While space has long been known as the final frontier, the deeper reaches of our galaxy have always seemed to be out of reach. However, that could all be about to change. According to a report by Geek.com NASA has officially given their support to SpaceWorks Enterprises, a company who has been researching the possibilities and applications on using induced sleep to send astronauts into the deep reaches of space.

The sleep itself would be induced by torpor. Torpor is a hibernation state that occurs naturally in animals, and happens to some humans when they slip into hypothermia. If everything goes according to plan, scientists would find a safe way to induce torpor, and then extend the hibernation cycle to one hundred and eighty days (the length of the trip). The astronauts would be kept alive through an intravenous drip, which would keep them alive by delivering both liquids and nutrients to their catatonic body.

While both SpaceWorks and NASA hope that this new technology will open up all sorts of travel possibilities, the first mission will be to Mars. Sending an astronaut to Mars is no easy task. The entire trip would take one hundred and eighty long days, and require a sufficient amount of energy, food and entertainment to keep an astronaut alive for the whole time. While it is not easy, SpaceWorks plans for induced sleep could solve all of those problems.

The first of these problems is food, which would no longer be needed during the sleeping state. In addition, the vessel would no longer need to be properly equipped for an active human, and would also require a lot less energy to keep the astronauts alive. All of these positive aspects are reasons that deep sleep would be the perfect way for getting astronauts to make the long trip in such a confined space. The plans are still in the early stages, but this would be the first step at exploring truly unknown frontiers.