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Mission phasePostflight Recovery
28 articles tagged · 4 topic · 11 clinical · 2 equipment · 11 research
Behavioral Health & Performance in Isolation and Confinement
Psychological, sleep and team-dynamics effects of long periods in small, isolated and confined crews.
Isolation & ConfinementDistance from EarthBehavioral Health & Sleep
SMF-T-0009 · draftSpaceflight 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
Clinical articles (11)
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-0005 · countermeasure · draftBone 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-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-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 (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 (11)
Behavioral health & cognition
Long missions can strain mental health and thinking. Problems in flight have so far stayed below diagnostic levels, but analog data suggest risk grows with mission length and isolation.
◆◆◇◇ Low · F A 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
STU-01 · landmark study · draftNASA Twins Study
One identical twin spent a year on the ISS while his brother stayed on Earth as a genetic control. Most changes reversed within six months, but some did not.
◆◆◇◇ Low · F
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
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
STU-03 · landmark study · draftISS long-duration cohorts
Most of what clinicians know about 6-month spaceflight comes from cohorts of 4 to 46 ISS astronauts. Key studies, what they found, and their limits.
◆◆◆◇ Moderate · F
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-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