Sleep deprivation is no joke. It can cause lower performance, decreased memory, and even sickness. So, if you spend your life orbiting Earth on a $150B spacecraft, you're going to take sleep seriously. NASA, responding to an epidemic of insomnia, is ready to give the International Space Station (ISS) an LED makeover.
The cure?
Living in the noisy, high-pressure ISS makes sleep difficult. The result: roughly half of all astronauts, at some point, take sleep medication. It's a quick fix, but it can cause dependency and inhibit astronauts' ability to wake up suddenly for an emergency. You don't want zombie-like astronauts, but you also don't want drug-addicted ones.
NASA's new solution taps into the human brain's response to light cycles. The agency is spending US$11.2 million to outfit the ISS' U.S. section with LED lights. The lights, set to be installed by 2016, simulate nature: blue in the morning, white during the day, and red in the evening.
Tapping into nature?
It's similar to an Earth-bound solution for the winter blues. Light therapy gizmos fight Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) by simulating daylight. The bluish hue tricks the brain into suppressing sleep-inducing melatonin, and increasing energy-producing melanopsin. Reddish LEDs can have the opposite effect, inducing drowsiness. NASA hopes to apply the same principles.
The agency can control the lighting from the ground, or let the astronauts adjust it on site. The system prepares the astronauts for better sleep, but its flexibility opens the door to smoother transitions of working hours.
Will the LEDs lead to better-rested, more focused ISS inhabitants? If so, the results would be difficult to measure, but likely plentiful. But if they fail and insomnia persists, you may hear more the next time NASA's budget is on the table.
They do nothing about the messed up biorhythms which the light therapy is suppose to correct.
R&D is already done, I expect they will slip them up with the commercial payload (1/10th the usual cost)- remember that fluorescents only last around 3 to 5 years and the space station has been operational since 1998, so there must be regular failures and replacements. This just means the crew quarters are replaced first and those units are used as spares. With the space station considered ready for decommissioning in 2028 there is plenty of time for a gradual replacement programme.
You technically could, but it would start to get stressful after the first week.
I'm on the east coast and if I left my old porch light on it drew bugs to it. I replaced it with a yellow LED and the bugs don't go near it. It also doesn't mess with my night vision like my old light so I can see out into the darker yard. I wish I would have done this sooner.
In the military red lighting is used for tactical operations but most of the civilian world has not yet caught on.
I wish I could switch all my interior lights over to red from about 10 PM on. I might get to sleep at a decent hour.
My house is already all LED lighting so I added a 300 LED RGB light strip along the upper corner of the wall in the main room. This is adjustable throughout the spectrum using a remote control with memory. The effect of light colour on the autonomic system is not in doubt. It is well established by many rigorous scientific studies.
I love the new lighting and it does seem to help. For the first time in decades I have been able to mostly keep to a 24 hour schedule. Oh yes, they only cost me about $40.