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Mission Briefings

AI-assisted Status as of Oct 15, 2026 · 5 briefings · times in Eastern Time (ET)

The medical side of crewed missions now flying or coming up: what the mission is, how long it lasts, the main health risks for that type of flight, what crews do about them, and the health research on board. Risk lists describe the mission type in general, drawn from our cited clinical pages; they are not predictions about any crewmember.

Long-duration, low Earth orbit · In progress

International Space Station: Expedition 75 and Crew-13

Seven crew live aboard the space station. The four Crew-13 members (NASA, Canadian Space Agency and Roscosmos) arrived on October 1, 2026 aboard a SpaceX Dragon; three others began their mission on July 14. All are scheduled to stay until spring 2027.

Duration: About six months or more (until spring 2027, per NASA)
Key dates (ET): Crew-13 arrival: Oct 1, 2026. A SpaceX cargo Dragon (CRS-35) docked Oct 15, 2026. The previous crew, Crew-12, splashed down off California on Oct 8, 2026 at 11:34 a.m. ET.

Key medical risks

Bone and muscle loss from weightlessness
Eye and brain changes (spaceflight-associated neuro-ocular syndrome, SANS)
Blood clots in neck veins, a known finding on long missions
Radiation exposure above Earth levels
Isolation, confinement and sleep disruption
Dizziness and fainting on return (orthostatic intolerance) and post-flight reconditioning

Countermeasures

Daily exercise on resistance, treadmill and cycle machines
B-Complex study: tests whether a daily B-vitamin supplement can reduce or prevent SANS
Individual post-mission reconditioning program starting at landing (NASA standard)

Research on board

Collaborative study of how spaceflight affects blood flow and clotting, with MRI, neck-vein ultrasound, blood pressure checks and blood draws
Testing crew manual piloting skills and measuring forces during return to Earth
Sleep and stress monitoring with a smart watch (RelaxPro), breathing-rate recording and vein ultrasound
CRS-35 cargo: lab-grown brain models, an on-board biomarker reader and antibiotic-resistant bacteria sampling

Tools and pages: Bone loss topic · SANS clinical management · Exercise countermeasures · Radiation dose estimator · Recovery timeline tool · Mission timeline explorer

Sources: NASA: To Study Human Health, Performance During Crew-13 Mission (Sep 24, 2026); NASA space station blog (Oct 6, 2026); NASA space station blog (Crew-12 splashdown, CRS-35 docking); NASA Science: CRS-35 health research (Oct 12, 2026)

Crewed demonstration, low Earth orbit · Upcoming

Artemis III: Orion and lunar lander test in Earth orbit

NASA describes Artemis III as a demonstration mission in low Earth orbit: a crew of four (three NASA, one ESA) will launch on the Space Launch System rocket aboard Orion to test rendezvous and docking with one or both commercial human landing systems from SpaceX and Blue Origin. It does not land on the Moon.

Duration: Not yet announced by NASA
Key dates (ET): Planned for 2027 (NASA). In October 2026 NASA finished stacking the rocket’s boosters and installing its core-stage engines; a tanking test and crew launch-day rehearsal at Launch Pad 39B are planned in the coming months.

Key medical risks

Typical short-flight risks: launch and reentry forces, space motion sickness, fluid shift
Launch-pad emergencies, which the crew will rehearse with an emergency exit walkdown

Countermeasures

Launch-day rehearsal and emergency exit training at the pad (NASA)

Research on board

Health research plans for this mission have not yet been published by NASA

Tools and pages: In-flight emergencies & evacuation · Space motion sickness

Sources: NASA: Artemis program (Artemis III); NASA: Artemis III booster stacking status update (Oct 13, 2026)

Short-duration, low Earth orbit (commercial) · Upcoming

Private astronaut missions to the space station

Commercial missions in which a company flies its own crew to the space station on a SpaceX Dragon under a NASA order. Next: Axiom Mission 5 (fifth private mission) and Vast’s first (sixth private mission). Vast also plans its own single-module station, Haven-1.

Duration: Axiom Mission 5: 14 days (Axiom). Vast mission: up to 14 days aboard the station (Vast).
Key dates (ET): Axiom Mission 5: no earlier than January 2027 from Kennedy Space Center. Vast private mission: no earlier than summer 2027. Haven-1 station: ready to launch Q1 2027 (Vast).

Key medical risks

Space motion sickness, common in the first days of flight
Fluid shift, headache and back pain
Orthostatic intolerance after landing

Countermeasures

Operator medical screening and training; NASA and SpaceX train the four-person crews
FAA requires written informed consent for spaceflight participants

Research on board

Crew research plans are announced by each operator closer to launch

Tools and pages: Commercial flyer screening · Commercial flyer screening checklist · Space motion sickness · Orthostatic intolerance at landing

Sources: NASA: Private astronaut missions; Axiom Space: Missions; Vast: sixth private astronaut mission (Feb 12, 2026); Vast: Haven-1 integration update; FAA: Human Space Flight

Suborbital, minutes of weightlessness (commercial) · Upcoming

Suborbital flights (Virgin Galactic, Blue Origin)

Brief up-and-down flights to space with a few minutes of weightlessness. Virgin Galactic’s new Delta-class spaceplane carries six passengers and is released from a carrier aircraft. Blue Origin paused its New Shepard capsule flights in January 2026 for at least two years.

Duration: A few minutes of weightlessness; the full profile varies by vehicle
Key dates (ET): Virgin Galactic: flight testing to start October 2026; first commercial flight expected February 2027 (company announcement, Aug 12, 2026). Blue Origin New Shepard: last flew January 22, 2026; flights paused for no less than two years.

Key medical risks

Launch and reentry acceleration (g-forces) for passengers with heart, lung or spine conditions
Motion sickness
Anxiety
Rapid transitions between high g and weightlessness

Countermeasures

Operator medical screening; the FAA publishes guidance for medical screening of commercial aerospace passengers
Written informed consent required by the FAA

Research on board

Not applicable for scheduled flights; research payloads vary by flight

Tools and pages: Commercial flyer screening · Commercial flyer screening checklist · Space motion sickness

Sources: Virgin Galactic: Q2 2026 results and business update (Aug 12, 2026); Blue Origin: news (New Shepard pause; NS-38); FAA: Human Space Flight

Short-duration, deep space (lunar flyby) · Completed

Artemis II: crewed flight around the Moon

First crewed flight of NASA’s Orion spacecraft: four astronauts (three NASA, one Canadian Space Agency) flew around the Moon and back, reaching 252,756 miles from Earth, the farthest humans have traveled.

Duration: Nearly 10 days
Key dates (ET): Launched April 2026. Splashdown in the Pacific off San Diego on April 10, 2026 at 8:07 p.m. ET; initial medical checks aboard the recovery ship USS John P. Murtha.

Key medical risks

Deep-space radiation outside Earth’s magnetic field
Space motion sickness in the first days
Fluid shift and readaptation to gravity after splashdown
Limited medical care far from Earth, with return taking days

Countermeasures

NASA evaluated Orion systems during crew exercise
Emergency equipment and procedures and the Orion crew survival spacesuits were evaluated in flight

Research on board

Artemis II Spaceflight Standard Measures: blood, saliva, urine, MRI of eyes and brain, balance, motion sickness, muscle performance and microbes
AVATAR: how human tissue (organ chips) responds to microgravity and deep-space radiation
ARCHeR: crew health and readiness, with a wrist-worn device in flight
Post-landing obstacle courses and suited tasks offloaded to lunar gravity to test how fast crews can work after landing

Note: Initial data collection ended 45 days after splashdown; NASA says it will monitor the crew’s health for life. Detailed results have not yet been published.

Tools and pages: Space radiation topic · Space motion sickness · Communication delay calculator · Mission medical kits

Sources: NASA: Artemis program; NASA: Artemis II re-entry updates (Apr 10, 2026); NASA Science: Artemis II research continues on Earth; NASA: Artemis II Standard Measures

Briefings are updated when agencies or operators publish new information. Anything not confirmed by an official source is left out. Corrections: email us.