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Mission typeLEO short-duration
18 articles tagged · 2 topic · 9 clinical · 2 equipment · 5 research
Orthostatic Intolerance on Landing
Difficulty maintaining blood pressure when upright after return to gravity, causing lightheadedness or presyncope.
Gravity FieldsCardiovascular
SMF-T-0007 · draftSpace Motion Sickness & Space Adaptation Syndrome
Nausea, malaise and vomiting in the first days of weightlessness as the vestibular system adapts.
Gravity FieldsVestibular & SensorimotorGI & Nutrition
Clinical articles (9)
SFP screening
How to approach a patient who wants to fly as a paying passenger: what the FAA does and does not require, what published guidance recommends, and which conditions deserve a closer look.
◆◆◇◇ Low · E A F
SMF-C-0010 · topic · draftEmergencies & evacuation
What medical care is actually available on a spacecraft, who provides it, how evacuation works from orbit, and why the model changes completely for lunar and Mars missions.
◆◆◆◇ Moderate · F E C
SMF-C-0009 · topic · draftSpace pharmacy & drug stability
What astronauts actually take, whether drugs still work in space, what happens to medications stored for months to years, and how to plan a formulary for missions far from resupply.
◆◆◇◇ Low · F E M
SMF-C-0001 · standard · draftMedical standards overview
What NASA's crew health standard actually requires, how astronauts are medically selected and recertified, and what that means for a clinician who sees space travelers.
◆◆◆◆ High · E F
SMF-C-0008 · protocol · draftOrthostatic intolerance on landing
Why returning space travelers get lightheaded or faint when they stand, how agencies prevent it (fluid/salt loading, compression garments, recumbent seating), and how to assess and treat it in the ED or clinic.
◆◆◆◇ Moderate · F A E
SMF-C-0011 · topic · draftPOCUS in space
How ultrasound became the main imaging tool in space — remote-guided FAST, echo, eye and kidney scans, and routine screening of the jugular veins for thrombosis — and what that means for clinicians on the ground.
◆◆◆◇ Moderate · F E
SMF-C-0015 · guide · draftPostflight recovery & surveillance
A timeline of what to expect after landing — day 0 to day 45 and beyond — what NASA measures and when, which problems can persist for months or years, and how lifelong occupational surveillance works.
◆◆◆◇ Moderate · F E
SMF-C-0000 · guide · draftClinician quick-start
A one-page orientation for GPs, emergency physicians, nurses and flight/aviation doctors: what to ask, what to check, the red flags, and where to find the details — before and after spaceflight.
◆◆◆◇ Moderate · E F
SMF-C-0007 · protocol · draftSpace motion sickness
Who gets space motion sickness, how it is graded, why promethazine is NASA's treatment of choice, what else is used, and how to manage the same symptoms after landing.
◆◆◆◇ Moderate · F E
Equipment guides (2)
Mission Medical Kits
What medical equipment, drugs and supplies are carried on suborbital flights, short commercial orbital flights, a low Earth orbit station, lunar and Gateway missions, and Mars-class missions, and how distance, duration, drug shelf life and the loss of evacuation change the kit.
◆◆◆◇ Moderate · F C E
SMF-E-0001 · guide · draftPre-Flight & Post-Flight Clinic
A plain-language design guide for a clinic that certifies people before flight and evaluates them after landing: equipment by evaluation domain, what to do in-house versus refer out, a room-by-room layout and an essential / recommended / advanced build.
◆◆◆◇ Moderate · F E
Research pages (5)
Landmark studies
The studies that shaped what we know: the NASA Twins Study, the Inspiration4/SOMA package, ISS long-duration cohorts and bed-rest research.
◆◆◆◇ Moderate · F A
RSK-04 · NASA risk · draftSleep, circadian rhythm & workload
Astronauts sleep about six hours a night in flight, and schedules shift their body clocks. Ground studies tie this to worse performance and mood and to long-term disease risk.
◆◆◆◇ Moderate · F A E
STU-02 · landmark study · draftInspiration4 & SOMA
The 2024 Nature package on the first all-civilian orbital crew. It found that most changes from a 3-day flight reversed, and it launched an open atlas of astronaut biology.
◆◆◇◇ Low · F E
RSK-13 · NASA risk · draftSensorimotor & balance
The brain re-tunes balance and orientation for weightlessness. That causes motion sickness and clumsiness around gravity changes, just when landing and early surface work demand the most.
◆◆◆◇ Moderate · F E
RSK-15 · NASA risk · draftLaunch & landing loads
Launch, landing and abort forces can injure crew, especially deconditioned crew. Today's injury standards are borrowed from car and military testing.
◆◆◇◇ Low · F E