arrival, these hibernators would thus be fit and ready to commence challenging exploration almost straight away after regaining consciousness.
For all these reasons, hibernation, also known as torpor, has long been a staple of sci-fi space movies. From "Alien" to "2001: A Space Odyssey," fictional space travelers have crossed vast distances cocooned unconscious inside high-tech pods while AI machines and android robots keep their spacecraft on a steady course.
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