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Hazard (RIDGE)Hostile/Closed Environment
25 articles tagged · 1 topic · 9 clinical · 2 equipment · 13 research
Clinical articles (9)
Behavioral health monitoring
What psychological problems have occurred in spaceflight, how agencies select, train, monitor and support crews, what isolation analogs teach us, and how to help with reintegration after return.
◆◆◇◇ Low · F A E
SMF-C-0002 · protocol · draftSFP 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-0014 · protocol · draftDCS & EVA
Why spacewalks carry decompression risk, how prebreathe protocols prevent it, how DCS is recognized and treated without a hyperbaric chamber, and other EVA hazards (CO2, water in the helmet, hand injuries) — with links to dive and altitude medicine.
◆◆◆◇ Moderate · 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-0013 · topic · draftKidney stones
Why spaceflight raises stone-forming risk (bone calcium loss, low urine volume), what prevents it, how a stone would be recognized in flight, and what to watch for in the year after return.
◆◆◆◇ Moderate · F C E
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-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-0004 · protocol · draftSANS management
How space agencies screen for and manage optic disc edema, globe flattening, choroidal folds and hyperopic shift in long-duration flyers — and how to evaluate a returning astronaut's eyes.
◆◆◆◇ Moderate · F A 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 (13)
How evidence works
Why space medicine evidence is thin, what analogs and models can and can't tell us, how NASA rates risk, and how to read SMF's certainty grades.
◆◆◆◇ Moderate · F A M C E
RES-01 · atlas · draftRisk & Gap Atlas
One plain-language page for each of NASA's 21 active human-system risks, grouped by hazard, with current ratings, knowledge gaps and research.
◆◆◆◆ High · E
RES-03 · analogs · draftEarth analogs
Bed rest, Antarctica, HI-SEAS, NEEMO, Mars-500, HERA, CHAPEA and parabolic flight. What each models well, and what it misses.
◆◆◆◇ Moderate · A E
RES-05 · open questions · draftOpen questions
The biggest unknowns, in plain language, each linked to NASA's official knowledge gaps and the matching Risk & Gap Atlas page.
◆◆◆◆ High · E
RSK-06 · NASA risk · draftMedications
Medicines must work and stay safe for years without resupply. Shelf life in space, and how the body handles drugs there, are not fully known.
◆◆◇◇ Low · F E
RSK-09 · NASA risk · draftSANS (eye & brain changes)
About 70% of long-duration crew show at least one eye sign of SANS. The cause is unknown and no countermeasure is proven yet.
◆◆◆◇ Moderate · F A E
RSK-14 · NASA risk · draftKidney stones
Bone loss and low urine volume raise kidney stone risk in flight. Prevention is well defined, but there's no way yet to treat a stone on a deep-space mission.
◆◆◆◇ Moderate · F A E
RSK-16 · NASA risk · draftMicrobes & infection
Spacecraft carry microbes, including opportunistic pathogens, and spaceflight can change both microbes and the immune system. Current measures limit most of the harm.
◆◆◇◇ Low · F M E
RSK-17 · NASA risk · draftImmune changes
The immune system becomes dysregulated in flight, which can reactivate dormant viruses and cause rashes. These changes persist through 6-month missions.
◆◆◆◇ Moderate · F M E
RSK-18 · NASA risk · draftLunar & Mars dust
Fine lunar dust can be inhaled once it gets into the habitat. NASA has set an exposure limit based on rodent studies. Mars dust is not yet characterized.
◆◆◇◇ Low · M E
RSK-19 · NASA risk · draftHypoxia (exploration atmosphere)
To make frequent spacewalks practical, future habitats may run a lower-pressure, mildly hypoxic atmosphere, roughly like living at 4,000–8,300 ft. Effects over long periods are being studied.
◆◆◇◇ Low · F E
RSK-20 · NASA risk · draftDecompression sickness
No case of decompression sickness has been reported in flight, but frequent surface spacewalks in partial gravity could change that.
◆◆◆◇ Moderate · F A E
RSK-21 · NASA risk · draftSpacewalk (EVA) injury & performance
Suits cause training injuries, and planetary spacewalks will be more frequent and more physical than ISS spacewalks. How to prevent suit injuries is not well understood.
◆◆◇◇ Low · F E