European space agency's hibernation (torpor) strategy for deep space missions: Linking biology to engineering

•Travel to outer space and leaving the Earth's exposome imposes extreme physical and mental stresses to the human organism.•New insights into the neuronal control of torpor and into the biology of assumed human torpor reducing metabolism as related to gender.•Torpor of the crew will reduce the payload (i.e. oxygen, food and water) and requires AI-assisted monitoring of crew and space craft.•Reducing the metabolic rate will become a game changer of human space flight and will revolutionize the field of medicine.