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Hazard (RIDGE)Gravity Fields
30 articles tagged · 4 topic · 12 clinical · 1 equipment · 13 research
Spaceflight Bone Loss
Unloading in microgravity drives loss of bone mineral, particularly at weight-bearing sites, with incomplete recovery after return.
Gravity FieldsMusculoskeletalRenal & GU
SMF-T-0011 · draftOrthostatic Intolerance on Landing
Difficulty maintaining blood pressure when upright after return to gravity, causing lightheadedness or presyncope.
Gravity FieldsCardiovascular
SMF-T-0006 · draftSpaceflight-Associated Neuro-ocular Syndrome (SANS)
Optic disc edema, globe flattening, choroidal folds and hyperopic shifts observed in long-duration astronauts.
Gravity FieldsHostile/Closed EnvironmentNeuro-ophthalmicNeurological & Cognitive
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 (12)
Bone loss countermeasures
How much bone astronauts lose, what prevents it (resistance exercise, nutrition, and in research, bisphosphonates), how NASA monitors BMD with DXA, T-scores and FRAX, and what a primary care clinician should do after a long flight.
◆◆◆◇ Moderate · 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-0006 · countermeasure · draftExercise countermeasures
What spaceflight does to aerobic capacity and muscle, NASA's fitness standards in plain numbers, how in-flight exercise works, and how to prescribe reconditioning after return.
◆◆◆◇ Moderate · F A E
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-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-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
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 (1)
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-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-10 · NASA risk · draftCardiovascular adaptations
Weightlessness shifts fluids toward the head and deconditions the heart and vessels, causing light-headedness on landing. Whether space radiation adds long-term heart disease risk is unresolved.
◆◆◇◇ Low · F A M E
RSK-11 · NASA risk · draftBone loss & fracture
Bones lose density without gravity's load. Exercise and drugs reduce the loss, but recovery after flight can be incomplete.
◆◆◆◇ Moderate · F E
RSK-12 · NASA risk · draftMuscle & aerobic fitness
Even with about 10 hours of exercise a week, astronauts lose fitness in flight, and some don't meet NASA's standards. Exploration spacecraft will have less room for exercise equipment.
◆◆◆◇ Moderate · 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-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
STU-04 · landmark study · draftBed-rest studies
Lying in bed tilted 6° head-down for weeks reproduces many effects of weightlessness. It is the workhorse for testing countermeasures, with important blind spots.
◆◆◆◇ Moderate · A
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
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